What to Title Your Business Book (2 of 7)
The 1st Hurdle of a Great Business Book Title
#1: Be Clear
"A great title must say what it is."
- Blake Snyder, Save the Cat!
Everyone wants an awesome title—one that they can throw out at parties and immediately see their listeners' eyes shine with interest: "Wow, that sounds so cool!" Trust me: we all want that moment.
Unfortunately, nearly zero business books are sold at dinner parties.
Impressive titles might sound like music to your ears. But when the lonely solitary executive is running through the airport or the time-pressed small business owner has a two-minute break to scroll through Amazon's book list on her smartphone, they don't hear the same music you do. All they hear is yet more white noise in their already overcrowded day trying to intrude on what precious little attention they have to give to any one thing.
They aren't looking for "cute."
As we discussed before, in The 100 Best Business Books of All Time the authors said, "The number one reason people buy business books is to find solutions to problems." A good title speaks to the problem the book solves.
Use your title to speak to (or at least hint at) their problem. Identify their position, their industry, and/or exactly what they're facing. Put something in the title that calls out to them. (I mean, you can't even tell some business books are intended for a business audience, just going by the title.)
Don’t be ambiguous—clearly signal that this book is what they've been looking for. Getting Things DONE doesn't capture your imagination, though it certainly captures your attention (if you're pressed for time—and who isn't?). Writing Nonfiction won't win any awards for creativity, but for writers like me, the title alone is enough to persuade me to take a serious look at buying it. What Makes the Great Great? strikes you as an odd question…but there's no question on its content.
The opposite of being clear is being obscure. Obscure titles fall under the broad heading of "I have no idea what this book is about from just reading the title." Do you really want your book's success to rely on someone taking the additional time and effort to pick up your book, read the rest of the front and back cover copy, process everything, and then finally figure out that your book is what they need?
Good luck with that.
Your title needs to shout its relevance to your reader. You, the author, know where they, the reader, live. You know what keeps them up at night.
You know their reality. You know their address.
Make sure they know you know that.
