Things to Consider When Creating a Book Title

By George Kittredge

This morning I came across an informative new blog called Writing Simplified. What caught my eye was their March 20th post on "The Importance of Titles." This is a subject I have been giving some thought to lately and, for the most part, I tend to agree with the post's author that "titles are the single most important determiners of whether your writing will be read."

The author's advice is to give the title of your work great consideration before you publish. And that makes a lot of sense.

The title is definitely the most important determiner if you've written a white paper or a document designed to be a download. However, if your writing is a book that will be published and possibly sold in bookstores and at conferences, the title is only half of the puzzle. The second half is the book cover itself - the artwork, overall design, color combinations, size of print, etc. It's the combination that will determine whether your book will be (1) picked up and (2) opened.

However, with this in mind, here are some thoughts to consider with creating a title for your book.

1. Have a fairly good idea of what the title of your book is going to be "before" you write your book. When I began writing my book that I published in 2005, I knew exactly what I wanted the title to be. Your initial title does not have to be "cast in stone," but having a good idea of what it is will help you greatly in maintaining a common theme or thread throughout your book.
2. When you have finished your book and before you publish it, take another look at your title to see if it "still works" with your writing, and if you still like it as much as you did when you first selected it. It is quite possible that you may not change your title significantly (or at all), but it's wise to revisit your title before you go to press.
3. Keep you book title short. I made this mistake in 2005. I made my title and sub-title too long. Take a look at the best sellers' list in the newspaper or look at books featured in bookstores. Although there may be some exceptions, the more popular books seem to have shorter titles. Short titles are more memorable. 
4. And finally, ask other people if they think your title and the cover design go together. Is the combination pleasing to the eye? Is it eye catching?

And, above all, does your book title make people want to read what's inside?