From idea conception to putting your words on paper, there are many steps that factor into writing a book. Today, we want to cast a light on one in particular: creating a catchy book title.

A few weeks ago, we wrote a blog about the importance of cover art and its ability to draw readers into picking up your book. That same notion applies when crafting an interesting title.

Below are some tips to help center your thoughts on how to approach writing a book title.

Brainstorm – One of the best ways to come up with an intriguing book title is to brainstorm ideas. When an idea pops into your head, no matter how crazy it may seem, write it down. The more you write, the more likely you’ll be to string ideas together into a cohesive, catchy title!

A title to remember – When writing a book title, you want to create one that’s interesting, yet easy to remember. As a rule of thumb, avoid being overly wordy. Let’s say you’re in a bookstore and you stumble upon a book with a very long and involved title. Odds are, you’ll lose interest and move onto the book with the short, sweet, to the point title. The lesson is, when it comes to titles, you want to be able to draw the reader in long enough to spark their curiosity, but not too long that they lose interest halfway through reading it. Remember, sometimes less is best when trying to create a title that will resonate with potential readers.

What’s inside? – Who is the most important character in your book? What was the most pivotal scene? These are just a couple of questions that you could ask yourself when trying to imagine the title for your book. Do your best to show the relevancy of your title in correlation to the contents of your book. Though it might not be apparent at first, when the reader finally stumbles upon the connection, a “light bulb” moment of sorts will go off and they will be able to associate the idea behind the title with a certain part in the book.

In some cases, you don’t want to create a title that is a dead giveaway of what to expect. Rather, you want to keep a level of mystique alive and try to come up with a title that stirs an emotional reaction or sparks curiosity in your reader.

It’s a numbers game – There are, however, some times when you do want to give the reader a basic overview of what to expect. Titles such as, “5 Ways to…,” or “10 Ideas for…” are a couple of examples that are crafted with a fixed promise in mind and offer the reader a clear-cut overview on what to expect from the book. Particularly if your book offers tips and advice, consider using numbers to quantify the lessons that the reader can learn from your book.

If you’re in the process of creating a title for your book, keep in mind these tips to help spur on your creativity!