Storming Heaven, by Kyle Mills
I Do, but I Don’t, by Cara Lockwood
We’ll Meet Again, by Mary Higgins Clark
The Brass Verdict, by Michael Connelly
You Had Me At Halo, by Amada Ashby
Elvis Takes a Backseat, by Leanna Ellis
Playing for Pizza, by John Grisham
My Name is Russel Fink, by Michael Snyder
These are among the books on my shelf. Some are written by authors everyone knows, some by folks no one knows, a couple by people I know personally. So if you’re looking at the authors to see why I bought these books, you’re only partly right.
I liked the titles.
The Last Sin Eater, by Francine Rivers
The Survivors Club, by Lisa Gardner
Death du Jour, by Kathy Reichs
Fire Dancer, by Colleen Coble
Thyme for Love, by Pamela S. Meyers
Funny thing about book stores. They have only so much room to present books with the covers facing out. In fact, publishers tend to pay a bit extra for such a face-forward presentation. Which means the title is often the first thing a browser sees as he’s scanning the shelves, which, in turn, means the title is a selling point.
If you’re Mr. Famous Author, all you need showing is your name–Grisham, Reichs, Gardner, Rivers. But if you’re breaking into the scene, you’ll need every advantage you can get. How does your title measure up? Is it a good teaser? Does it make a browser want lift the book from the shelf to see the cover–the second biggest selling point?
Take extra time with your title. It should pique curiosity even as it clues the reader in to what the book is about. It should be catchy, intriguing, inviting.
So, how’s your title?
Several years into it, and this blog still refuses to be categorized. It's eclectic and includes everything from writing posts to snippets from my ordinary life. 
Linda W. Yezak 
Those ARE great. My (working) titles aren’t bad – but I probably need to work on them. Super post.
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Sometimes titles are hard to come up with.
Thanks for the comment, Joanne.
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Wonderful, Linda! I know several authors who get a title for a book before the characters have even tapped them on the shoulder.
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That’s true. It’s fun to write a story around a cool title!
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Great post, Linda. And so true. A title is a fun thing to work with. And I think it’s cool if you work the title into the dialog somewhere in the book. Only once! It really thrilled me with my first book, when I got a smiley face and a favorable comment from my editor when 3/4 of the way through the manuscript I used the title to express a very important “aha moment” for my heroine.
Love your blog!
Lynne
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I’ve seen authors do that–particularly if their title is unusual. Gold star to you for doing it!
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Great point. I think we (read: I) overlook that all too often. My focus in naming a story has always been thematic, but I think can of several books off the top of my head that I became interested in just from their titles.
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Nothing wrong with a thematic title–just add “catchy” to the list of adjectives!
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