Catchy titles are so important for writers! They make that all-important first impression on agents, editors, and readers.
Coming up with a good title for your novel can be a challenge, and some of us change titles several times before landing on the right one. This is the first in a series about how to come up with a title for your story.
Catchy titles roll off your tongue when someone asks, “What’s it called?” They make people want to read the book.
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There are a few formulas out there that are overdone and not particularly versatile. For instance, I’m getting very tired of The ________’s Wife/Daughter: The Time Traveler’s Wife (fun book), The Tiger’s Wife, Galileo’s Daughter (not fiction), The Witch’s Daughter, The Hummingbird’s Daughter (I heard this author speak once and he was very nice), and so on. Enough.
However, I’m going to be sharing basic setups for good book titles that can be taken in countless different ways.
This first formula says to potential readers, “Hi! You know those stories you really love? This is one of those!” Conveying this message, through the title and/or the cover design, can make a big difference in sales. (If you’re not sure about your genre, you probably need to figure that out. This post might help!)
This particular approach probably isn’t appropriate for mainstream or literary fiction, but other genres, it’s great.
Here’s the basic idea for this title formula:
1. Choose a word that signals your genre in a clear way.
2. Add another word or a few words to round it out.
Here are some examples of this type of title:
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, by John Le Carré.
It’s a spy novel, and it has “spy” right in the cover.
The Bollywood Bride, Sonali Dev.
“Bride” is a classic signifier of the romance genre. (Although this is in fact a romance, the type treatment here signals “literary fiction”… maybe the publisher wanted to straddle both?)
A Dance with Dragons, George R.R. Martin.
“Dragons” screams “fantasy novel.”
Okay, so you get the idea.
Note that if you’re doing a subgenre, the title may address just one part of the subgenre. A lot of paranormal romance titles, for instance, have paranormal-sounding titles and signal the romance part with the cover design.
You may worry about using an “expected” word in your title, but using it with an unexpected word or phrase will turn it all around.
Are you wondering what some of the words are that signify your genre? How about I give you a few sample lists for fantasy, romance, and mystery/thriller? These lists aren’t comprehensive by a long shot, but they might help you think of other “genre words.”
WORDS THAT SCREAM “FANTASY”
blade
sword
shield
stone
quest
adventure
spell
curse
prophecy
fate
destiny
tale
chronicle
legend
saga
age
magic
dragon
beast
land
earth
realm
fire
light
wind
mist
sea
battle
king
queen
knight
crown
castle
tower
cave
god
goddess
hero
witch
wizard
sorcerer
mage
priestess
maiden
warrior
elf/elves
immortal
mortal
any mysterious occupation name: “keeper,” “seeker,” “rider,” etc.
WORDS THAT SCREAM “ROMANCE”
A few of these are specific to historical romance, and some of them are most appropriate for steamy romance.
love
heart
kiss
embrace
fall/falling
date/dating
affair
tryst
fling
scandal/scandalous
passion
pleasure(s)
sex/sexy
wicked
sin/sinful
wild
hot/heat
tempt/temptation
seduce/seduction
courting/courtship
devoted/devotion
obsessed/obsession
promise
lover
bride
groom
wife
husband
lady
gentleman
man
woman
wedding
marriage
beauty/beautiful
lovely
sweet
night/tonight/midnight
always
forever
his
hers
my/mine
yours
you
me
two
together
any name that identifies a main character and the romance subgenre: cowboy, vampire, duke, etc.
WORDS THAT SCREAM “MYSTERY” and/or ‘THRILLER”
kill/killer
murder
fatal
die
death
dead/deadly
grave
blood
bone
clue
evidence
proof
suspect/suspicion
profile
files
justice/injustice
law
guilt/guilty
innocent/innocence
crime
victim
trial
case
jury
lies
deception
hide/hidden
underground
false
true/truth
danger/dangerous
trouble
extreme
total
final
beyond
target
prey
revenge
pursuit
chase
hunt
escape
fire
burn/burning
again, any name that identifies a character and the mystery or thriller subgenre, such as lawyer, detective, enemy, or agent
(You might find more words that scream “thriller” in my list of words for action scenes in Master Lists for Writers.)
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Don’t like this particular way of coming up with a title? No worries! I’ve got several more on their way. If you’re not following the blog, you should do that so you won’t miss the others – you can subscribe below.
Do you ever change your title a lot? Or does the perfect title come naturally to you? I’d love to hear in the comments! Happy writing!
This is great. I have difficulty with titles. I often have to write most of at least one draft before I really know what the book is about.
I’ve seen some that actually put the genre in the title. “The Night Watchman Express: A Steampunk Adventure.” Not sure what I think about that, but in that particular case, it did get my attention and I picked up the book on a free day.
Oh yes! One reason that happens is because people want to show up in more customer searches on Amazon. I’ve seen some subtitles packed with keywords, which can look pretty obnoxious (like, “A FRIENDS TO LOVERS MILITARY ROMANCE EROTIC ROMANCE.”)
