Niche, hooks and book buyers

Bethany House editor Dave Long has been discussing niches and and how books fit into the market over at his blog this week. In his post about when to worry about such things, he says:

It’s unlikely you’ll be able to turn a story about a woman caring for her dying mother into a lighthearted chick-lit novel simply because the genre is hot.

And I'll bet you'll find this post interesting:

To gain a sense of why it’s important to think of your book in terms of an open niche or in terms of a marketing hook, let’s spend a moment inside someone’s head. That person is the fiction buyer for a store.

Anything for a little bit of insight. Right?