Book Titles & Subtitles: How to Title Your Book
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 4 ส.ค. 2024
- A great title and/or subtitle can sell your book. Here's how to write a title that'll make readers want to pick up your book, buy it and read it. Visit us at thebookdoctors.com. SUBSCRIBE: goo.gl/9VaE9C
#Authortube #PublishingAdvice #WritingAdvice
WHAT WE COVER
Titles can be metaphoric, clever, poetic, or silly. It doesn't really matter how, but your title must make readers want to read your book. And for nonfiction, it must express clearly what your book is about. A subtitle can be just as important as a title.
0:09 We share common book title problems and misconceptions.
0:36 A title can be the thing that gets you an agent or a publisher or a buyer in a bookstore.
0:44 Examples of book titles that sell books
Step-by-step tips for writing a great title for your book, story, or poem:
1:25 Involve friends.
1:45 Create a word pool and brainstorm. Fiction, nonfiction, cookbooks: this hack is good for all books.
2:25 Make the process fun.
2:42 Test the titles. Have people rate the titles they like best. What titles grab attention?
3:39 Great places to get feedback on your titles
3:57 Don't rule ideas out too soon. Rick Beyer couldn't think of a title for his book. Here's how he and Arielle came up with THE GREATEST STORIES NEVER TOLD.
See you at the bookstore!
RELATED VIDEOS
Query Letters: How to Write a Query Letter Subject Line • Query Letters: How to ...
How to Write a Novel | The First Five Pages • How to Write a Novel |...
How to Write a Memoir • How to Write a Memoir
Write Your Passion | Publish Your Book • Write Your Passion | P...
How to Write an Elevator Pitch For Your Book • How to Write an Elevat...
THE BOOK DOCTORS
We’re Arielle Eckstut and David Henry Sterry. Between us, we have a quarter of a century’s worth of experience turning talented writers into published authors. Arielle is an author and agent-at-large at the Levine Greenberg Rostan Literary Agency. David is an author and before writing professionally, he was a comic and actor. We’re dedicated to helping writers get their books published. Successfully!
SUBSCRIBE for tips on how to successfully publish your book. goo.gl/9VaE9C
Our book, The Essential Guide to Getting Your Book Published, takes you through the entire process of conceiving, writing, selling, marketing and promoting your book. thebookdoctors.com/getting-yo...
+NEWSLETTER: eepurl.com/bmAZT
+FACEBOOK: / thebookdoctors
+TWITTER: / thebookdoctors
+WEB: www.thebookdoctors.com/
+BUY THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO GETTING YOUR BOOK PUBLISHED: www.thebookdoctors.com/getting...
Amazon amzn.to/2P35vg6
Barnes & Noble bit.ly/EGonBN
Indie Bound bit.ly/EGonIndieBound
Music: "I Double Dare You" © Copyright - Josh Levine / Frank Schaap
store.cdbaby.com/cd/schaaplevine
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jmo1a...
What are your favorite titles? Tell us in the comments.
I'm on a third draft of my book called 'An Integrated Curriculum of the Intangible Universe.' There's a mouthful.
Very cool, Julie Valentine!
Love that title!
So, you were the agent for "The Greatest...?" Wow! You nailed that one. Great video. Thanks!
Thank you! It was such a great book to work on and a great author to work with!
I like the title "Wuthering Heights." It's evocative of both the location of the story, and the dramatic tension between the main characters.
Lynn Shaffer, totally agree. One of our favorites, too.
And the words sound so good together.
I think "The Graveyard Book" (Neil Gaiman) is a clever title because the novel is "The Jungle Book" set in a graveyard. I love "The Color of Water" by James McBride because it pulls an evocative moment from the memoir and the subtitle tells what the book is about.
is there a great movie called the shape of water that came out last year? American Gods is also a great title, by Neil game as well. Obviously
Here's some of my favorite titles. 1. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs by Judi Barrett 2. John Dies at the End by David Wong 3. An Arsonists Guide to Writers' Homes in New England by Brock Clark 4. The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger 5. I still Miss My Man But My Aim is Getting Better by Sarah Shankman 5. Don't Pee on My Leg and Tell Me it's Raining. America's Toughest Family Judge Speaks Out. by Judy Sheindlin and Josh Getlin 6. A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams
Such great ones, Ally Monte!
