While we mustn’t always judge a book by its cover, we can’t help but judge it by its title. That’s because a potential reader usually looks at book titles to determine whether it’s worth reading or not subconsciously.
As such, your title needs to pique the interest of your intended readers by giving them a brief overview of the story and tone of your book. It should act as a teaser to keep them curious without spilling the full story. Even if titles aren’t as important as the book’s content, the perfect one will make your book unforgettable.
Unfortunately, coming up with the best book titles is quite a challenge. In this article, we’ve provided tips to help you title your books better.
- Leverage Book Title Generator Tools
While book title generator tools can seem like a lazy approach, they can be valuable sources of inspiration for your book title. So, instead of relying on them as the foolproof method for titling your book, you can use them as suggestions. That’s especially since they may generate random titles sometimes.
The good thing about most book title generator tools is that they’re free and offer a wide range of options.
- What Problem Are You Solving?
Everyone has a problem that they’re looking to solve. So, if your book title promises to help them navigate their challenges, they’ll be intrigued by it. This means that you can develop the perfect book title by clarifying the problem your book hopes to solve.
Ask yourself if your book teaches a valuable skill, solves a problem, or can positively impact your readers’ lives. If yes, let your book title reflect it.
- Choose a One-Word Title
Sometimes, the most powerful and compelling book titles are just a word. The good thing is that you can get creative with one-word titles by inventing an intriguing one. It can also be a random word that evokes the kind of emotion you want your readers to have when they pick up your book.
That’s right; one-word titles may, but they do not have to allude to a specific scene in the book. It may also be the name of the primary character in your book.
- It Should Be Suitable to the Genre
Consider the genre you are writing in and choose a title that suits it. For example, a thriller should, by convention, have a different kind of title than a romance novel. In order to give readers a hint as to the type of story your book is about, your book’s title should resemble those of other books in the same genre.
- Understand the Types of Titles
There are different types of book titles, and you may ensure that your choice suits a category. For example, you can decide to choose between having a clear, descriptive, symbolic, or distinguished title. However, you should understand their strengths and weaknesses before sticking with one.
While a clear title is easy to choose/remember and straight to the point, it can come off as lazy and vague. On the other hand, descriptive titles convey deep meaning, are more specific and are attractive. Unfortunately, they’re also hard to remember and may contain more detail than you hoped to reveal.
Symbolic tiles, like descriptive ones, carry deep meanings. They’re memorable and unique. However, they aren’t the best choice if your audiences are casual readers.
Finally, distinguished titles are original, best-suited for casual readers, and apply to all genres. Unfortunately, they’re also challenging to create and are usually already popular book titles.
Is the Title Really That Important?
Yes, yes, and yes! In fact, the title is the most important thing in the book, because readers start acquaintances with the book by looking at the title. And if the title is incomprehensible, not attracting attention, or will cause bad associations, then the reader is likely to pass by the book, even if it is a masterpiece.
That is why it is very important to pay attention to the selection of the right title that will arouse readers’ interest. The conclusion suggests itself: a good title is halfway to the book’s success. Follow our tips, which we talked about in this article, and your book will win the hearts of millions of readers.
