Have you spotted any really great book titles lately? You know what I mean — the kind that stop you in your tracks and make you go, “Huh! Now THAT’S clever!” I was walking through our library’s young adult section (my son has now reached that unfortunate age — you know the book section where all the vampires hang out) and a book practically jumped off the top shelf at me.
Obviously not a book that my son would pick, but I had to take it home, regardless. The cover art of a girl in a sunbonnet listening to earbuds sealed the deal for me. I’m not sure if it’s because I was one of the scores of “Little House” obsessed girls from my generation or the fact that I love blogging — but the title truly spoke to me. And I had to know what was behind it.
I still remember another library book — years ago — finding it’s way into my bag just because of it’s catchy title. Slug Tossing and Other Adventures of an Unlikely Gardener. I am not much of a gardener — but I had to find out what the author meant by “slug tossing.”
There’s nothing like a great, catchy title to capture a reader’s interest. I remember someone saying that a good book cover (title and/or artwork) buys you a few seconds of a reader’s interest. If it’s intriguing enough, the reader might pick it up for a closer look. If they bother to pick it up, they might flip it over and read the back-cover copy. If the copy is interesting enough, they might read the first line of the first chapter. If the first line is interesting enough… Well, you get it.
So now you know why authors agonize over their book’s title and why editors and publishers sometimes require them to change it. A book’s title is critical to getting it off the shelf and into someone’s hands.
So, what great titles have you seen lately? Why did it catch your interest?