Today more than ever, the title of a book (and its cover) can have a bigger effect on the success of a book (or a brand) than almost anything else. In some cases, savvy publishers do little more than give an existing book a new title/subtitle with an improved book cover to give a book a sales boost.

A bestseller starts with a good title!

Your title should:

• Be easy to remember (1–2-word titles work best!).
• Have an immediate effect; think about the titles that stopped you (or made you click).
• Appeal to your target reader (in your niche, the more specific, the better).
• Have a good subtitle that reveals what the book is about in as few words as possible.

How many books have you picked up simply because of a title that grabbed your attention?

Spend some time on publisher websites and see which titles grab your attention.

How do you get a good review? Put your book in the hands of the right reader. How do you get a bad review? Put your book in the hands of the wrong reader.

An accurate and descriptive subtitle will help get your book in the hands of the right reader.

Examples and ideas…

 

Fiction

• The Orphan Collector: A Heroic Novel of Survival During the 1918 Influenza Pandemic
• The Secrets We Keep: A Gripping Emotional Page Turner
• The Storm: A Story Inspired by Reincarnation in the Golden Era of Film and Music
• Into the Darkest Day: An Emotional and Totally Gripping WW2 Historical Novel
• The Pursuit of the Pankera: A Parallel Novel About Parallel Universes

 

Non-Fiction

• The Year of Less: How I Stopped Shopping, Gave Away My Belongings, and Discovered Life Is Worth More Than Anything You Can Buy in a Store
• The Good Karma Diet: Eat Gently, Feel Amazing, Age in Slow Motion
• Out Earn: How to Earn More than Your Parents!
• Earn the A. Get to College. Get well paid.
• The ABCs to getting A’s: The Proven Path to Better Grades with the Power Learning System
• The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change
• The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love That Lasts
• You are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life
• A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future
• The Happiness Advantage: How a Positive Brain Fuels Success in Work and Life
• Goddesses Never Age: The Secret Prescription for Radiance, Vitality, and Well-Being
• Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose
• Tears to Triumph: The Spiritual Journey from Suffering to Enlightenment
• Anxious for Nothing: Finding Calm in a Chaotic World
• Dying to Be Me: My Journey from Cancer to Near Death to True Healing
• Eat Dirt: Why Leaky Gut May Be the Root Cause of Your Health Problems and 5 Surprising Steps to Cure It
• Dealing with People You Can’t Stand: How to Bring Out the Best in People at Their Worst
• What Color Is Your Parachute? A Practical Manual for Job-Hunters and Career-Changers
• The Total Money Makeover: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness
• The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing
• Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking
• Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action
• GUTS ’N GUNSHIPS: What it was Really Like to Fly Combat Helicopters in Vietnam

 

A trend I have seen—like it or not—is piggy backing on the success of an existing title that already has captured people’s attention and getting that word of mouth we all need. It may also help your book show up in Amazon search results better (although Amazon works hard to penalize authors who are gaming the system).

I first noticed it when someone published 50 Shades of Kale. Dozens of authors jumped on the The Fine Art of Not Giving a F*#K bandwagon. And now I’m seeing it with The Life Changing Magic…. Consumers are click happy, and it’s sad to say that many of the sales these authors are getting might be the result of mistaken identity.

 

Authorpreneur Brian Schwartz is the creator of the award-winning 50 Interviews series. More than 500 authors have trusted Brian and his team to publish their work. The mission of Brian’s practice is “to bridge the gap between self-publishers and traditional publishing by applying the proven strategies and techniques of successful independent publishers.” To meet this objective, Brian launched AuthorDock in 2016 to provide authors an all-in-one secure portfolio management tool to manage deadlines, extended teams, and critical resources. Brian is also the developer of PubWriter, a click-to-publish publishing platform used by authors to create their own web hubs for publishing, promotion, and sales.

What keeps me excited about publishing after 10+ years?

One word: Technology.

Publishing is changing faster than most industries and I often refer to it as being in a ‘hyper’ state of change. Despite all this change, there are still two paths for an author to choose from to get their work in front of readers:

• Door 1: Find an agent and land a publisher
• Door 2: Self-publish

If an author is fortunate enough to convince an agent they have the talent, and that agent has the ear of the right publisher, they might get published.

For many of us, door 2 is the only option. If we don’t self-publish, our work will never be read. Either way, the path to getting published is rarely a straight line.

I want to share another option to getting your words in front of readers that is still largely untapped. By untapped, I mean it’s not yet over saturated which means you can be a bigger fish in a smaller pond.

Regardless of the door you choose, your success will largely depend on your ability to reach an audience. It’s why many authors don’t see success until much later in their career. Building an audience takes time!

What’s the new option? It’s called Substack. There’s no cost to the author and the company only makes money when you make money.

Substack offers a new way to build an audience. The technical requirements are about as minimal as they can make them. You don’t need a website. You don’t need an email list. You just need good writing and the discipline to post regularly and share your work. Once you do create your own domain on the site, add a link to your URL in your email footers.

I’d suggest you first check out some of the other authors on the home page and then start your own Substack newsletter. Here’s mine.

Grab your Substack subdomain before someone else does!

Why do I like Substack?

• They put writers first.
• They follow the KISS rule.
• No advertisements!

Authorpreneur Brian Schwartz is the creator of the award-winning 50 Interviews series. More than 500 authors have trusted Brian and his team to publish their work. The mission of Brian’s practice is “to bridge the gap between self-publishers and traditional publishing by applying the proven strategies and techniques of successful independent publishers.” To meet this objective, Brian launched AuthorDock in 2016 to provide authors an all-in-one secure portfolio management tool to manage deadlines, extended teams, and critical resources. Brian is also the developer of PubWriter, a click-to-publish publishing platform used by authors to create their own web hubs for publishing, promotion, and sales.