Have you noticed how short fiction book titles are becoming and how long some nonfiction titles are? I am reviewing Dan Poynter’s book, Self-Publishing Manual (volume 2), How to Write, Print and Sell Your Own Book Employing the Latest Technologies and the Newest Techniques.
Sure is a long title, but this seems to be the wave of the future for nonfiction books. Of course, generally, for nonfiction, there is a title and a subtitle. So many newer books, however, have titles that would not stand alone without the subtitle and the entire title/subtitle must be stated or read in order for the potential consumer to understand the focus and scope of that book.
Take Mark Levine’s book, The Fine Print of Self-Publishing. It really, really helps one understand what this book is about when he or she knows the subtitle, which is, The Contracts and Services of 45 Self-Publishing Companies—Analyzed, Ranked and Exposed. (This is a book I recommend often, by the way.)
Penny Sansevieri has a pretty hot and reasonable title with Red Hot Internet Publicity. But her subtitle explains her book to a greater degree. I believe her subtitle (along with her name as she is widely known in this area or expertise) will help to sell this book: An Insider’s Guide to Marketing Your Book on the Internet.
I guess that Brent Sampson (or his publisher) didn’t think that the title, Sell Your Book on Amazon, was enough. So they tacked on this subtitle for clarity: The Book Marketing COACH Reveals Top-Secret “How-to” Tips Guaranteed to Increase Sales for Print-on-Demand and Self-Publishing Writers.
Even my next book has quite a title (thanks to the publisher at Allworth/Skyhorse). Promote Your Book, Over 250 Proven, Low-Cost Tips and Techniques for the Enterprising Author.
The award for the longest book title goes to Nigel Tomm for a book having a 650 word title. Don’t worry, I’m not going to repeat that title here.
And then there are short titles—mostly used for books of fiction. Stephen King has a new book called Ur. But several authors over the years have used even shorter titles—yes, one letter titles such as C, K, and H, etc.
If you need help choosing a title for your book, consider using Lulu’s title analyzer: http://www.lulu.com/titlescorer/index.php.
Rachel Gardner, in her March 3, 2010 blog post has some interesting and, perhaps, useful ideas for choosing a title for your book. http://cba-ramblings.blogspot.com
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