Book Titles: How Do You Choose?

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Choosing an intriguing title for your book is arguably one of the most important parts of marketing. After all, the very first impression any reader will have of your book, before they even glance at your writing, before a book cover is chosen and the summary is read, is the title you choose to represent your story.

As I'm a writer who focuses on character first (as opposed to working out the setting first, then populating the story), my working titles tend to be one of the first things I know about the story: the protagonist's first name. For me, the process of choosing the title is a somewhat nebulous thing—about half of the time it reveals itself while I'm writing the first draft, occasionally it crops up before I even begin writing, and the rest of the time it's something I brainstorm after the first draft is completed.

In the latter cases, choosing a title (to me) can be one of the more difficult parts of writing—although I'll admit that's probably at least partially due to the fact that I have a tendency of being extremely indecisive. Regardless, choosing a title for your book doesn't have to be a stressful experience—in fact, it can be pretty enjoyable.

When brainstorming book titles I recently tried a new method that I found I really liked, based off of a suggestion I found online (if I find the original post with the exact process, I'll let you guys know). You start with creating a list of themes, images and potential title ideas. As is the case with most brainstorming, this is a stage where you don't censor. Anything you think of goes on the list—even if it's ridiculous or a terrible-sounding title. The idea is to write as many ideas as you can without censoring your writing at all, so that you can go back and eliminate choices later.

Once you have a sizable list, start making note of ideas or images that you like. This is also about the time that you start taking a look at book titles for other works in the same genre, as your title should sound like it fits with other novels that it would potentially be sharing the shelf with. After some mix and matching and comparing to other titles, you choose my favorite potential book titles and get some feedback. If one title stands out as a particular favorite, you know you have a winner.

Choosing a title, however, isn't a writing process that's set in stone: I for one am still experimenting with different methods and I'd like to hear yours.

So now you tell me: how do you choose titles for your WIPs?