In today’s episode, we speak to Erin Brown, an Editor at Greenleaf Book Group, about why titles matter to a book's success and how you can choose one that will resonate with your audience.

1:18 - Why don't we start by having you tell us a little bit about your background and what you do here at Greenleaf?

• I began my publishing career as an editor in New York city over 20 years ago and I worked at Harper Collins and St. Martin's Press and so I've been paid to read about 2 decades and I could not be happier.
• I'm an editor here at Greenleaf and I work with authors in varying capacities. Sometimes I roll up my sleeves and dive into manuscript development and other times I'll tackle editing when it's a little bit further along, and I also get to do fun things like write jacket copy and do one of my favorite things, which is titling.

2:30 - Can you tell us about some of the elements that you are looking for when you are considering a title for a book?

• Well, I always like to remember that the purpose of a title is to attract the intended audience and of course, to communicate the promise of the book and differentiate the book in the marketplace.
• At Greenleaf when we have a brainstorming meeting for titles we like to get as many perspectives as possible.
• The mood we are trying to convey with the title is very important to know, and also one of the most important things of course is to know your target audience because you're titling for your readers.
• You can absolutely love a title and all your friends can love a title but if they're not your target audience then it doesn't matter, lose it.
• I like to go online sometimes and look at popular sayings and idioms and then take some keywords from the book and maybe try to do a play on words or a twist on a popular saying.

5:45 - Can you help people think of some ways that they can flip that switch so that they are in a creative headspace?

• I like to bring in little toys and things that kind of have to do with the theme of the book so that whether it's Play-Doh, fidget spinners, or things people can fiddle with. This way, everyone can clear their minds and have space come up with really good ideas.
• We also set a time limit which I think is important. We brainstorm for an hour or two.
• I also like to tell everyone always remember in brainstorming that no idea is a bad idea. Throw everything out there and write everything down. The more ideas you come up with the higher chance that you're going to nail it.

7:50 - If you had to sum up a philosophy behind an effective title what would that be?

• I like to say short and simple is always good. You want them to resonate with the reader and grab you by the gut.

8:50 - I’ve heard a title and a subtitle described as promise and a purpose would you agree with that?

• Definitely. You want to follow through with that promise and you want the reader to immediately know what that is and be excited about it.

9:15 - Could you, for our listeners who aren't familiar with what we're talking about, tell them what we mean by subtitle and what are some subtitle considerations?

• It's rare in fiction, but for nonfiction, subtitles are extremely effective, especially if you've come up with a title that is more artistic or vague. You want a subtitle that's going to clarify for the reader exactly what your title means.
• Subtitles are straightforward—they are designed to clearly express what your book will do for the reader. That said, you don't want it to be incredibly long, you still want to keep it as succinct as possible, but it really is there for clarity.

11:15 - Do you approach coming up with the subtitle in the same way that you would the main title?

• You want to be a bit more straightforward. Picking out those keywords and phrases from the book is a lot more effective when you're coming up with the subtitle because you really do you want to go for clarity. And when you have readers searching for keywords online if someone is looking for something they are going to type in those words and if those words are actually in your subtitle, they're going to be led to your book.

12:20 - When is a chapter title necessary in a book and how do we choose them?

• Chapter titles are extremely effective especially in nonfiction.
• You have a table of contents and when a reader is looking through a table of contents it gives you a nice overview of the book. It's divided up by subject the reader and you basically get an outline of the book.
• Someone shouldn’t just come up with random chapter titles though, because the reader is going to be looking for meaning. You can create another layer to your story and really come up with some very meaningful chapter titles, but if you do, make sure that they have a meaning that makes sense.

13:45 - If a title the author loves is already being used by another author what happens?

• This is why you do a search before you fall in love with the title.
• The problem is that when someone is doing a search, they are going to be led in another direction. You’re leading readers to another book away from yours and so you really want to avoid this.

15:30 - Any other obvious mistakes an author should avoid when choosing a title?

• Make sure that there aren't any words or phrases that can be misconstrued or offensive.
• Don't make a title difficult to pronounce or spell. some authors think they're being very clever, but it just leads to difficulties down the road.

16:50 - What would you say a book title needs to be compelling? Are there some critical elements that really make a good title stand out in that way?

• You can be provocative, controversial, exciting, or you can just make a unique promise.
• You do want to definitely stand out—you want people to stop and pay attention.
• It's really easy to get feedback from your ideal readers whether it's on Facebook or you find a group of target readers and you can put up your book description and do a poll and say “which of these titles and subtitles do you like?” and get direct feedback from your audience.

18:35 Any other advice that you would give to somebody who's working on titling right now?

• Overall, go back to the memorable, attention-grabbing, informative, and easy to say title that is short and effective.

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About Erin

After graduating with a BS in Communications from the University of Texas at Austin, Erin moved to New York City where she worked for almost a decade at two major publishing houses: William Morrow, a division of HarperCollins, and Thomas Dunne Books, an imprint of St. Martin’s Press. There, she edited mysteries, women’s fiction, literary fiction, romance, thrillers, nonfiction (business, self-help, political, and memoirs)—almost every genre under the sun. After returning to Austin, she worked as a freelance editor for many years, helping authors hone their work. When she’s not buried (happily) in manuscripts, Erin can be found mastering a new yoga pose or walking her bearded dragon around the neighborhood.