How to Title Your Book: Tips for Brainstorming & Choosing a Strong Book Title + Title Reveals!

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Bethany Atazadeh - YA Fantasy Author

2 жыл бұрын

Here are my top tips for coming up with a strong title for your next novel that will help you sell more books and reach more readers! PLUS I'm sharing a title (and series title) reveal for my upcoming books!
Mentioned in Video:
◦ Add The Secret Shadow on Goodreads: / the-secret-shadow
◦ Add The Secret Curse on Goodreads: / the-secret-curse
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📚 T H E S T O L E N K I N G D O M S E R I E S :
www.bethanyatazadeh.com/thest...
◦ COLLECTOR'S EDITION / BOX SET: amzn.to/34A9wFw
◦ THE SECRET GIFT: books2read.com/thesecretgift
◦ THE STOLEN KINGDOM: books2read.com/thestolenkingdom
◦ THE JINNI KEY: books2read.com/thejinnikey
◦ THE CURSED HUNTER: books2read.com/thecursedhunter
◦ THE ENCHANTED CROWN: books2read.com/theenchantedcrown
◦ The Stolen Kingdom Audiobook: www.audible.com/pd/B088FVQNJK...
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📖 B E C O M E A P A T R O N :
Where you can receive digital early reader copies of my books, writing & publishing advice, help with your author platform, meet writer friends, and more!
/ bethanyatazadeh
💻 M Y A U T H O R N E W S L E T T E R :
Sign up for FREE exclusives (the first HALF of The Stolen Kingdom + a step-by-step self-publishing guide): www.bethanyatazadeh.com/contact
❤️ M Y M E R C H :
teespring.com/stores/bethanya...
📚 M Y S E L F P U B L I S H I N G C O U R S E :
www.udemy.com/course/novel-se...
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📒 M Y O T H E R W O R K :
◦ EVALENE'S NUMBER: amzn.to/3sZPlKi
◦ PEARL'S NUMBER: amzn.to/3Kyp63Q
◦ MARKETING FOR AUTHORS SERIES: amzn.to/3pTrbPG
◦ THE CONFIDENT CORGI: amzn.to/36aJd9m
◦ Novel Planner Notebook (mug cover): amzn.to/3hYnzYo
◦ Novel Planner Notebook (laptop cover): amzn.to/3KwvW9Z
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❤️ C O M P A N I E S I L O V E & A M A N A F F I L I A T E F O R :
◦ PUBLISH AND THRIVE: heartbreathings.teachable.com...
◦ WRITING STICKERS & the book launch planner (10% off discount code is BETHANY10): stoneridgestickers.com/?ref=Q...
◦ EPIDEMIC SOUND (where I get my music! If you'd like to try it for a month, using this link gives me a free month! Thank you in advance!): www.epidemicsound.com/referra...
◦ DRAFT2DIGITAL: www.draft2digital.com/bethany...
💬 L E T ' S C O N N E C T 💬
Website | www.bethanyatazadeh.com
Instagram | / authorbethanyatazadeh
KZfaq | / bethanyatazadeh
Patreon | / bethanyatazadeh
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Thanks for watching!
❤️ Bethany
Note: some of these links are affiliate links and will support me with a little extra income at no extra cost to you. :)
#Authortube #NovelWriting #SelfPublishing

Пікірлер: 88

@BethanyAtazadeh 2 жыл бұрын

Add The Secret Shadow on Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/book/show/60916573-the-secret-shadow Add The Secret Curse on Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/book/show/60916605-the-secret-curse

@jenag 2 жыл бұрын

Titles mean more to me than book covers. I grew up before the Amazon era and it was the titles on the spines of the books at the library that inspired me to stop and explore. Some of my favorite titles are: A Prayer for Owen Meany, The Seven and a Half Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, and Flow My Tears The Policeman Said. How tantalizing! Let it be said: your titles are ALWAYS on point!!!

@BethanyAtazadeh 2 жыл бұрын

Ooooh I love all of those titles! And thank you so much!

@torichambers9671 2 жыл бұрын

Best book title ever: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep.

@Falconlibrary 2 жыл бұрын

Runner-up: "The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul"

@BethanyAtazadeh 2 жыл бұрын

LOL that's hilarious!

@Falconlibrary 2 жыл бұрын

@@BethanyAtazadeh “It can hardly be a coincidence that no language on earth has ever produced the expression, 'As pretty as an airport.” ― Douglas Adams, The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul

@michaeljasper760 2 жыл бұрын

I really like the series title. If she is the queen of something specific or a certain kind of queen, it might be cool to have an adjective before queen. But obviously, you know what you are doing. Love your videos.

