Got that list written? Good because now it's time to start coming up with those titles.

Step 2: Brainstorm Ideas for Titles

You can do this on your own or you can do it with a group of people, it's entirely up to you. Use the content of your book to do this; pick out phrases, the main ideas behind the book and so on and make as long a list as you possibly can. Write down everything, even ideas that you think sound daft because you need a long list to work from. There are no limits here.

You could, if you wanted, use an online title generator to help you as well but a better way is to get a group of friends together and share your ideas with them, from step 1 as well as this step. See what they can come up with and then put all your ideas together.

Step 3: Refine Your Ideas

Some ideas will be better than others so go through the list and remove those that simply don’t fit. You might find you are still left with a long list or you might find you have very little to choose from and nothing really jumps out at you. In that case, you need to start over.

Step 4: Research the Competition

If you know your market you should already be familiar with your competition. However, doing all your research at the start will get in the way of your creative flow so wait until you have done your brainstorming and narrowed your list down. Now pick a few titles and input them, one at a time, into Google and into Amazon.com. Sometimes, the best idea you had for a title is already taken and, while it isn’t possible to have a copyright on a title, having two or more books with the same one can cause a lot of confusion. You can, however, use other book titles that you find for ideas to base yours on so add a few to your list and juggle things around a bit more. Obviously, the more unique your title, the better.

Step 5: Be Social and Get Some Opinions

By now you should have a list of top choices so it's time to get them out there and get opinions from people that you trust. If you have a social media page, involve your followers, hold a competition and get them to vote on your choices. Go to local libraries and booksellers, ask them what they think. You might have put a lot of work into this already but often, when you start asking the opinions of others, new ideas are generated.

It is a real skill writing a decent, catchy book title and getting the right one isn’t always going to be easy. More often than not, it will be an “aha” moment that produces exactly what you have been looking for all along. But what about if your book title needs a subtitle? That’s what part 3 will cover.