Book Title Critiques

From the desk of John Kremer, author of 1001 Ways to Market Your Books . . . To the next national bestselling author! That's you! An effective book title alone can make the difference between a mediocre seller and a bestselling book. The title of a book, like the headline of an advertisement or news story, often makes the difference between a reade... r passing the book by or picking it up and giving it more careful consideration. More often than not, the reader gives less than a moment's attention to any book title; if you don't capture the reader's imagination or curiosity or desire in that short moment, you will have lost the sale. More important, however, is that many distributors, bookstore buyers, reviewers, and subsidiary rights buyers also judge a book by its title (and its cover). They know from experience that a good title sells more books. As Gloria Norris of the Book-of-the-Month Club once noted, We can break out good writersespecially if their books have good titles. Does a title make a difference? Yes, it does! Back in the 1950s, the Little Blue Book series tested all their titles. Which of these titles do you think sold best? The Art of Courtship vs. The Art of Kissing Care of Skin and Health vs. Eating for Health The Art of Kissing sold more than 60,000 copies in one year while The Art of Courtship sold 17,000 copies. That didn't surprise me. The Care of Skin and Hair outsold Eating for Health by 52,000 copies to 36,000 copies. All four titles (with very little if any other selling copy or description) were exposed to the same number of readers the same number of times, so the sales reflect a really solid test of the titles - and how book buyers responded to them. You need to make your title memorable. That's what I look for when I critique book titles. When John Gray followed up his bestselling Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus with What Your Mother Couldnt Tell You and Your Father Didnt Know, Borders returned 50% and Ingram 70%. Why? Because the second book didnt have nearly as memorable a ...Read More