@BethanyAtazadeh 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you!! That's my favorite too! :D

@ericarowanarts 2 жыл бұрын

Super helpful! Titling books is one of my weaknesses. I love the series title and the titles for the next 2 books! I love how The Secret Curse feels almost like a reference to The Cursed Hunter, especially since we'll start getting more of how Nezrin's people came to be cursed. Very clever!

@BethanyAtazadeh 2 жыл бұрын

Yay thanks Erica, so glad you like the names (and good catch about The Secret Curse being about the curse that is Nesrin's curse later on in The Cursed Hunter - no one else has gotten that yet! ;) So glad the video was helpful too!

@ericarowanarts 2 жыл бұрын

@@BethanyAtazadeh okay now I'm even more hyped lol!!

@Falconlibrary 2 жыл бұрын

I'm great at book titles. I wonder if there's a side hustle of naming books? I could call myself the Book Whisperer.

@sarahmatthews5878 2 жыл бұрын

I can't wait!!!!!! They sound amazing!

@BethanyAtazadeh 2 жыл бұрын

yayyy thanks Sarah!

@LostinMemory 2 жыл бұрын

I'm always excited when you upload a video.

@BethanyAtazadeh 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you!

@makennazornes 2 жыл бұрын

Yay, I’m excited to hear your titles! I think they’re great. 😄 I enjoy seeing all the different books you have on your shelves too, ha. I never see anyone post about The False Princess, but I loved that one.

@BethanyAtazadeh 2 жыл бұрын

Yay thanks Makenna! I'm so glad you like them. :) And that one was a fun read for sure!

@saagraphics3834 2 жыл бұрын

SO EXCITED FOR THE BOOKS TO COME OUT! Love the titles!

@BethanyAtazadeh 2 жыл бұрын

WOOHOOO!!! haha me tooooo, thank you!!

@MandiGraceAuthor Жыл бұрын

I hadn't thought about looking through genre-specific words on all my fantasy books! That's such a good tip

@Chaka2nd1 2 жыл бұрын

. Thanks so much This is super helpful. Congratulations and good luck with your books.

@BethanyAtazadeh 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks so much! Glad it was helpful!

@saritaschaffter2133 2 жыл бұрын

I love the series title. Keep up the good work.

@BethanyAtazadeh 2 жыл бұрын

Yay thank you so much! :D

@mariavalente6304 2 жыл бұрын

I get a sentence I like and use it, which seems odd, but for someone who writes short stories, and needs a lot of titles, it's either the charcater's name, or a sentence I like. Usually works.

@BethanyAtazadeh 2 жыл бұрын

Hey that totally works! :)

@Writing4Jesus247 2 жыл бұрын

Love your titles!!

@BethanyAtazadeh 2 жыл бұрын

:D Thank youuu!!

@StevenSeril Жыл бұрын

You’re a genius, Bethany!

@GalenMicheal 2 жыл бұрын

Quite helpful video! I've been struggling to find a good title for my latest novel.

@BethanyAtazadeh 2 жыл бұрын

So glad it was helpful!

@123gorainy 2 жыл бұрын

GREAT ideas, t hank youso much for this.

@BethanyAtazadeh 2 жыл бұрын

You are so welcome!

@alexwholey3391 2 жыл бұрын

Great titles! For me, apart from writing, Picking a title and the book cover are the most exciting things! 😀

@BethanyAtazadeh 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you! And I agree!!

@heatherkirchhoffwritesya 2 жыл бұрын

Love it!

@BethanyAtazadeh 2 жыл бұрын

Yay thank you! :D

@katiemarie8580 2 жыл бұрын

Ahhh I absolutely love them!!! They're so intriguing!! And I love the series' title! I just recently figured out the titles for a trilogy I'm writing and love them so much!! They're Master of the Desert, Slave to the Desert, and Rulers of the Desert. Though I can't decide if the second one should be Slave to the Desert or Slave of the Desert.

@BethanyAtazadeh 2 жыл бұрын

Yayyy thanks Katie!! :D I'm so happy you like them! And those are super fun titles, I like the repetition of the word Desert!

@gamexpress111 2 жыл бұрын

i don't know if you're interested in my opinion lol but I like Slave of the Desert just because you already have Master OF the Desert as well as Rulers OF the Desert. The patterns would be the same and congrats on your book!

