How much does a book title influence you when you are considering buying it?

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Phoenix

Senior Member
Location
Oregon, U S
As an author selecting the best title for a book is difficult for me. Today I was talking to a lady at my drug insurance company. After a fun conversation I mentioned I was a writer and told her about a book I'd written and the title. She said she'd buy a book with that title, not even knowing anything about it. Now, she could have been just being nice, but it did set me to thinking again about my long time problem, how to select a title that catches the eye. With so many books out there now that anyone anywhere can publish a book about anything, it's even more important. Even if you get a large publishing house to publish it, they rarely provide any publicity. Only the big names or ain't it awful stories get a publishing budget. For the most part the author has to do all the work her/himself.

One of the things I did was try different names on a book, one at a time of course, and then offer it for free under each subesquent title. Some title didn't have any takers and some had quite a bunch. So I'd keep the effective title. But that can get cumbersome to implement.

In the next few months my latest book will be uploaded. I have a title I like, but I have no idea if it is a good one, since as an author, my mind thinks differently than a lot of others.

How would you suggest I go about selecting titles?
 

For example if a book is titled Dear Henry...I'm not even gonna bother with it because it already tells me it's nothing I'll be interested in.

However, I recently got a book called The Witness. It's a good book so far. Same two words but it tells me something juicy awaits.

You have to pick something that will mean something to you and yet something that will tempt your readers to pick it up and see what it is.
 
The book title is what draws me to a book first, then the description. The description has to hold my interest and make me want to read more therefore purchasing the book.

I've been drawn to many titles that sound interesting only to read the description and be turned off from buying the book.
 

MarciKS said:
For example if a book is titled Dear Henry...I'm not even gonna bother with it because it already tells me it's nothing I'll be interested in.

However, I recently got a book called The Witness. It's a good book so far. Same two words but it tells me something juicy awaits.

You have to pick something that will mean something to you and yet something that will tempt your readers to pick it up and see what it is.
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Thank you. I know all that. I don't know how to read the minds of someone who thinks differently than I do. For example I would not be attracted to a book called The Witness. Years back there was a book called The Bridges of Madison County. It was a bestseller. The title turned me off. At the time I read it to see what was selling. The Harry Potter books sucked to me. But others loved them. I read part of one to my grandson in-law when he was seven and I was bored to death. Then I learn that Harry was initially written to be a girl and the author changed the sex to be a boy so it would sell better. I would have been more likely to like it if it was a girl. James Michner's book The Source would never have attracted me because of the title. I read it because my boyfriend loved it. I read it to get to know my boyfriend better. The book The Notebook had a sucky title. It sold big time. And these days people often buy online....
 
Becky1951 said:
The book title is what draws me to a book first, then the description. The description has to hold my interest and make me want to read more therefore purchasing the book.

I've been drawn to many titles that sound interesting only to read the description and be turned off from buying the book.
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Writing a good description is tricky. It has to be shot and to the point. I never buy because of any of this. I like to look at parts of the book here and there to see if the writing is still as good later as it is in the beginning.
 
I will respond to what you deleted. I want a title that sells. What I'm asking is what appeals to you...what types of words. If it has sex in the title in some form or another would that turn you off. Would a title like Different From Me turn you off? It happens to be a title for one of my books. It's true to the content of the book.... This is just an example.
 
Phoenix said:
I will respond to what you deleted. I want a title that sells. What I'm asking is what appeals to you...what types of words. If it has sex in the title in some form or another would that turn you off. Would a title like Different From Me turn you off? It happens to be a title for one of my books. It's true to the content of the book.... This is just an example.
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I would definitely not buy a book that had ''sex'' in the title.

I'm an avid reader , and as @Becky1951 said.. first the title has to draw me then the description.

For example I was intrigued when I first saw 50 shades of Gray... but as soon as I realised what it was about I put the book back down.. I never did read it. I also agree with you about Harry Potter , completely bored me silly... yet it was a smash hit... would it have been without the movies tho'?
 
