When authors ask me how to pick a book title, I tell them to brainstorm a few options first and then get feedback.
Unfortunately, many authors skip the second part of that recommendation.
I get it, because I’ve been tempted to skip feedback too. But I’ve published several books now, and I’ve learned the same lesson with each one: you must get feedback on your book title if you want your book to succeed.
Even if you think you have the best title ever. You probably don’t.
I’m in the editing stages now on my next nonfiction book, which has had the same working title since I started the first draft. I was certain it was perfect. I loved it. It was clever. It was unique. People smiled when I shared it with them.
But before I sent the book to my editor, I figured I should do some title research, “just in case.” Boy am I glad I did. Once more, I learned why getting feedback from your audience is so critical to your book’s success.
A Book Title Needs to Serve the Reader, Not the Writer
As I prepared my manuscript for editing, I remembered the cardinal rule for nonfiction books: they need to solve a problem for the reader.
My book did that, I was certain, but as the time for editing got closer, I began to doubt whether my title reflected that fact. A little voice in the back of my head started to come up with more straightforward titles that would make it clear what the book had to offer.
These titles weren’t as clever or fun as my original. But “fun” and “clever” are often reflections of a writer’s whimsy, not a reader’s needs.
I decided it would be best to choose my favorite straightforward title and pitch it against my original title to an audience of readers. I have done that with each of my nonfiction book titles and always learned a lot from the exercise. This time would prove to be no different.
Survey Responses Can Help You Determine Your Best Book Title
I used the survey service “PickFU” for my comparisons. The company allows you to choose your audience and provides fast results. You pay for the service, but considering how important your book title is to the success of your book, it’s well worth it.
The best part of the service, though, is that it requires all respondents to explain why they selected the answer they did. It’s these responses that I have found most valuable. (I mention Pick FU because I like the company and you might too—I do not have an affiliate relationship with them.)
I set up the survey in the morning and had the results that night. Wow, were they ever eye-opening. Not only did I discover that 75 percent of respondents preferred the straightforward over the clever title, but the responses also indicated that neither title clearly identified what the book was really about.
Oops!
Reading through the comments allowed me to zero in on where the misunderstandings were coming from, and to better determine the type of title the book needed to have.
As I looked back on my other surveys, I realized that every one has led me to choose an entirely different title than I had originally planned—one that in the end, served the book and its readership much better than my original titles would have. (Overwhelmed Writer Rescue is a good example!)
5 Reasons Why You Need Outside Feedback on Your Book Title
Even if you’re confident that your title is the best possible title for your book, I urge you to get some outside feedback on it. (Often the more confident you are the more you need that feedback!) Here’s why.
1. The title that sounds clever to you may turn readers off.
I was surprised to find that this was so with my favorite title for my most recent book. It had a subtle level of sarcasm in it, and considering other book titles I’ve seen on the shelf lately (like The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*uck by Mark Manson and Calm the F*uck Down by Sarah Knight), I figured it would fit today’s market.
But my respondents didn’t like it. While the 25 percent that preferred it agreed with me that it was attention-getting, witty, fun, and interesting, the 75 percent that preferred the straightforward title thought the clever one was negative and condescending.
I never would have guessed that, but it reminded me of what I know is always true about titles, headlines, and any other similar text—a positive slant is always best.
2. Your title may not accurately reflect what your book is about.
As I read the responses to my two different titles, I was surprised to find that people thought the book would be about something different than what it’s actually about.
This can happen with both nonfiction and fiction titles. In nonfiction, your title must accurately reflect what your reader is likely to learn in your book. In fiction, your title must accurately reflect the genre.
Are you sure yours accomplishes this important task? Your feedback can help.
3. Survey comments help you focus your story/message.
Another benefit I’ve received from book title surveys is the chance to solidify my book’s message, both in my mind and on the page.
A book is such a massive undertaking that we often get lost in the details. When you’re preparing your book for that first professional edit, you have the chance to step back and see the big picture.
What’s the overall theme of your fiction book? What message are you trying to get across in your nonfiction book? Is that coming across in your title? Is it clear in your book?
When I read over my comments, it was like the whole of my book congealed in my mind into one cohesive message, and that paved the way for a new and better title—and the book cover copy.
4. A survey can help you write your back cover copy.
I read my survey results at night. The next morning, I woke up and wrote the first draft of my back cover copy.
It’s a job most writers hate–summarizing a book’s worth of work in a few paragraphs. Yet the back cover copy is critical to book sales. It needs to attract your reader’s attention and be intriguing enough that she’ll part with her hard-earned money to read it.
I usually avoid writing the back cover copy until I have to, so it was a blessing to have the ideas popping after examining the results of my survey. Once I had both the book’s main theme and the reader’s problem clearly in mind, the back cover copy flowed easily.
5. A book title survey can provide insight into what your cover should look like.
If you do your survey right, it can provide you with information that affects not only your book title but your back cover copy and cover art as well.
When I realized that my titles were conveying a different message than what was in the book, I was able to focus on what my ideal readers would want and thereby come up with a better title conveying that.
Knowing that I could then imagine what sort of cover would convey that message, to reassure readers that they’d find what they were looking for inside.
What are your readers looking for from your book? Do you know? Once you do, you’ll be able to ensure that your cover meets that need. If your readers are looking for horror, does your cover reflect that? What about if they’re looking for help with their love life or a trip into a future world?
A survey can help you turn a critical eye toward your potential book covers to make sure words and art work together to give your book the best chance of success.
Ask Your Survey Respondents to Explain Their Answers
Will you take the time to get feedback on your book title? Whether you write fiction or nonfiction, I hope you will.
You don’t have to use a service like PickFu, though I highly recommend it because the strangers who respond are less likely to be biased than, say, your friends and family or writing buddies. You can gather opinions from your writing pals if you prefer, but no matter how you do it, make sure you ask for people to explain their answers.
You’ll get much more useful information that can help you not only create the perfect title but put together an entire cover package that will set your book up for marketing success.
Do you get outside feedback on your book titles? How do you do it?