Today I spent some time looking up the worst book titles of all time, according to the Internet. Here are a few standouts:
– The Joy Of Uncircumcising
– You Are Worthless
– Reusing Old Graves
– The Missionary Position: Mother Theresa In Theory – And Practice
– How Green Were The Nazis?
Ridiculous, right? But it’s easy to shake your head and point and laugh. Can you do better though?
Can you come up with a great book title that gets people to latch on to a book… pick it up… thumb through it… buy it… and mention it to friends, before they’ve even read it?
It’s a relevant question if you’re a marketer or copywriter. Because book titles are the closest mainstream thing to naming direct response products and offers.
If you like, I’ll tell you what I think. I think there are lots of ways to come up with good titles or offer names. Let me illustrate just one:
– The 4-Hour Workweek
– The 16-Word Sales Letter
– The Lazy Man’s Way To Riches
How good are these titles actually? Well, the first and third are backed up by results.
Neither Tim Ferriss nor Joe Karbo were famous. And yet they managed to get their books to millions of people, largely on the strength of the appeals in those 4- and 5-word titles.
The second title on that list is a book by Evaldo Albuquerque. It’s about a very niche topic — writing long-form sales letters. And even so, it’s got a respectable 260 reviews on Amazon.
A part of that is because Evaldo is as close to a star as you can get in this field. Plus he has the backing of many copywriting and marketing influencers.
But his title certainly helps. And in any case, it’s an illustration of the point I want to make:
* You can write a good name through paradox.
“Paradox” in this case is a shortcut for flat-out impossibility (“The 16-Word Sales Letter”)… contradiction (“The Lazy Man’s Way To Riches”)… or subverting strong expectations (“The 4-Hour Workweek”).
So how do you use this? All I can do is give you an example.
Say you’re selling a solution that helps people title their books. So you start with “book title” in the name of your offer. And then you ask yourself:
What’s the opposite of that? What are things that people believe to be “musts” around this topic? What are people expecting?
Well, one thing people might expect is that a good title has to be short. So you could use the name:
“The 99-Word Book Title”
People might also expect that you have to be creative to come up with a good name. So here’s option two:
“The Dullard’s Way To Great Book Titles”
Finally, people might think that coming up with a title name will take brainstorming or a lot of time. So you subvert that:
“The 4-Second Book Title”
But perhaps the results still suck. Fear not. There are lots of formulas you can use.
For example, if your topic is tricky, overwhelming, or requires study or intelligence… there’s an easy way to turn that into a title that works. Just put your topic in your name… and then attach “for dummies” at the end. And if you think you need it, add a disclaimer:
“Great Product Names For Dummies: Not just for dummies — but for everyone who is intrigued by paradox!”
Well. Maybe you’re still not sold. Maybe you want more ways to come up with great names for your product or offer. Then here’s an offer of my own:
I write an email newsletter. Product naming is something I might talk about more in the future… or I might not. But if I do, my newsletter is the first place where any such talk will go. If you don’t want to miss that, click here to subscribe.