But how do you make the best titles?
I will use an example for the short story I’m working on. It’s a spinoff of a book I published in March 2022 called “New Pangaea – Utopia of Revenge: A Rigid Dystopian Society in a Post-Apocalyptic World.”
There are four primary purposes for the titles. The main title and the subtitle should work together to serve these purposes.
First, the titles should convey the essential meaning of your book. This could be driven by many things, such as themes, character names, character interests, main events, settings, timeframes, memorable lines, surprising facts, attractive points, and recurring problems.
Second, the titles should convey who are the targeted readers. This is especially important for the subtitle.
Third, for discoverability, the titles should be relevant to the genre and niche you are marketing.
And fourth, the titles should have established power words, trigger words, or keywords common to the categories you are marketing within. This makes your book more researchable and will drive more sales.
I use two software tools to research and refine my titles until I get them just right: KDSPY and Publisher Rocket, bouncing back and forth between the two, comparing the results until I’m finished.
And behold! Ultimately, I have titles that meet my requirements to be competitive and used by buyers when searching for my books.