Authors are often thought of as the masters of words, but a good number of them struggle when it comes to creating titles for their books. Creating great titles for books is an art that is difficult to perfect. The following are some considerations that an author should take into account when creating a book title.

A title is for readers as well as the audience

It is very important for an author to come up with a title as early as possible. This is because a title is not only for the book cover but it also guides the author’s writing and brings cohesion to the book. An author can work aimlessly on a book, but when he gets a great topic his efforts immediately become focused and this reflects in his book. A great non-fiction book should have a great title and subtitle. Let us delve into that a little bit.

A title is the ‘hook’ and a subtitle is the ‘promise’

A hook in pop music is a part of a song that people cannot forget. It could be a single word, a phrase, or an entire chorus. The hook of a book title should contain the book's unique selling point or brand. It should make readers distinguish an author’s book from any others. It should never have words that are overused or those that have vague meanings. The use of common or vague words makes it difficult for a title to uniquely identify a book.

The subtitle, on the other hand, should tell readers exactly what the book is about. An author should indicate the target audience for the book in the subtitle if possible. It should also have keywords that could be used in searches by people looking for the book. Again, overused words and phrases do not belong in the subtitle. Fluffy language and jargon should also not be used. A subtitle must be clear and to the point.

A title should have a good sound and rhythm

Choosing a title should not just be about getting the right words to describe the book. The words should also have a good sound and rhythm. The sound is about the words themselves and the rhythm is about how the words rise and fall. The sound and rhythm of a title is important because if the title is hard to speak out loud, it will also be difficult to remember.

Bottom line

No matter how good a book is, the title plays an important role in its success. By creating a great title, an author creates a brand that he can be proud to be associated with. This brand can underpin everything the author does, talks about, or represents. The process of creating a title should never be rushed. An author should be careful not to settle for a bad title because he cannot find a better one. If the author is unable to come up with a title, he should take time off to collect his thoughts. He should look at some of the book titles that he likes to get the general idea of how a good title should sound.