@katiemarie8580 2 жыл бұрын

@@gamexpress111 Ok thank you! I'm like split 50/50 lol, as Slave of the Desert matches, but I feel like Slave to the Desert sounds a little better, but I don't know.

@jaquelinegrenier580 2 жыл бұрын

Duuude, using this method, I managed to find the title for my Mystery/Sci-Fi/Teen Drama Mashup. Title for the Franshise as a whole, one Book title plus the generation the first book is Talking about! Thank you so much!!!! I'm going to use this method for all my books and Franchises!!!!

@BethanyAtazadeh 2 жыл бұрын

Yayyy! So exciting, glad it was helpful!

@jaquelinegrenier580 2 жыл бұрын

It was!!!! I went through like three titles already! The first one, No one truly didnt have, but it sounded like a Romance titile. The second one was more so like a class ( which my book features) but it's s setting more so. And no one had a title like it! Buuut.... No one knows what "Rudimental" means so all it'll do is confuse them.... The third one is the last one I came up with using your method! Keep being you! You are so great and a great Mama!

@gutenbird 11 ай бұрын

Well done with the titles.

@BethanyAtazadeh 11 ай бұрын

Thank you!

@rosannebowman2592 2 жыл бұрын

I can't say how important it is to google your title first. I was going to title my last book in my Peter Pan trilgoy Tinkerbell's Revenge, but when I googled it, it's a fairly common strain of marijuana. Since I write middle-grade, that is a big no-no (although, I did find it kind of funny). Always, always, always google the name!!!

@BethanyAtazadeh 2 жыл бұрын

Haha too funny!! That cracked me up lol, thanks for sharing!

@abbyodelson 2 жыл бұрын

I unfortunately didn't know much about publishing or marketing when I published the first book in my series, and the book name is incredibly common when I look on amazon now. When I tell people what it is, I just tell them to look up my author name because if they look up the title, they won't find it.

@BethanyAtazadeh 2 жыл бұрын

I totally understand - there's so much to learn about publishing that it can be hard to get it all figured out with the first book! I had mistakes in other areas, you're not alone!

@Falconlibrary 2 жыл бұрын

For awhile there, all mystery/thriller books had to have "girl" in the title ("Gone Girl" seems to have started this, although we may never pinpoint its exact origins). Speaking of books with female main characters: "Tomorrow Is Another Day" was the working title of "Gone With the Wind", and up until the very last second, Scarlett was named "Pansy". Having an editor is important in the publishing process for titles, too. Many famous books had original titles that were just awful, but an editor was able to suggest something better. Would you prefer "Trimalchio in West Egg" or "The Great Gatsby"? Because F. Scott Fitzgerald preferred the former, but his editor, Maxwell Perkins, said "hell naw, dawg." Pretty sure that's how it went.

@BethanyAtazadeh 2 жыл бұрын

Interesting!

@Falconlibrary 2 жыл бұрын

@@BethanyAtazadeh Pansy O'Hara. Yikes. Margaret Mitchell argued bitterly against changing both the book title and the main character's first name and lost. Thank goodness.

@reneestrength23 2 жыл бұрын

Absolutely love them!!! Do you always have outlines done first before trying to figure out titles? or when do you begin trying to figure out the titles?

@BethanyAtazadeh 2 жыл бұрын

Yay thank you! Honestly, I don't remember... I think so, and I think usually first drafts and sometimes even second drafts as well. Prior to that, I usually have some kind of working title to refer to, like "princesses and castles" which is what I called my stolen kingdom series for a long time.

@reneestrength23 2 жыл бұрын

@@BethanyAtazadeh ahhh, well great video and very helpful, but all your videos do that for me!! Again, thanks so much!!

@theverseshed Жыл бұрын

When I searched your channel, I entered "Choosing best keywords" and found this upload. Your topic covers titles/subtitles very clearly - but what about brainstorming and choosing the best choices for the '7 search keywords,' and how to decide their ranking from 1 to 7? It would be interesting to hear your thoughts about that aspect of self-publishing.

@bodine219 2 жыл бұрын

A) I love the series titles!! B) Thank you. I feel like I've seen a similar video on this channel but I think something just clicked for one of my stories. I *might* have a title XD

@BethanyAtazadeh 2 жыл бұрын

Yay thank you so much! I don't think I've ever done a video on book titles before, so I'm glad it was helpful!

@Musikchic47 2 жыл бұрын

The whole title not taken is so hard with fantasy because there are so many common words and phrases that are used >.

