Tuesday, March 06, 2018

Making a Title Change

I'm just now venturing down the path of making a title change for Riding with the Hides of Hell. The idea struck me after seeing a one star review by a person who reads biker erotica. So, I guess my title didn't convey that it was a chaste-young adult-love-adventure-story! My bad.

And the special tonight is...Roasted Popa Toes.

But it certainly pointed me in the direction of looking at marketing with a keener eye. So I did a little research and found some helpful articles by those who've been down this same road. Good resources on the topic include:

1.) On Changing Book Titles and Covers: My Own Experience by The Creative Penn

2.) How to Change a Book's Title Without Losing Reviews by Indies Unlimited

3.) On Books Changing Titles by Stacked

4.) Thread: Changing Titles on Amazon KDP Support

5.) How to Choose Your Novel's Title

Now that I know what to do AFTER I make the change...what do I do before? Like what makes a good title? Believe it or not, I've been down this "Coming Up with a Title" road before. Good stuff, too.

But that didn't keep me from doing a little more research. According to Book in a Box, while brainstorming for the perfect title, ask yourself these questions: Is it attention grabbing? Is it memorable and easy to say? Does it hint to the potential reader what the book is about? Is the title idea embarrassing or a problem for someone to say out loud to their friends?

The folks at First Second Books have some helpful tips, too. Is the title you've dreamed up already in use or too similar to another book? Does your title have profanity in it?  (Gulp! "Hell" is probably a bad choice for the childrens market.)

I'm going to add one more brainstorming question that I just thought of...does the title accurately convey the tone of the story? I'll go ahead and answer no for myself.

________________________________
"Isn't it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet?"
~ L.M. Montgomery from Anne of Green Gables.

No comments: