Don’t try to figure out what other people want to hear from you; figure out what you have to say. It’s the one and only thing you have to offer. Barbara Kingsolver

What’s your book, story, essay about?  Do you know? Do you spend hours and days trying to figure out what readers want, what will hit the market and jump to the top of the Best Seller List? I think your time would be better spent writing…

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying you don’t have to do a certain amount of market research to ensure you make a living. Of course, there are types of books that will sell better than others. The trouble is, you can’t rely totally on today’s research to project what’s going to be popular when your book comes out. For example, vampire stories might be the thing recently, but the trend might turn to something else by the time you’re ready to publish yours.

The best rule of thumb, as this quote suggests, is to figure out what you have to say and say it. Liking your topic is important because:

• if the topic is of interest to you, you’ll work on it more;
• if the topic is of interest to you, you’ll write better;
• if the topic is of interest to you, you’ll be more committed to the project;
• if the topic is of interest to you, you’ll have more enthusiasm when it comes time to market it.

The point…. choose to write about what you love.