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Write That Book: Get it Clear, Get it Down,
Get it Out by Serena Williamson, PhD
Price $15.00 >> 
 Find
a Great Title
Great titles spur us on. Now that you know what is most important
to you, find a catchy way to say it. A great title consists of a
few catchy words, perhaps a play on words, then a subtitle to explain
what it means. For example, Joanne Thomas Yaccato’s book,
Balancing Act, could be about anything — balancing work and
home, balancing priorities at work, or someone’s history with
the circus. It’s the subtitle: A Canadian Woman’s Financial
Success Guide that tells us what it is about. Finding those catchy
few words can be easier than you think, and are good to have at
the beginning of your writing process. The subtitle usually comes
later, after you have written most of the book.
There is a little exercise that I would like to tell you about.
When I give a seminar or speech about writing a book, I always ask
for questions from the audience. Sometimes I even ask for volunteers.
While I was delivering a seminar at a conference for the Canadian
Authors Association, one brave man stood up and told us he was having
trouble finding just the right title for his book. I had him come
up to the front of the room beside me and I stood slightly off to
the side, facing him, my back to the audience, marker in hand, flipchart
in front of me. I asked him to tell me about his book. As he spoke,
I wrote down key words for the audience to see. When he repeated
a word or phrase, I circled it. By the time he had been speaking
for five minutes, there were about five circles around the same
group of words. I asked the audience, what his title was. They all
shouted out the circled words. He gasped, “How did you know?”
It works every time.
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