CHOOSING A BOOK TITLE

I have been working with a client on choosing the title for his upcoming book. It's such a struggle, expecially when you are the author. There are so many ideas running through your head and you are so busy with editing and formating that the title just escapes you.

Most authors go for the professorial sounding title, but that type of title belongs on a text book. If you are targeting the average person you want to stand out from the crowd. Unlike a text book, the title that you will be marketing must ring in people's ears. They must be able to say, "Oh, yes, I've heard of that book" and then they must feel compelled to buy the book. People have to buy text books for study purposes but no one HAS to buy your book. You must sell them on it.

The subtitle is the place for clarification - the place where you can say in a phrase what the book is about. The title needs to "say" what the book is about in 3 or 4 words only. Think: Rich Dad, Poor Dad, which you probably know is a book about money management.

The funny thing is that the title is usually right there in the book. You just didn't think of it as a title.

Write your book, and then consult with me. We'll figure it out. My current client and I just had an Ah, Ha moment this morning. There it was - he wrote it in the list of symptoms of the medical condition about which he is writing. It just jumped out at me but he was too close to the project to see it.

What fun!!

Denise