⚠️ Attention ⚠️ Mind the Gap

The #1 ingredient for publishing success that most of us ignore

Instead of looking at what a best-selling author is doing right, pay even more attention to what they aren’t doing.

This is where the real opportunity lies.

I’ve helped dozens of authors one-on-one refine their story idea and marketing plan so that they can grow their readership faster.

More often than not, I see the same things:

1. A great story idea, but unclear exactly what separates it from the 100+ other similar books already published in that subgenre.

2. Solid cover and description, but it reads exactly the same as everything else already selling.

3. Engaging ads, content, or other marketing with the right targeting, but hard for it to stand out in a noisy world, so ad costs are high and profits are low. One bad week can mean a lot of stress. One bad month and you are rethinking your plans entirely.

Sounds like something you’ve faced? I certainly have. And guess what? I don’t have an easy silver bullet solution to this. I wish I did 🥲.

Here’s what I do know, though.

Books that fill a gap in the market are more likely to sell with less effort.

I call this your Story Gap.

More specifically, a Story Gap is something that readers crave but that current books in the market aren’t delivering. Here are the general types of Story Gaps:

• Story component (think trope, character type, setting, theme, etc.)

• Packaging (think medium or format like unique special editions, digital formats, scratch & dent, and more)

• Messaging (think marketing channel, story category/genre, copy, and even content and advertising format)

I could write an essay on how to exploit every specific subcategory of Story Gaps (if that’s something you are interested in, let me know… maybe I’ll include it in my upcoming book 😉).

The key is this: you only need to exploit one Story Gap for your story to stand out and gain traction in the marketplace.

95%+ of books fall into conformity.

It’s not about our stories themselves.

Your story almost certainly has something unique and special about it that makes it stand out in the minds of readers.

The problem? They will never get the chance to experience your story if nothing stands out about how you market your stories. Exploiting a Story Gap is one of the fastest ways to get your story to stand out to the right readers.

Stop blending in. Stop doing the same things everyone else is doing. You’ll just spend more money and time to get worse results.

Break the rules and create new opportunities.

Now, practically, here’s how I’d go about creating and marketing a Story Gap:

Step #1: Write down a list of things books in your target market are missing.

If you aren’t sure… you should do some market research. Following the Story Spy Author Marketing Superpower is a great place to start (you can download all 50 for free here 😉).

Then, bucket each potential Story Gap into a story component, packaging, or messaging gap. Some questions I’d ask to come up with more story gaps are:

• What do reader reviews seem to be highlighting in stories selling well right now, and what readers or desires may be left out?

  • Are books in your target market set all in cities, and can you do a small town?

  • Do they feature weak leads when you could make a similar story with a stronger main character?

• What stories are succeeding in other genres from unique mediums and with unique packaging, and why?

  • Here’s where you experiment with new mediums for your story, or unique packaging, such as a package clawed by a werewolf if you are writing paranormal romance, etc.)

• What messaging are best-selling stories in your target market utilizing and why?

  • Maybe everyone is running image ads on Meta, so there’s an opportunity for you to create video ads for your book and get a cheaper CPM and higher conversion, since 50% of all ad inventory on Meta is video.

  • Maybe there is no community for readers in your specific genre, and you can own that space by creating a podcast and reader group to chat about books similar to yours, building trust with readers to share your stories.

As you can see, I could probably ask you 20 different sub-questions to help you create and list more Story Gaps.

I prefer going through this process BEFORE you write the story, because it makes the next steps in this process easier to do.

If you’ve already written your story or published it, you can look at which Story Gaps it already uses—and even add or highlight a new one by revising the story, changing how you market it, or updating its packaging or format.

Step #2: Pick a Story Gap and test how it sells to readers.

It’s up to you which ones you want to pick! It’s part where your heart is, part where your superpowers are, and part what you think will resonate with readers most.

Once you have selected a Story Gap, I recommend running an experiment to see if it gets you traction. Bonus points for testing two different Story Gaps and comparing the results!

There’s even a chance that combining Story Gaps together works! For example, a unique story premise combined with an underutilized marketing channel by competitive authors.