I love your energy guys!!! Great video
Thank you so much! Appreciate it.
Just subscribed. You both are awesome.
Thanks so much! We appreciate it!
Awesome video!
Some of my favorite titles in no particular order:
Diamonds are Forever
A Murder is Announced
Death on the Nile
Absolute Beginners
The Devil Rides Out
Radiance
"A Murder is Announced" immediately catches my attention because it's counterintuitive.
Great titles, indeed!
I'm subscribed as of today! And I am having a DIckens of a time with my title. I like your suggestions. I'm going to ask my first readers for some advice after they're done reading!
Thanks so much for subscribing, Samy! It can help to crowdsource you title if you want to post some options.
So glad to find this video, as I'm in the middle of title/subtitle/book cover hell for my Dating Memoir. I've done some exercises like these, but you guys are fun and inspiring! Some titles that have already come and gone are: Tales of a Dating Fool, Can I Be Honest With You, Tales from the Dating Dojo... Still going. Subscribing now :)
Glad it was helpful!
Hmm, I love titles that start with "The". Ex: The Swiss Family Robinson, The Alchemist, The Lottery.
We never thought about the word "The" in titles before. Very interesting! And true!
My bad title converted to a good one, I think, with the help of a published writer, who said the original title, "Hack the Yak" was "clever, but means nothing to a potential reader." The book's plot turns on manipulation (a few years hence) of a HealthScore. (If your gene-based score is high, you get expensive, cutting-edge treatment; if low, prayers and painkillers at the end.) The title is now "Fatal Score." Better, I think.
John Rogers, very nice! Sounds like a bestseller!
"Fatal Score" is a cool title!
Fascinating premise. Hope it becomes a movie!
Great idea! I subscribed!
Thx Alison!
@@TheBookDoctors My favorite titles: The Door in the Wall, The Fur Person, The Source, The Wings of the Dove, Ragtime, Heart of Darkness.
Alison McMahan, Heat of Darkness-YES!
Great Drinking Game idea!
I agree. I want to use this idea for the book I'm writing now. It sounds like so much fun.
You’ve got a great title, Ally!
I also like "I Am Malala." Oh, there's a weird fantasy titled "Strange the Dreamer" and the main character's name is Lazlo Strange.
lazlo strange, what a name!
The Girl With Curious Hair by David Foster Wallace (curious hair part makes me think of David there who has gone from wonderful purple to pink!!) and Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly... multiple meanings in that title.
I was going to add "Hidden Figures" to my list, too.
Just subscribed.
Hey Julie! Thank you!
I came up with several but their already taken. Grr
That can be okay as long as they're not on the same part of the shelf. For example, if you're writing a novel, but the title is used on a work of nonfiction, you can still use the same title.
Thank you so much.;)
I can proudly say that I am good with titles--I think. they are often the first thing I think of with a story or book and I'll have a bit of the beginning and end and have to come up with the middle. Right now I'm working on an auto-fiction short story, (tell me if this is good or not) "Noriko of the Seven Days." It's about a week in the life of me and my ex partner about ten years ago when we were very determinedly caring for a baby girl. Kind of a metaphor for our relationship and somewhat prescient for us. Is that good? And the title I wish I'd thought of? Waugh's A Handful of Dust. I LOVE that title.
This is a lovely title! Is Noriko the name of your baby girl? A Handful of Dust is GORGEOUS!
Funny that you would bring up titles today. (creepy music in my head) I was thinking of changing the title of my book to something a little more creative. Get back to me if you think this is a good idea. It's been Smiley Smeeegion of the Shorethern Region since I began writing it. I did love your ideas, especially the sticky tea! Thanks, Ally
Ally Monte really? We love your title.