MarciKS said:
Is there a place where we can read about the book like the covers on the books themselves?
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Yes, you have to click on the title. I'm not trying to sell a book here, because the last time I did that I was attacked by a lurker who was mad at someone else. It caused me all kinds of professional hassles and one of the moderators was kind enough to remove the stuff I had about several books. None of them are available on Amazon because they want to own rights to the authors book. So if ever anyone here wants to know about how to find them I will let you know some other way. Here's the cover for this book.DifferentFromMe2small.jpg
 
I read with a Kindle and download most of my material from my local library or buy thru Amazon. I read at least a book a week and often more.

Cover Art more than title for me. In choosing a book I've heard nothing about - I try to determine genre and if the cover art doesn't indicate it (bodice rippers, sci-fi or religious - my personal never reads - usually do) the library page will. Then I read description and the excerpt if offered.
 
I generally don't buy books, I usually check them out from the library in electronic format if possible.

When I do get a physical book from the library the title sometimes catches me, other times it's the art on the spine or the art on the cover that will catch my attention. What I do next is to read the first page of book and if it catches me I check it out from the library. For electronic books I'll check it out if it sounds interesting and then read the first page and check it back in if it doesn't interest me.
 
MarciKS said:
May I ask what the book is about? Is it one about religious differences?
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It is a coming of age story of three young women of different faiths-Sheeawna a Christian, Akilah a Muslim and Mali a Hindu. Through many difficulties they discover their similarities and pursue a common goal with those of differing beliefs. It is a powerful story of growth, friendship and honor.

Some of the characters in the book are based on people I knew once upon a time.
 
asp3 said:
I generally don't buy books, I usually check them out from the library in electronic format if possible.

When I do get a physical book from the library the title sometimes catches me, other times it's the art on the spine or the art on the cover that will catch my attention. What I do next is to read the first page of book and if it catches me I check it out from the library. For electronic books I'll check it out if it sounds interesting and then read the first page and check it back in if it doesn't interest me.
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Ditto! I read what the books about. Titles don’t always paint a true picture of what the books about
 
Titles:
" In the Belly of the Beast," you couldn't walk by that book without picking it up and reading the flyleaf."
However, such 'grabber' titles are difficult to obtain.
Publishers have all types of employees that have a part in the actual publication, including those that can produce 'grabber'
titles.
 
"You can't judge a book by its cover" or so they say.

Unless a title absolutely tells me about the subject of a book (as the above-mentioned they say, a book titled "Lincoln's Doctor's Dog" would be a guaranteed best seller, as everyone likes to read about Lincoln, doctors and dogs), the title means little to me. "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" could be about urban forestry. "Gone With the Wind" could be a listing of hurricane disasters. Stephen King's "The Stand" could be about a demonically-possessed side table. It's what is printed inside the cover or on the back that counts.

That said, the cover art can immediately make me put the book down. If it has WWII fighter planes on it, it's back on the shelf. If the White House is on the cover, I know it's about politics and I get enough of that every day without curling up with it. Most Westerns don't interest me.

When I make my visits to the library, I may pick up 50 books and look at the blurb before I find the 10 I want to take home.
 
I love browsing through thrift stores for books, and it's hard to say why a particular book title attracts my attention. But if the thrift store is that organized I am drawn to the mystery or supernatural categories. Then I read the first few pages. Either it interests me or it doesn't.
 
jerry old said:
Titles:
" In the Belly of the Beast," you couldn't walk by that book without picking it up and reading the flyleaf."
However, such 'grabber' titles are difficult to obtain.
Publishers have all types of employees that have a part in the actual publication, including those that can produce 'grabber'
titles.
Click to expand...
I read part of In the Belly of the Beast because of the title. Since it was a true story I stopped reading part way through. I didn't want to know that much about a killer's mind. A lot of those titles the publishers select don't grab. It's the promotion that does it.

I thank everyone for responding. This is research for me...in a way.
 


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