Does Your Title Work? by Andy Scheer

Three words just grabbed me.

I was scanning an email from a local library about author appearances. I didn’t expect any interesting information, but I checked anyway. Maybe something would surprise me.

Kind of like my mindset when I scan the shelves at a bookstore. I need another book like a moose needs a hat rack, but maybe I’ll find something superb. Sometimes I do.

Like today. Those three words ambushed me. They told me the author dared to stand out from the crowd. And that he had the skill to assemble his words in a way to entertain and please.

Enticed by the title, I read the blurb. They confirmed my hunch that this is an author worth investigating:

An Evening with Bestselling Author Spencer Quinn

Celebrate the dog days of summer with Spencer Quinn, the author of seven bestselling Chet and Bernie mysteries. Chet, the dog, who narrates the novels, works with PI Bernie on tough cases.

Bullseye for me, the target reader. I’m a longtime fan of detective stories. Especially ones with a sense of humor. While I’ve read a few cat detective stories (The “Big Mike” series by Garrison Allen, from the mid-1990s in Kensington’s “Partners in Crime” line) I prefer dog stories. Even dog international thrillers (Kill Switch by James Rollins and Grant Blackwood).

Prompted by Spencer Quinn’s three most important words, I plan to look into his series. I’ll start with book one. I’ll check the first line, the first paragraph, the first page. If I like what I see, I’ll jump into the story.

I hope I like it. If I do, I’ll probably read all seven.

Maybe I’ll even buy the newest and see about getting it signed on Saturday, July 25, at 6:30 p.m. at the Philip S. Miller memorial library in Castle Rock.

All because of the title’s three words: Scents and Sensibility.

Choosing Your Book's Title by Diana L. Flegal

It has been said a reader takes two seconds to choose whether to buy a book or not. Most often it is the title that helps them decide.

This week a client and I worked on a fiction title idea for her book. We went back and forth several hours between phone calls and texts until we settled on a favorite. Our goal was to choose a title that connected the plot and storyline. We felt it important to make a strong connection for the reader. A great example is: Capturing Jasmina, a book about the slave trade set in India. I feel the cover captures the books emotional story line and important message.

Authors are often tempted to choose an esoteric or uber creative title, but better than a “woo woo” title is a plain and simple one. 

Choosing a line from the book is often a good choice. Read it out loud. Does it sound good?  You want to have a title that rolls off the tongue easily.
 

Nonfiction titles can be easier, but not always.  Ask yourself what the “take away’ is for your reader and create a title that is most likely to connect with that.

The books cover photo helps out, as well as the back of the book, but the title is the most memorable. The book to the left is the authors journey through Anorexia. Title and cover effectively convey the reader takeaway and the back cover material makes the promise the reader needs. Hollow by Jena Morrow

 

Avatar, Twilight, The Help, Jesus Calling, Eat, Pray, Love, and Situation Maid are all examples of one to three word titles that worked well.

The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. The Time Travelers Wife, The Memory Keepers Daughter. Great titles that solidly connect to the subject of the book and hint to the reader what the book is about.

The Map Across Time and The Unraveling of Wentwater, fairytales by C. S. Lakin, are two well named in her Gates of Heaven series.  

Humor is a great way to catch a readers attention. We All Married Idiots - 3 Things You Will Never Change About Your Marriage & 10 Things You Can by Elaine Miller certainly catches the eye and hearts of those passing by.

These childhood titles remain in my mind's memory vault :     

     Fell Off the Cliff by Eileen Dover  

     Rusty Bed Springs by I.P. Freeley

Books That Were Never Written from the Boy Scouts Trail blog is entertaining. I like this one best, I think: 'Sitting on the Beach' by Sandy Cheeks, but then there is this one: Help With Math by Cal Q’later.

Happy Over the Hump Day!

Give Your Book a Second Life by Jennifer Hudson Taylor

Book titles have always been highly important, but they are even more so now--in this day and age of search engines. If you have an old book and have regained the rights to it, consider repackaging it with a new cover and title to give it new life.

Most book reviewers will not review a book with a copyright date older than 12 months. Therefore, make sure you get a new copyright date so reviewers will be willing to consider it. Often, it seems that books age faster than a car as soon as you drive it off the dealer lot. 

Here are a few ways to make your book launch last longer:

1) Never marry your book title. Publishers and publicists have lots of experience in knowing what kind of titles sell and which ones don't. Lean on their expertise in this area. My debut novel went from Promised Betrayal to Promised Blessings to Highland Blessings. The marketing department felt like people who like Scottish historicals would search more often with Highland in their search phrases. Thus, my sequel went from Secret Blessings to Highland Sanctuary.

• First Impressions became Pride & Prejudice
• Mistress Mary became The Secret Garden
• Pansy became Gone With the Wind

Give Your Book a Subtitle. This allows the book to have more search words and gives it better functionality when people search for similar topics or titles, thereby increasing the algorithm of the search engine optimization.

Plan a Second Book Launch for a Second Life. If you don't have another book releasing right away, you could establish a second book launch around 6-8 months before it ages to that 12 month stage. Traditionally, authors have been trained to plan for the initial book launch and once that happens, it's all over. Ebooks that never go out of print and new online technology is not only changing the way books are published and marketed, but how people buy them. 

Continue to Offer Your Backlist to New Tribe Members. Your books may be a year old or more, but someone that has newly discovered you and loves your work won't care. I've had several people discover my sequel before my debut novel.  People love discovering an author who has a whole package of books they can read. It's like Christmas to book lovers in your genre. Even if you have a long list of books, as long as they are available, list them on your site with a link to purchase them.

What are your thoughts? Have you found other ways to make your books last longer or to give them a second life?

Gorillas in the Mist by Linda S. Glaz

Gorillas in the Mist.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
A Fish Named Wanda
A Streetcar Named Desire
Twister

All of these titles draw us immediately in and cause us to wonder just what the story is about. A story can be stellar, but if the title is ho-hem, your story will not get the attention you want it to have.

If you're a Motowner or Motown wannabe, Gran Torino will also hook you.

Second Hand Lions. Don't you want to know what follows?

So often we fall in love with titles that have little to do with the meat of the story; the words strung together simply sound nice for whatever reason. Are you able to let go and allow a title to grow from the story? A title is the first thing a reader sees; make yours come alive.