O Romeo… ‘Tis but thy name that is my enemy:Thou art thyself, though not a Montague. … What’s in a name? That which we call a roseBy any other name would smell as sweet;”–William Shakespeare

While a flower’s name won’t affect its fragrance, a book’s title can drastically affect how many copies it sells.

So how can you develop an amazing title for your book? 

Over the years, I’ve observed an ironic quirk among authors: The better an author is at writing a book, the worse they seem to be at titling their book. 

Authors Need an Outside Perspective on Book Titles

Here are a few prime examples. First is the original book title, followed by the publisher’s final title.

* All’s Well That Ends Well -> War and Peace* Tomorrow Is Another Day -> Gone With the Wind* The Dead Un-Dead -> Dracula* Private Fleming, His Various Battles -> The Red Badge of Courage* Something That Happened -> Of Mice and Men 

I could go on and on. If you search online, you’ll find many more examples.

You know too much about your own book to decide what’s best to feature in your title. It is hard to read the label when you are standing inside the bottle. 

The title, more than almost any other component of your book, needs an outside perspective. 

How can you get an outside perspective on your book’s title?

* If you are traditionally published, a team at your publisher will chime in on book titles. * If you are indie published, a paid mastermind group with other successful authors can give you useful feedback.* You can also test your book title ideas on your readers using a Facebook Split Test and then use the data to help you decide. But before you test them, you must created two good titles.

What is the purpose of a book title?

Back in the 18th century, the purpose of a book’s title was to describe the book’s contents. 

* An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith * On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection by Charles Darwin* The Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life by Charles Darwin. 

Things have changed in the last 200 years. Instead of publishing a few hundred books each year, authors and publishers now publish a million books every year. It’s no longer possible to read every new book, and a million books per year is a lot of books competing for attention. 

For these reasons, the purpose of a book title has changed, and the shift has confused authors.

If your book title describes the contents of your book, you will get lost in the noise. Your title must attract attention rather than describe contents. Click to Tweet

Book titles rarely sell books on their own, but they can attract attention and generate curiosity. 

This leads us to the first goal you should aim for when developing your book title.

Goal #1 Evoke Curiosity

Your title should make the reader curious about your book. Online, you want the reader to click on the cover. At a physical bookstore, your title should compel them to pull it off the shelf.