Book Titles - How to Choose Them

WRITING WEDNESDAY

So you are trying to come up with a great title - a title that will make everyone buy your book. Wouldn't we all like to do that.

You want it to be original, memorable, not too short and not too long and convey what your book is about.

One way is to make a list of words that come to mind when you think of your setting, time period, emotions, questions and characters in your book.

If and when you come up with a few titles, go to Amazon and do a search for your three or four possible titles. How many books show up? The fewer the better.

I've been working on a story for around 10 years. I'm glad I didn't publish it sooner, because it is so much better now than it was. It was a novella. One of my critique partners said he bet I could make it into a novel if I tried (meaning make it at least 50,000 words). I took him up on the challenge and it is now almost 52,000 words. I didn't think I could do it, but I did. I took it chapter by chapter and added to the story.  My latest title for it is, Where the Stars Grant Wishes. I searched the title on Amazon and no other books came up. Yeah!

I have a middle grade that I have been working on for about the same amount of time. I wrote a list of words (adjectives, nouns, setting, characters) It has had different titles and the one I have for it now, I'm not really satisfied with. Here are the words I came up with to describe it.

mystery - family secrets  -  ghostly presence
country cousins
treasure - treasure hunt
cave
attic
discoveries
rural country setting
takes place in the summer - 1966

A cousin comes to visit her country cousin in the summer of 1966, to help keep her cousin from missing her brother so much, who just got sent to Vietnam. The girls will soon celebrate their 12th birthday. They find an old letter from the Civil War era in the attic and it takes them on an adventure to find a hidden family treasure. No one has seen the chest since it was hid by their 13-year-old ancestor, Dudley, during the Civil War, who turns out to be a helpful ghostly presence. The story of the hidden treasure has been passed down through the generations, but no one has been able to find it. Will two persistent snoops, inspired by Nancy Drew, find it? Or will they be scared away by snakes, bats, endless passageways and a rumor that the cave is cursed?

Any suggestions for the name?


Here are some links for title generators and writing in general:

Title Generator

Great site for writing. Are you having writer's block? Lots of writing prompts and generators.

Another title generator site.

Lots of title generator sites listed here.

How do you pick your book titles?

Any ideas? Add them in the comment section.

Happy Writing!