Everyone knows that the title of a book is essential; It’s the first thing people see, and if it doesn’t generate interest, they won’t take a closer look. However, not everyone knows that the subtitle is almost as important. Both, in fact, play an important role and their roles are quite different. The main objective of the title is Attract. You want people to take a second look, and if they’re in a bookstore, pick it up and take a closer look. This is where the subtitle comes in; its main objective is explain. It should give the reader more information about the book. In particular, you should state what are the benefits of reading the book and convince readers that it will be useful to them.

Let’s first consider the title. To capture a person’s interest, a title has to be different and unique, and assuming it is a non-fiction book, it has to promise something. This means that the purpose or objective of the title has to be clear, so be careful if you decide on a “cute” title. If people don’t know what it means, even if it makes them laugh, in most cases it won’t pique their curiosity. Lastly, it should be “catchy”, something that is easy to remember and sticks in your mind. This means that it shouldn’t be too long; five words or less is usually best.

With so many books on the market, this may seem like a big order. First of all, almost any title that comes to mind immediately (after you’ve decided to write the book) has been used. Therefore, it is always a good idea to check your creation on Amazon.com. It is not against the law to use a title that has already been used, but it can cause some confusion. So don’t settle for a title too quickly; Check it out carefully and think carefully. Let your unconscious brain work on it for a while; you will be surprised what comes to mind.

Some other things that are useful for getting great degrees are:

  • The humor in a title is always good.
  • Make sure you answer a question. Don’t use questions as titles.
  • A twist on a familiar phrase is usually a good title.
  • Use alliteration if possible (eg “Point to Amazon”).
  • Use metaphors (a word that means another word), but be careful that your meaning is clear.
  • Let yourself go. Be a little sassy and outrageous. You never know what comes to mind.
  • Think in terms of powerful phrases like: “Amazing new discovery: …”, “You can …” “A sure way to …” “Better than …” “The minute …”.

When you’ve finally settled on a title, sit back and ask yourself if it meets all of the above criteria. If not, try again until you find something that works.

Now for the caption. As I said before, its main function is to explain. It should give more information about the book and explain its benefits, and if you have to do this, it obviously has to be much longer than the title. One sentence is the norm, but there can be several, and this is what I recommend. The important thing is that it does its job.

One of the most important things to think about when writing captions is keywords. They are words or phrases that people type on a computer when they are looking for something. Keywords are picked up by search engines like Google and Yahoo! They are particularly important when people search for a nonfiction book on a particular topic on Amazon. They write some words related to the topic and review the first books that appear on the screen. So you have to ask yourself what someone is likely to write when looking for a book on the subject of your book. Turns out, there are places where you can search for good or frequently used keywords. Some of them are:

www.goodkeywords.com

www.wordtracker.com

In practice, search engines look first exactly keywords, in other words, the same words in the same order as the person entered. So it is a good idea to include some of them in the subtitles.

We saw earlier that power action words and phrases are useful in titles. It turns out that they are even more important in captions and should be used whenever possible. They are typical of these words: Profit, Achieve, Improve, Think, Avoid, Change.