What’s in a name? The Search for the Perfect Title.

When an author creates characters they tend to choose names for them that lend a descriptive air to their personality.  If they are moody or emotional they tend to get names like Damien or Monique.  Lighthearted, less serious characters might be Charlie or Violet.  Jake or Samantha represent strong, sexy characters.  It’s all in the name, right?

The same goes for book titles.  Naming a book requires the same well-planned thought process and is just as important!

You may think that makes obvious sense.  But there is more to choosing a title than just slapping a name on the cover that has a reference to the story plot.  A successful title needs to have two key factors.  One, it needs to be compelling enough to hook the reader, making them pause in their book search.  Two, it needs to be unique or creative enough to have a high rank in search results. Readers can’t pause to check out a book if the book doesn’t appear.  I learned this fact the hard way.  (Believe me, I am no expert.  This is just my own personal discovery).

That being said, let me give you my example of what I learned after choosing the titles of my books in my Paramour Romance Series.

As a new author, self-publishing my works, I had not given much consideration to the effect of a well-planned title.  I simply thought that having a title that tied into the story was all that I needed for it to be successful.  His Second Chance (my first book) was, in my opinion, a great title.  It was a story of man who had a second chance with his first love.  Fitting if I do say so myself.  Now, my second book I titled Take Me Home.  It also had a fairly strong tie to the story line.  But, as I learned later, that wasn’t enough.

The issue became apparent when I visited Amazon and typed in the titles to check on my sales.  His Second Chance immediately popped up, with only a few other books of similar titles competing for visibility. The listing return for a reader searching for that book, by title, was excellent.  Feeling pleased, I typed in Take Me Home.  I was quickly disappointed.  My search results came back with 85,000+ e-books, print books, audio books and DVD’s with the same or very similar titles.  The visibility of my book was nil.  To save myself from scrolling through dozens of pages in search of my book, it was easier to type in my name to locate it.  Why is that a big deal you ask?  Consider you are a reader and your friend recommended a fabulous romance novel but she only had the title and wasn’t sure of the author’s name.  You would take one look at that 85,000+ list and stop searching right then and there.  I would.  So, not only would you miss out on a fab read, but I would miss out on a sale.

So what did I learn?  Original, outstanding titles are of the utmost importance. Keeping that in mind, now that I am halfway through my current radio inspired story, I have three possible “working titles” lined up. Before I reveal them, I want to give you a little peek into the background of the book.  This will lead to a request on my behalf, but that will be explained in a moment.

Story background:   Sahara Wilson is a woman nursing a broken heart.  One night after yet another bad date, she stumbles across a public radio show, a smooth sounding on-air psychiatrist and a chance to heal her broken heart.  It’s a story of nostalgic love, a mourned relationship, a shocking revelation, and a second chance at happiness.

Now that you have a vague introduction to the story I will share my WT’s (working titles) with you.

…the following titles have been chosen

Love on the Air

Broadcast Love

Healing Hearts (A reference to the “fictional” name of the radio show in the story)

Now my request.  I am looking for opinions.  As readers, which (if any) of the above titles captures your attention?  Which one would lead to you clicking for a sample?  If none of them work for you, what would your suggestion be?  I’m open to ideas, as I want this book to appeal to the widest variety of readers.  Hey it wouldn’t hurt to post a suggestion.  Who knows, if it’s awesome and you allow me to use it I will give you credit on the dedication page.

I look forward to receiving a lot of comments and/or votes for the best title.  Once the story is aptly named, I will begin the cover making process.  So exciting!  Hope to hear from you soon.

*Just leave title choice votes and/or comments in the box below.  Please make sure to leave your name if you are suggesting a title other than what’s on the list.  Thanks!