By Krissy Hawkins, Stephens Press
When it comes to the world of Amazon—the more the better.
The wonderful children’s author R.L. Stine once said that he had to have a great title for a book before he could write it, or sometimes would write a book simply because he had a great title.
A title often becomes a hub around which your book flourishes, then, once published it provides a sort of magnetism to draw people in.
In the world of Amazon, it’s a smart subtitle for your non-fiction work benefits you immensely. Notice I did not say a ‘good’ or ‘catchy’ subtitle, but rather a smart one.
If the job of your title is to focus your book and attract readers, the job of the subtitle is to make your book ‘findable’. Given Amazon’s search capabilities it is best to include keywords in your subtitle to optimize its chances in search results.
For example, take Aaron Shepard’s book The Business of Writing for Children: An Award-Winning Author’s Tips on Writing Children’s Books and Publishing Them, or How to Write, Publish, and Promote a Book for Kids. Quite a handful, I know, but can you think of a popular search term under the umbrella of writing for children that is not included in that title? Exactly.
And that is why Mr. Shepard’s book will come up among the top results almost every time anyone searches for books on that topic. Such a subtitle may not be much of a paradigm of efficient writing skills, but a thorough subtitle is a good tactic when it comes to visibility on sites such as Amazon, the world’s biggest book retailer.
Your publisher will have the final say on your book’s moniker, but a well-thought out title on the top of your manuscript will earn you props from the acquisitions editor from the get-go. If you need assistance when it comes to selecting keywords check out www.wordtracker.com or www.google.com/insights/search.
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