Amazon guidelines actually prohibit putting the genre in the subtitle, but they don’t enforce this at all, as far as I can tell. Maybe they’ll crack down on it more in the future.
I’m editing a book right now that is about a person’s recovery from a loved one’s suicide. The author is an artist and I feel like we are trying to cram too much info in the title : An artist’s journey of healing after sudden loss. I feel that we need the word ‘Loss’ in there, but am torn about using the word “artist”
Hi Tina! Yeah, I think you may be trying to make that title do too much work. 🙂 It just has to give a hint about the plot and/or the mood of the book. It’s a challenge, but one of the formulas I talk about next might help…. we’ll see! Thanks for reading!
Thank you so much. These lists you create are lifesavers. The formula in this post will help me come up with a better title than ‘Destiny’. ?
So glad you like it, Morwen! 🙂 I’ll have some other ways a title can go, too.
I have been working on a kid story for YEARS. It has always been called ‘The First Christmas Carol’. Recently, I was told it was an overused phrase and I needed to find something different. I am baffled. It is like telling someone who wears blue jeans and tshirts to find an ironed button up in her closet.
Hmm, that’s tricky, Kris! If the story’s literally about the first Christmas carol being written or sung, etc., then I think it’s going to be hard to top as a title. I did a quick look on Amazon and I didn’t see any kids’ books with that title, so I don’t think it’s a problem.
I love this thank you it will be a great help to me. Have bookmarked this page so it is always to reference.
So glad you like it, Adele!
My main character in my detective series is named Frank. I’ve incorporated his name into the book titles. They are Frankly Speaking, Let Me Be Frank, Frank Incensed and the new one coming out in April, Frankly, My Dear. Hopefully I haven’t painted myself into a corner, but I don’t think so for the immediate future. I actually had an attendee at an author event that I was at come up after a panel discussion I was on and hand me a list of about 20 titles incorporating ‘Frank’. Hopefully, he won’t be looking for royalties. 🙂
Frank Incensed… hahaha! That is very clever. And hey, titles aren’t copyrightable (as I’m sure you know), so luckily the attendee wouldn’t have a complaint there. 🙂
I love this post! Titles are so hard, at least for me. My working title on this WIP is ‘Witchwood’…which, it takes place in the fictional town of Wickwood, but some locals call it Witchwood due to local folklore. About witches. lol. Maybe too complicated.
That’s a total “scream your genre” title! And it’s short and memorable. Um… I don’t think titles are hard for you. That is great.
Another informative blog. Thank you.
Thanks for reading! 🙂
Good day. Perhaps you can help me with an issue which really bothers me….
As a teacher and a budding novelist – on the third draft of my 1st novel/novella- one of the issues that bothers me in reference to fiction is the concept of “keeping it real.”
Fiction should be an escape from reality, not a connection to. Is it etched in stone that a novel be realistic, or is it ok to let your imagination run wild? Thanks…
Haha well, I write a lot about ghosts and magic in my stories, so I don’t know if I’m the best person to ask about “keeping it real”!
I totally agree that one of the best things about fiction is that it can offer an escape from reality… which everybody needs sometimes. I think as writers, we can do whatever you want as long as people are convinced of the motivations and experiences of your characters. And I think that less realistic stories can give readers a safe space to work out their feelings about real-life problems, if that makes sense!
I started typing about “keeping it real” and happy endings, but it was turning into a long diatribe, haha. Great topic!
Great post!
My current title for a fantasy novel I’m working on is: ‘fantasy’s tales, a one way gate.’
There’s literaly fantasy in it and it’s about some characters of popular fairytales, mixed with some characters I made up, that’s where the ‘tales’ comes from. And in the book it’s like, once you go into the world of magic, there’s no way of becoming ‘non-magical’ again, so a one-way entrance into that world. It’s also a reference to my first attempt at writing a book, it was a fantasy book too. The title means (badly translated from Dutch): on the other side of the gate.
That’s a great example of “screaming the genre,” since it has the genre right in the title. I love the idea of a one-way gate for magic!
Thanks for commenting, Kiete!
I was working on a book which is could be easily classified as a heist themed. the summary is that , two nations are in a horrible war. And the leading nation, lets call it imperia (since i havent picked a name for it yet~~) , is on the verge to develop a game stopper! A weapon unknown to humanity. Also… my story is mostly pre modern( idk if that word is even right in the context), like 1920s~. So the main character and her family is actually against this war etc. funfact, both the protagonist (who is very young) and her dad , hold high post in the governemnt. i think i’m stretching on the whole plot, so let me cut to the chase. The MC had to leave her nation. She takes refuge in a neighbouring country, where she eventually joins a group of people working to dethrone the government of imperia~ so the MC and her crew had to return to imperia to steal that “weapon”.
sooooo…..i wanted to know how should i name it… i havent read much books in this genre so its a bit confusing how should i name it. The only book that i felt had some conncetion to this genre was six of crows(which was bloody awesome!) …so yeah…please help me out if you can!
some potential names that i though were
“Hireath” “Against the current” “in search of utopia” “Make it right” “Land of crows”