During the SAGA Writing Conference a few weeks ago, I was chatting with an attendee about his WIP. He told me the title, and I felt a familiar tingle. There are certain words in a book title that are guaranteed to attract my notice, and he’d used one of them. Those words don’t necessarily mean I’ll love the story – just because a title is wonderful doesn’t mean the writer knows what they are doing. It just means I’m more inclined to give that book a chance.
The old adage about judging a book by its cover may hold true for people, but I find that we can’t help judging actual book covers and titles. These days we’re all on the lookout for AI slop covers. If I see one, I automatically think poorly of the author. If she couldn’t be bothered to hire an actual artist, do I really believe the work inside is any good? Or even hers? AI on the outside implies AI on the inside, and I don’t have the time to read something that was scraped up and stolen from other writers. Even if the cover isn’t AI, if it’s poor quality, again I wonder how good the story inside could possibly be. Titles are equally indicative. I’m far more likely to read a book with an intriguing title than a dull one. Is that fair? Probably not. But it happens nonetheless. It’s why we work so hard to come up with a brilliant title. Regardless of the book’s topic, the first thing potential readers see are the cover and the title, and it’s important to make those as attractive as we can.
What are my trigger words for titles, you ask? Okay, the biggest one is “thief/thieves”. I have nearly a dozen books on my TBR pile right now that have that word in their titles. I’m also attracted to “assassin”, “storm” and “shadow”. Again, none of this means the books will be good. I’ve been tricked before, and will be again. But those words will always at least grab my eye. What are your title triggers?