How to choose a book title that sells
How to choose a book title that readers remember and search engines find, with nine quick tests, examples by genre, and how subtitles help non-fiction.
A title has one job: to make the right reader pick up the book. It needs to signal genre, spark curiosity and be easy to remember and search for. Here is how to find one.
Start with a long list
Write down at least thirty possible titles before you judge any of them. Pull phrases from your manuscript, key images, places, lines of dialogue, and the promise the book makes to its reader. Bad ideas on the list often lead to good ones.
Nine tests for a shortlist
- Does it suit the genre? Thrillers favour short, punchy titles. Literary fiction allows more poetry. Business books need clarity.
- Is it easy to say? Imagine recommending it to a friend. If you stumble, so will they.
- Is it easy to spell? Readers who cannot spell it cannot search for it.
- Is it already taken? Titles are not protected by copyright, but sharing a title with a well-known book will bury yours in search results.
- Does it work as a thumbnail? On Amazon your cover is the size of a postage stamp. Shorter titles stay readable.
- Does it make a promise? Especially for non-fiction, the reader should know what they will get.
- Does it raise a question? Good fiction titles create curiosity.
- Will it age well? Avoid slang or references that may date quickly.
- Do strangers react to it? Test your top three on people who have not read the book.
Use a subtitle for non-fiction
For non-fiction, the subtitle does the hard work. The title can be short and memorable; the subtitle explains the benefit and carries the keywords readers search for.
- Title: The Quiet Hour
- Subtitle: How Busy Founders Make Better Decisions in Less Time
Examples by genre
- Memoir: often an image or a phrase from the story, paired with a subtitle that explains it, such as The Key on the Red String: A Bradford Childhood.
- Crime: short and atmospheric, often two or three words.
- Business: a clear idea or a bold claim, plus a practical subtitle.
- Self-help: the result the reader wants, stated simply.
When to decide
Keep a working title while you write, but do not lock in the final title until the manuscript is finished. Books change in the writing, and the right title often comes from a line you have not written yet.
Title and cover together
Your title and cover design should work as one. A cover designer will need the final title, subtitle and author name before starting, and will tell you if a title is too long to sit comfortably on the front.
