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How to Title a Book Cover

The title on the cover of a book is the first thing a reader sees. Along with the cover jacket design, the title can influence whether a buyer will become interested in the book. Titles can be short, one word, attention grabbers or they can be long, wordy riddles. The main thing is to come up with something you like and that will interest a prospective reader at first glance. The process of titling a book is slightly akin to naming a baby. You'll know it when you like it and once it's been chosen you can't go back.

Instructions

    • 1

      Search Amazon.com, Barnesandnoble.com or Borders.com for books in the same genre as yours. Select 20 titles that you like. You will notice there are many ways of titling a book, but there are similarities amongst books in the same genre. Save this internet book list so that you can review it later.

    • 2

      Write a paragraph describing what your book is about. Think about this as if were going to be the blurb on the back, or front inside cover, of the book.

    • 3

      Make a column listing all the verbs you used in the paragraph description. Also, make a column listing the nouns used in the paragraph description.

    • 4

      Write a list of words that have to do with the subject matter of your book. This is a free association exercise so write anything that comes to your mind. These could be major plot points, or small details, such as what a character eats for lunch one day. Think in terms of listing verbs, nouns and adjectives.

    • 5

      Adds the nouns and verbs from the free association list to their respective columns from the paragraph list. Make a new column listing the adjectives.

    • 6

      Combine the verbs, nouns and adjectives into as many combinations as possible. Try to come up with 20 combinations that would make good titles. Make a list of 20 possible titles that you like.

    • 7

      Check the 20 book titles from your internet book list. If one of your titles looks like it would fit with the internet book list, you might have a strong title.

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