Naming Your Book: Avoiding Title Mistakes That Kill Sales

Book Marketing Tips and Author Success Podcast

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2M ago 28:59

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Have you ever judged a book by its title? Most readers do. In this eye-opening episode, Penny and Amy tackle the surprisingly overlooked aspect of book marketing that could be silently sabotaging your sales: your book title.
Drawing from years of marketing experience, the hosts break down the three critical mistakes authors make when naming their books. First, they examine titles that lack clarity or are difficult to pronounce, revealing how authors often "bury the lead" by creating mysteriously worded titles that confuse rather than intrigue potential readers. Fiction writers take note – even complex character names can pull readers out of your carefully crafted world.
The discussion then shifts to the dangers of generic titles, with Amy explaining how Amazon's search algorithm works against new books with common titles. "If you type 'Good Things' into Amazon," Penny demonstrates, "you'll get crackers, children's books, and 25+ pages of other products." This real-time search experiment highlights why specificity matters in a crowded marketplace.
Perhaps most compelling is their analysis of titles that only make sense to the author – a trap particularly common with memoirs and personal stories. Both hosts acknowledge the emotional attachment writers develop to their original titles, with Penny sharing a coaching session where it took nearly an hour to convince a business author to abandon his ineffective title choice.
Whether you're writing fiction or nonfiction, traditionally publishing or self-publishing, this episode offers practical strategies to ensure your title works as hard as you do. After all, as Amy points out, "If readers are consistently confused about what your book delivers based on its title, that's a significant red flag." The good news? Unlike many publishing decisions, titles can be changed – and sometimes, that one adjustment makes all the difference.

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Chapters

1. Introduction to Book Titles (00:00:00)

2. Mistake #1: Unclear or Hard-to-Pronounce Titles (00:03:27)

3. Fiction vs. Nonfiction Title Considerations (00:12:31)

4. Mistake #2: Generic or Overused Titles (00:19:41)

5. Mistake #3: Titles Only Making Sense to You (00:27:15)

6. Fixing Title Problems and Final Advice (00:32:12)

275 episodes

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