We test Story Gaps because we want to ensure the gap we identified is an actual gap readers care about.

Sure, no one is marketing cozy fantasy books on Pinterest (this is just an example, I’m sure someone is…). But are cozy fantasy readers on Pinterest in any numbers to make that gap worth exploiting? Potentially, but no one knows until you test it!

Don’t assume anything about your readers. Validate your assumptions by creating an experiment to get your Story Gap out into the world. This full process I’ll be covering in detail in my upcoming book Readers First.

For now, here’s the super short version on how I test a Story Gap:

• 1. Create a Hook

  • Turn your Story Gap into a short, compelling pitch (a tagline, blurb, or TikTok script) that highlights what makes it different.

• 2. Share It Publicly

  • Post it where your potential readers hang out (Instagram, TikTok, Facebook groups, Reddit, email list, etc.)

• 3. Watch the Response

  • Track engagement: clicks, comments, likes, shares, saves, replies, and general curiosity.

• 4. Adjust or Double Down

  • If it lands, go deeper. If it flops, tweak the angle or test another gap entirely!

Step #3: Double down on your Story Gap loudly and proudly.

Now this is the fun part. You have a strong indication that your Story Gap is resonating with readers. It’s time to go all-in. Now you can double down on marketing your story through one of the Reader Growth Engines, if you aren’t already, and should see a much greater return on your time and money.

If you are strictly following the Readers First Process (I’ll share this more in my upcoming book, don’t worry!), you will NOW begin writing your story.

This notion is uncomfortable for most authors.

But why should you write a story if it’s not going to sell?

There are a ton of valid reasons to do so. But I’m here to help you market and sell your books.

The really tough truth is this: no matter how great your marketing is, if you don’t have a PRODUCT designed to fill a gap in the market that readers desire… you will be pushing a boulder uphill in your marketing.

The even tougher truth? 90%+ of authors I see (even many who sell really well), are effectively pushing a boulder uphill every single day.

It’s freaking exhausting.

And honestly… It’s not good for anyone.

Our goal should be to create products our readers crave. No matter the medium, the packaging, or the themes and characters, we want it to fill a gap in their day and make their life better.

I’m increasingly convinced the biggest factor in a book’s success isn’t based on the story quality itself or even the amount of marketing behind it. Yes, these things matter A LOT, but alone they are not enough..

Instead, it’s about the “market pull” and really tapping into an unmet desire in the marketplace that has a large need.

Story Gaps require creativity. They require time and careful thought to hone in on. But they are the magic that allows you to create new markets, new blue oceans, and new opportunities for your stories to sell.

So… Mind the Gap. It may just change your author life forever.

Don’t write to sell. Write to win.

And if you want to work 1-on-1 with me to develop a Story Gap for your marketing, I’d be happy to do so. It helps me to learn even more as I am writing Readers First. Just email me at hello@authorsidekick.com and we can work something out (I charge a reasonable rate for these calls, if I feel I can help you!).

Back to work for me on completing all digital bonuses for Author Marketing Superpowers Deck and prepping for the first Readers First Challenge + AuthorHub.

Absolutely not busy 😂. But I’m having a ton of fun, and I’m very grateful for you all!

I’ll be back with more soon. In the meantime, don’t forget…

Together we are boundless,

Michael Evans

The Author Sidekick

P.S. I’m gearing up to write Readers First: How to Sell Your Book Then Write It. It’s my first nonfiction book in 2 years. I think it will be my last book focused specifically on marketing for authors.

As I draft the book, I’ll be taking a month-long hiatus from this newsletter. Don’t worry, I’ll still be posting episodes of the Beyond the Book Podcast. Likewise, I’ll be sharing one new chapter a week from Readers First during this “break” so you’ll still get to experience new insights from me each week 😊. Expect this break to start sometime around mid-May.

P.P.S. I’ve been busy finishing the Author Marketing Styles Quiz where you can find your Cape (Marketing Rhythm), Belt (Marketing Tools), and Mask (Marketing Voice), in addition to launching a new website for Author Sidekick. If you want to try the quiz early, you can do so here. I’d appreciate your feedback! I’ll be launching this to the public more officially soon!