Choosing a Title for Your Fiction or Nonfiction Book

  

Starting the year with a guest post from one of my favourite bloggers, Nutschell over at The Writing Nut. The writing group she formed, the Children's Book Writers of Los Angeles (CBW-LA), has released a collection of writing exercises and short fiction based on those exercises.  And through January 50 percent of the proceeds will go to help aid in the Philippine Relief Efforts! 

Take it away Nutschell...

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Story Sprouts Blog Tour: Choosing a Title for Your Fiction or Nonfiction Book

CBW-LA, my nonprofit writing group, published Story Sprouts, its first ever anthology last October 2013.  We learned a lot of things about the art of self-publishing both through tons of research and through our own experiences.

One of the things we learned about is the importance of a good title. When the other CBW-LA board members and I sat down to discuss our book’s title, we decided that we wanted something symbolic of the kind of anthology we would be publishing.

Story Sprouts’ co-editor Alana Garrigues sums up our title inspiration nicely:

Since authors created their anthology pieces in the moment, inspired by the seeds sown during the writing day workshop, it seemed fitting to call these entries “Story Sprouts.”

They are not polished pieces that took the authors months or years to perfect. They are the early saplings of writing, the ideas that will take root in the minds of our writers and take shape over time.

The stories are shared with the reader in their early form, in an effort to be transparent in the process of writing and to engage the reader in the process and craft of verbal creation, from seed to solid oak. 

Whether you are self-publishing or publishing traditionally, a good title is important as it is part of your book’s overall impression. It tells the agent or editor you’re querying what your book is about, what tone your book might have and what they should expect from reading it.

If you are publishing traditionally, your publisher will be in charge of deciding on your book’s final title. But if you have a strong enough title, your publisher might decide to use it instead of changing it.

If you’re self-publishing, choosing the best title for your book becomes even more important. 

The Complete Guide to Self-Publishing: Everything You Need to Know to Write, Publish, Promote and Sell Your Own Book by Sue Collier and Marilyn Ross lists down some tips for brainstorming a good title for your non-fiction book. 

Titling Non-Fiction Books: 

1. Pick a clear title over a catchy one. Start with two-three most relevant words so booksellers can easily understand what your book is about when they look it up in their database.

2. Look at the power of numbers: “7 Weeks to…, 21 Secrets for,…101 Easy…” Uneven numbers work best, according to some studies.

3. Identify the three biggest problems your book solves. Put yourself in your readers’ shoes and ask: “what’s in it for me?” or “why should I care.” Your answer to these questions can give you an idea for your title.

4. Check out other popular titles in your genre and consider a play on words. Charlie Haas played with the popular title “What Color is Your Parachute?” by titling his book “What Color is Your Parody?”

5. Magazine articles and teaser phrases on magazine covers might tickle some title ideas. Sometimes by substituting just a word, you may come up with a catchy title.

6. Look within your book for catchy phrases or key words.

7. Listen to songs and read poems. You may find a phrase that you can turn or play around with.

8. With slight word changes, cliches and common sayings might also result in an appealing title.

Titling Fiction: 

Fiction titles need to be appropriate to the genre, reflect the tone of your work, and resonate with a promise of what readers will find beneath the cover. A good title is also easily remembered and captures the essence of your story.

1. You can name your book after a character in your story (usually the main protagonist) as in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.

 

2. You can name your book after a settting, or a place that is important to your story. Ex, Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin.

3. A catchy word or phrase in your novel could also be used as a title. Ex. Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin. 

4. Just as in nonfiction, a play on popular sayings, clichés or phrases can also work for your novel. Ex. Best Friends for Never by Lisi Harrison.

 

5. An important concept in the story can also work as a good title, particularly in the case of Science Fiction and Fantasy novels. Ex. Divergent by Veronica Roth

 

6. You can also use an event around which your story evolves. Ex. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.

 

7. If you’re writing a series, alphabets or numbers might be a good way to set apart your novels. For instance, Sue Grafton’s mystery series have titles like “A is for Alibi” and “B is for Burglar.”

Some Final Tips on Book Titles:

Titles are usually 2-3 words long, and no more than 6 words in length. One word titles are even better, since they’re easier to remember.  

When choosing a title, make sure that yours is original and not similar to another book in your genre. Titles are not copyrighted so you’ll see several books out there with the same name. Avoid picking a controversial title. It might attract attention, but it might also discourage other potential readers from picking up a copy.

A good title will entice a potential reader to not only pick up your book, but hopefully buy it. It should convey the genre, tone and central idea of your work. It should also be witty, dynamic, interesting and memorable.

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Thanks for having me on your blog, Moody!

STORY SPROUTS: CBW-LA WRITING DAY EXERCISES & ANTHOLOGY 2013 

What happens when linguistic lovers and tale tellers workshop together? Inspiration. Wonder. Discovery. Growth. Magic.

Brave and talented, the writers featured in this anthology took on the challenge of dedicating one day to the raw and creative process of writing.

A rare view into the building blocks of composition, Story Sprouts is made up of nearly 40 works of poetry and prose from 19 published and aspiring children's book authors.

This compilation includes all of the anthology writing exercises and prompts, along with tips, techniques and free online writing resources to help writers improve their craft. 

KINDLE & PRINT COPIES AVAILABLE THROUGH AMAZON HERE

LINKS:

Learn more about Story Sprouts at http://www.storysproutsanthology.com/

Join the Children’s Book Writers of Los Angeles at www.cbw-la.org

Find Nutschell at:

Blog: www.thewritingnut.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/nutschell

Linked-In: www.linkedin.com/in/nawindsor

Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/nutschell