Social media, SEO, marketing and writingNever Underestimate the Power of a Strong Title for a Book
Naming your book is one of the most important decisions you will make as a writer. Editors respond to great titles when considering book proposals. The best thing about some proposals for books is the title, which could well be the strongest selling point of the book. Work hard to think of a compelling, magnetic title.
Book readers almost always respond favorably to catchy titles by purchasing the title.
One way to create the perfect title for your book is to bounce ideas off a family member, relative, friend, or anther writer. Two heads are usually better at it than one. You can also think of possible titles when you’re doing the proposal or have the manuscript in progress. If you’re stuck, conduct a brainstorming exercise or go to Amazon.com and browse through thousands of published titles to stimulate new ideas.
One thing to keep in mind is that titles by themselves cannot be copyrighted.
One thing that bugs some authors is the fact that a publisher may, and usually does, change the title of a manuscript prior to publication. An author may have dreamed up the ‘perfect’ title, only to see it changed when it hits the book stands.
Here are a few sample book titles that stand out:
- Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
- Chicken Soup for the Soul
- One Hundred Years of Solitude
- Even Cowgirls Get the Blues
- Mexifornia: A State of Becoming
- America’s Man on Horseback: A Fable?
- The Dangerous Book for Boys
- Potty Train Your Child in Just One Day
- The Black Book of Hollywood Diet Secrets
- The Cluetrain Manifesto: The End of Business As We Know It
- The First Immortal
- What To Expect When You’re Expecting
- Bare Knuckles and Back Rooms
- Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus
- A History of God
- Parenting Isn’t For Cowards
- Ten Stupid Things Women Do To Mess Up Their Lives
- The Dark Side of Camelot
- You Suck: A Love Story
- The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse
