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Choosing a book title (and why it’s hard)

  • 18 November 2013

image: www.google.com.au

A little knowledge is a dangerous thing…

I’m in the process of choosing a book title for my story. Learning more about choosing a title hasn’t made it any easier, in fact the more knowledge I have of what supposedly makes a great book title, the harder it becomes to choose one. I say ‘supposedly’ because (as always) there are conflicting opinions out there. Many opinions are based on what’s worked in the past (which may not work so well in the future), and on what is a ‘safe’ (though less creative) title.

Why is choosing a great book title hard? Because it’s important to get it right – whether your book is fiction or non-fiction.

Your title and cover art are what initially catches a potential reader’s interest. You need to make them curious, intrigue them, get them to read your book’s blurb, give them reasons to buy and read your work. Title, cover, blurb, buy, read, tell their friends. Don’t let one weak link break the chain.

So yeah, it’s hard to get right – but you know what? I’m glad I’m finding it hard.
If I hadn’t learnt more about titles, I would’ve used the working title I had in mind when I started writing my story. Ignorance is bliss (or would’ve been). Since then I’ve thought up (and coaxed out of others) plenty of better titles that are based on what my story became, rather than being based on the original inspiration that sparked it. So, what started as an OK working title has been replaced with a good title, which will soon be replaced by a great title. Awesome right?

Based on the title of this post, you’re probably expecting me to prescribe how to choose a great book title. The reality is I can’t help you with that as much as you may think, and I’m not about to regurgitate content that is already on the internet in order to hold myself up as some sort of expert (I’m not). I’m still finding out about this stuff and haven’t even chosen my first title (yet), but…

What I will do is:

  1. Link you to the best advice I’ve found so far
  2. Share my experience of choosing a title

The helpful link:

You must read “The truth about choosing book titles” at Scott Berkun’s excellent blog, especially the ‘What really matters’ section towards the end. Then go read “Should you always trust your gut?“. Nice work Scott!

My experience so far:

smashing keyboard

At times it has been slow, painful and frustrating. But in the end, if I keep moving forward I know I’ll get to the end of the road, and that’s where I’ll find my great book title.

I started by compiling a list of every title that I (or anyone else) had thought up, no matter how stupid they were (the titles, not the people). I reduce the list to a Top 11 (because 10 wasn’t enough) that I sent to my supporters. They were tasked with voting for their top 3 (and/or suggesting their own).

Only about half my supporters saw a title they wanted to vote for. There was some consistency in the titles that got votes, but no clear-cut winner. The best part? Their opinions (and the reasons for them) helped me to polarise my own. This opened up new directions and themes to explore in the hunt for a great title. Game on!

The rest of the feedback was from the non-voters. It was excellent that they were honest enough to say:

I don’t like any of those titles…

Many good suggestions followed from them and from me, opening up even more possibilities. The list of good titles grew, and I now have a sense of a unifying theme that I’ll use for all the titles of the series I’m writing. Things are looking up!

So, here are my personal tips based on my experience of choosing a title so far:

  • It’s harder if you’re writing a series. Each book should have a similar title or follow a consistent titling method or theme. This makes it harder to choose the first title, as it will influence the following titles in the series.
  • You need people to give their blunt, honest opinion. Anything less than that is worthless.
  • Beware of design by committee. Maintain control, and remember you can’t please everyone.
  • Scour your text for themes based on the frequency of words you’ve used. I find a word cloud useful for this. Try Wordle.
  • Don’t settle for ‘good enough’, and don’t give up.
  • Don’t give up (I know I’ve said this twice).

That’s it from me for now. I’ll find my great title soon… I suspect it may even find me.