THREE METHODS TO TITLE YOUR NEXT BOOK

When book browsers are looking for their next purchase, they are presented with a vast array of choices. Your book has only a couple of hopes for standing out amidst the sea of competition. Despite the saying, people do judge books by their cover. They also judge them by their title.

Your book title may seem like the icing on the cake, but it’s absolutely essential because:

• Your title will form a core part of all your marketing efforts
• Your title will be displayed prominently on your book cover
• If your title is hard to remember or unsuitable for your genre/niche, you will hurt your success

So how exactly do you find your next book title and how should you go about doing this in order to comply with the principles we talked about above? I will now share with you three different methods to find your next book title.

Inspiration From Podcasts

I am a big believer in the phrase you don’t have to reinvent the wheel. As a result of this, I suggest learning from your fellow authors who have titled books before you. Any struggle you’re experiencing, they will have also experienced, and will have helpful advice for your specific situation.

One of my favorite ways to learn from my fellow authors is through podcasts. The reasons I like to learn this way in particular include:

• I can listen on the go, no matter where I am or what I’m doing
• I can get a feel for the personality of the author I am listening to
• I can refer back to the show notes after listening for a deeper understanding

To save you the time spent searching, here are a few podcast episodes useful for the process of titling your next book:

Happy Self Publishing, 
The Book Marketing Show,
The Creative Penn

 

Book Title Generators

One way of finding your next book title is the user book title generator.

 A book title generator is a tool which is able to automatically generate a book title for you. Various book title generators exist which are suited to different types of book, different genres, and even non-fiction books.

 Some authors are resistant to using book title generators. I understand this. It may seem a bit on artistic or somehow not creative to use at all in this way.

 However, I strongly feel that they do have a role to play. You don’t have to use the advice at face value. Instead, you can use the type of titles they are generating as inspiration for your own original title.

Book title generators can also provide a seed of inspiration when you are experiencing the book title equivalent of writer’s block. Sometimes, the simple act of generating a series of book titles, using the generator tools, will unlock your own creative inspiration and allow you to find a title of your own. A few examples include:

Adazing’s Book Title Generator
Romance Title Generator
Random Story Title Generator

 

Your Author Website

One method of finding your next book title is to use your existing author website or blog as inspiration.

For example, if you have an author blog, you will notice over time that some posts perform better than others. The posts which perform well can be a valuable indication as to how you should title your next book.

Perhaps your audience responds best to an informative title. Perhaps they respond best to an intriguing title. No matter what type of title they respond well to, you should use this real-life audience feedback in order to inform and inspire your next booktitle.

Let’s take a look at this way of titling books in action. We will look at both the worlds of fiction and the worlds of non-fiction.

Fiction – The Martian. Do you know the film or book version of The Martian? Author Andy Weir originally serialized this on his website, one chapter at a time. Fan feedback and positivity helped it become a full, titled novel, and led to the eventual film adaptation.

Nonfiction – Food Delivery Guru. Kyle from Food Delivery Guru is currently finalizing the plan for his first nonfiction book in the niche. He’s monitoring the performance of blog posts on his site, such as his smoothie comparison post, to find the best inspiration and title for his nonfiction book.

Summary

Hopefully by now, your book title woes have been eased a little!

To recap:

• Don’t reinvent the wheel – listen to podcasts where fellow authors share their title tips
• Draw inspiration from a book title generator
• Use your existing website to find inspiration for the content and tone of your next book title

How did you title your last book? What are your favorite book titles and why? I’d love to hear from you in the comments.

About the author:

This is a guest post by Dave Chesson. He  teaches authors advanced book marketing tactics at Kindlepreneur.com. His most recent project is the Book Marketing Show, Dave’s contribution to the world of publishing podcasts. He is also the creator of the leading Kindle research and advertising software, KDP Rocket.