Is Your Book Title Intriguing Enough

This is part two in a three part series on 3 Tips for Better Book Cover Design if you missed part one click here.

When the potential reader DOES look at your book cover and then reads the title, will the title intrigue them to want to read the sub title, or even flip the book over to the back cover to find out more about the book?

Between the Title and the Sub Title, the reader should either know what the book is about or peak their curiosity to want to find out what is inside.

Your book title should be unique. You wouldn’t want someone to see your book title and think “I’ve seen this somewhere” or “I think I’ve heard about this one already”.

Don’t Rush It!

You’ve spent hours upon hours in writing your book, so you should spend ample amount of time on the title as well. After all isn’t it really the title that gets your book read?
Most book buyers will not pick up a book, flip through it and decide whether or not that is the book they will buy and read without first reading the title.

Think about this: you are standing at the grocery store waiting to pay for your items and they have these rows of magazines hanging there. What gets you to buy a certain issue? It’s the Headlines (or titles) to the stories on the front page, Right?

Sure it could be the fact you know that magazine is usually good for topics you like to read, but 9 times out of 10 it’s because you spotted a headline you are willing to pay the five dollars to find out more.

The same should be true with your book! The buyer should look at the title and say Yes, I want to find out what is in this book, I must know what is in it.

Some things you should really consider when writing your book title are:

• Who is my target audience?
• What kind of words do they use?
• What action words appeal to them?

Again, research is your friend. Visit bookstores online and off, and check out the section your book will be in.
See what titles appeal to you and make you want to pick up that book. Check out the books nearby for suggested books for that genre. Write down these titles.

One major thing to remember “You are NOT your target market”!

Just because you wrote the book it doesn’t always mean you are the typical person reading the book.

That is why it is important to do the following exercises.

Write a sentence about what your book is. You may need to write several sentences. Think about how you would describe your book if you were telling a friend about the book you just wrote.

Highlight key words from those sentences that stand out. You may find certain words are repeated.

Go online and use a search site such as Google and enter those keywords; make a list of all keywords that come up with the results that is similar to your book.

Use keyword tools such as “Google Keyword Tool” to find out what others are using to find similar information.

Start writing headlines from the combined information of your sentences and the keywords you’ve compiled. Try to come up with 10 – 20 titles, more if possible. Sometimes just changing an action word (verbs) can make a difference and change the title.

Read these titles out loud. Does it flow?

Pass your list around to your friends (or make a survey) find out which of these appeal to them. Give them the option to submit a suggestion.

Take these results and narrow it down. Maybe ask around again.

Once you’ve narrowed it down, determine a winning title.

As a marketer, one thing I like to do is check and see if the domain name is available for any of the titles I like. That way when I’m ready to start selling the book, I know I will have a website that matches the title. Of course with that being said it is always a good idea to have your name as a domain as well.

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