Every now and then I will look at a book and the title alone will sell it. For example, The Day Santa Stopped Believing in Harold is one of the best titles ever. Even though I wasn’t particularly fond of the cover, the title alone made me want to find out more. A really good title says it all in very few words.
At the Society of Children’s Book Authors and Illustrators Conference, they have a little competition called the 10 word pitch. What you need to do is to sell your book in 10 words. Every author should do this before they choose a title. It helps you to realize what words or concepts in your book are the most important. In addition, most algorithms use the words in the title as your top keywords. Sure a title needs to go hand in hand with the illustration, but it also needs to be able to stand alone. Make sure your title does just that.
Remember this…
Having a professional illustrator do your images will not help you if your design looks like it was done by a high schooler learning Power Point. There is a reason why a book cover designer is an actual job. The way an illustration is laid out on a page makes a difference. Even subtle things like zooming in on a character or leaving off the background can make a world of difference. In addition, your title needs to not only stand out with a proper font and it needs to make sense to everyone reading it – the first time. If people are confused by any aspect of your cover, they will not likely click on the thumbnail to find out more. A professional book looks professional because the people who designed it thought everything through. If you want your book to be on the bestseller list and to sell a bunch of copies, then ask yourself:
What meaning does my cover project?
The End.
If you need help with your book cover, layout, or starting your book, I am happy to help. You can find out more about my children’s book self-publishing consulting at kelleydonner.com/consulting