@BethanyAtazadeh 2 жыл бұрын

Haha sooooo true!! It definitely was a long search process for me haha

@markellott5620 2 жыл бұрын

I have always liked single word titles. So my five novels are Ransom, Rebellion, Resolution, Reiver and Renegade. Currently working on Railroad....

@RoseDPatruno 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you for the video and the tips! I never thought about the importance of marketability (at the same time, I haven’t debuted yet) and I’ve always chosen my titles on personal likes/dislikes and sudden “ah-a!” moments. Hence the question: what about titles that sound like obscure words to the Common Reader? Or are in a different language but has no precise translation/the translation doesn’t sound good?

@BethanyAtazadeh 2 жыл бұрын

I would personally avoid titles that a reader wouldn't recognize, but if you feel really strongly, that rule could be broken. I just think it'll make it harder for readers to remember and search, which can really impact who buys and reads your book. It's really that simple, so it's up to you!

@lesleybarklay798 2 жыл бұрын

Argh! I love these titles so much!

@BethanyAtazadeh 2 жыл бұрын

@lesleybarklay798 2 жыл бұрын

@@BethanyAtazadeh I have to admit, I gained a bit of street cred in my family (and with my students) when I told them that you used one of my suggestions. 😍 😂

@LeeRalph100 Жыл бұрын

Great advice. I have my title. my problem is the subtitle. The part about similiar names is really wrecking me on my nonfiction. Many books on the same subject all seem to carry a very similiar subtitle! But the bad thing is that the subtitle perfectly explains the subject.

@Falconlibrary 2 жыл бұрын

Best title ever for a poetry collection: "Love is a Dog from Hell" by Charles Bukowski

@gamexpress111 2 жыл бұрын

Would having a book tittle that starts with 'Fire" work? Would it be eye catching? And congratulations on your book title!!!

@BethanyAtazadeh 2 жыл бұрын

I mean, it depends on the genre, but sure! Kristen Cashore has a book called Fire and I love that novel!

@NellaKitsune 2 жыл бұрын

Excellent advice!! I took forever trying to name a novella duology I’m working on haha I have placeholder names for my Patrons and my gosh they’re so ugly: Hunting a Tiger and Taming a Tiger (I have yet to reveal the second book’s placeholder name). I chose these placeholder names as I wanted these books to be part of my holiday collection at first, (they’re set with Valentine’s Day and Summertime themes) but I’m expanding the world way too much and prefer to have them venture into their own mini series/duology. The only issue I’m having now is titling the series… any more tips? because my name generators are making me pull my hair…

@BethanyAtazadeh 2 жыл бұрын

So glad it was helpful! And those are fun name ideas!

@poohbear0320 2 жыл бұрын

Is it OK if I use the title The Queen's Rising for the title of my autobiography?

@sarahstangledtales 2 жыл бұрын

This was really helpful, but I was wondering if it’s all right to use a title if it’s already been used but fits your story to a T? For example, the first book of my trilogy is called From the Ashes but a few other books have that same title even though they’re not fantasy (which mine is). Do I have to change it in that case or is it okay for it to be the same? Because the phrase fits my story exactly and I’d hate to change it just because someone else used it too.

@BethanyAtazadeh 2 жыл бұрын

Titles aren't copyrighted, so technically you could. The reasons I'd avoid it, or try to make at least a slight change remain though... your book is highly unlikely to show up first in a search when someone tries to find it. Most likely the other books will always show up first and make it hard for readers to find your book.

@sarahstangledtales 2 жыл бұрын

@@BethanyAtazadeh Okay, thank you! And I love your channel by the way. So glad I stumbled across it!

@StevenSeril Жыл бұрын

“A Troll of Robes and Noses”

@jazzmineanderson6330 2 жыл бұрын

What's your next project after finishing the series?

@BethanyAtazadeh 2 жыл бұрын

I have tons of ideas, but I can't say for sure yet... I guess we'll see haha! :D

@SegalsCareer 2 жыл бұрын

oh... i just borrow ("borrow") song titles that seem like they probably would fit, and hope for the best. Less for my brain, yea! And it works so far lol #laziness

@BethanyAtazadeh 2 жыл бұрын

Nice haha!

@2010kalex 2 жыл бұрын

Okay I have a silly question Aside from your books on the bookshelf have you read ALL of those books?! Lol

@BethanyAtazadeh 2 жыл бұрын

Do you mean have I read all the books on my shelves? All but about 10 or so, yep! I have a little shelf in one corner with my TBR stack that I haven't read yet, otherwise read them all!