By Denise Turney
True. Plot, character scenes, dialogue, valuable how-to information, inspirational content, etc. make up the bulk of a book. Absent intriguing, engaging or educational content (that readers can’t find in “just any” non-fiction book) it can be tough for a book to find its way off bookstore shelves, to the cash register and in the hands of eager readers. People certainly aren’t likely to continue reading a book they care nothing about. But readers don’t sit down and read print or electronic (e-books) in their entirety before deciding whether or not to purchase the books. Readers generally don’t even decide to pick a book up and leaf through it until after they’ve caught a glimpse of the book’s cover and title. Bottom line, good titles help sell books.
Make Your Book Stand Out In The Crowd
On May 18, 2011, Bowker (administrator of the International Standard Book Number) announced in its annual book production report that the numbers of books expected to be in print during 2010 would increase by 5 percent over 2009, taking the numbers up to a projected 316,480. This represented nearly an additional 11,000 books a year as the numbers of books in print as of 2009 were 302,410. That’s a whole lot of books. Nearly 51 percent of the increase in books in print was due to larger numbers of computer books being published.
Regardless of the genre your non-fiction or fiction book is in, it may likely compete with hundreds or thousands of other books pushed onto store shelves. Things aren’t much different if you publish an e-book. Visit retailers like Amazon.com, Cushcity.com, Barnes and Noble, Apple iPad and iBookstore and one of the first things you may see are rows of book covers. The titles and designs (e.g. colors, fonts, layout) of these books helps readers decide whether or not they want to read the book’s table of contents as well as a few excerpts from the book.
Create a good book title and you’re online and offline sales might increase. To arrive at a good title for your book consider:
- Visiting your local bookstore and jotting down the titles to books that grab your attention (without you having to open the books or read the book’s back flap)
- Checking out two or more online retailers and rating titles according to how much emotion the titles emit from deep within you
- Speaking titles you’re thinking about adding to your book out loud and measuring your emotional response to hearing the titles spoken aloud
- Building of list of 5 to 10 book titles and asking your friends, colleagues and relatives to rate their favorite title
- Arriving at titles that give readers a clear glimpse into what your books about
It’s true that first impressions can be lasting. As an author your book’s title and cover design are often a reader’s first impression of what the book’s about. If it’s interesting by itself, your book’s title might garner the attention of book clubs and media outlets. It also might attract large numbers of book buyers who might have passed your book by had the title not jumped out and grabbed them, demanding their attention.
Denise Turney is a freelance writer and novelist who resides on the East Coast. She is online at: www.chistell.com
Get into Spiral online at: https://www.ebookit.com/books/0000000841/Spiral.html
Check out Long Walk Up online at: https://www.ebookit.com/books/0000000531/Long-Walk-Up.html
Sources:
http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publishing-and-marketing/article/43740-accurate-metadata-sells-books.html (Publisher’s Weekly: Accurate Metadata Sells Books)
http://www.speakwithoutinterruption.com/site/2009/05/the-importance-of-a-great-book-cover-design (Speak Without Interruption: The Importance of a Great Book Cover Design)
http://www.bowker.com/index.php/press-releases/633-print-isnt-dead-says-bowkers-annual-book-production-report (Bowker: Print Isn’t Dead, Says Bowker’s Annual Book Production Report)
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