Blood of Tyrants, by Naomi Novik. Very straight forward with a strong appeal and promise!
But concerning titles, let's say the book you're working on is intended to be the first of a series. I grew up in the days of the Twilight saga, as well as the Inheritance Cycle. The former had the sequels of the book in the shadow of the first. In the case of the latter, the series had a collective name, but one that wasn't featured on the front covers of the individual books. Meanwhile, a little before that you had the Harry Potter books, which had the unifying factor of the character's name right there in every title, providing a more straightforward continuity. Do you guys think that a series title should be second to the title of the premier book, or the opposite way around?
Hey, Ben! I don't know that book, but I like the title.
Hi Ben! This is a great question and one that you can find examples of on either side, as you show. Sometimes a publisher isn’t sure if a book will become a series or not, so they concentrate more on the book title. But sometimes, they know from the getgo and want to make sure people know this is going to be one book of many. If you know for sure you want a series and you think you can sell it that way, it’s good to put the emphasis on the series.
Oh yessssss! How are you Arielle and David? Love this video because I'm outlining a new manuscript (OK, I lied...two new manuscripts) and I need titles.
Some of my favorite book titles:
The Age of Reinvention
Angela's Ashes
All The Light We Cannot See
Behold The Dreamers
The Anatomy of Dreams
The Immortalists
The Book of Speculation
Water For Elephants
Like Water For Chocolate
A Constellation of Vital Phenomena
Little Fires Everywhere
Hi, Moe! I'm so excited to hear you're outlining new books. Those are incredible titles. I'd forgotten about Angela's Ashes. Your list (i.e. light and constellations) made me think of Neil deGrasse Tyson's titles. His latest, Accessory to War: The Unspoken Alliance Between Astrophysics and the Military, had me hooked at the title, but I haven't read it yet. I think his other title Astrophysics for People in a Hurry is brilliant. They both have such clear promises of what the reader will learn.
Kristi Austin I love Neil! I haven’t read his book though. A Constellation of Vital Phenomena is a book by Anthony Marra. It takes place in Chechnya believe it or not lol. Has nothing to do with astrophysics.
@@moeshalabi7205 I looked up A Constellation of Vital Phenomena when I read your list because the title is awesome and I wasn't familiar with it. I'm learning about so many books from these comments. It's great.
These are such gorgeous titles. We see some themes here, too.
Kristi Austin astrophysics for people in a hurry is one of our favorites, too!
What about Polynesian Pearlesence?
We think you’re onto something but pearlescence is a mouthful. What about Polynesian Pearl or Pearls, Lisa?
@@TheBookDoctors I agree with you about it being a mouthful. How about The Mysterious Polynesian Pearl?
Until he breaks you. Is that a good title?
Yes!
Fantastic!
I have a book series that I am doing all dedicated to a one in particular band called the cranberries each one is totalled a different title and each one I came up with myself of course I am very artistic and I am very smart and I can mix words and mumble jumble them and make them sound pretty good but I’ve been reading these books since I was 11 years old and now there is four of them there is the cranberries life is a band , oed to the cranberries, The cranberries will always be remembered and The cranberries life without Dolores O’Riordan
Yes. I'm one of them. Haha
What do you think of this? Healing Sexual Shame in the Age of #MeToo
Great subtitle, we think. What about a shorter maybe more poetic main title, Veronica Monet?
@@TheBookDoctors Thanks Arielle and David! You are right. That is a subtitle. Hmmmm . . . the title isn't coming to me just yet. How about Love, Lust and Romance: Healing Sexual Shame in the Age of #MeToo.
Aren't you in Hawaii yet? Aloha! -Ally xo
Ally Monte we leave Saturday!
There's still time for us to hide in their suitcase. ;)
Really? K.
Really!
The Sex Lives of Cannibals and Getting Stoned with Savages
Ha! Love them!
Pink hair does not look good on men dude. Seriously.