This month I thought you might be interested in what attracts me to a book – paper or eBook since I buy and read both.
Under my other hat there is much hair pulling to come up with the right tag (tagline) and blurb. Let alone the discussion on cover design. Personally, this is something I would leave to the cover artists’ talent as they know how to turn words into a picture as writers know how to turn a picture into words.
Let’s visit the Title first. For me, this is the first grab of my attention.
Titles can be names or phrases or code words that appear within the story. I’ve seen titles that have little to do with the story until the final word is read. Then there are titles that continue a series theme…cars, animals, food, play on character’s name.
Okay, I’ve missed the big “first” grab…the genre. That one I’m saving for later, maybe close to beginning of October. Genres are a dedicated subject and have their fans…for me, it depends on my mood.
Back to titles…sometimes a title’s attractiveness depends on its genre. I might not be inclined to pick up a cozy mystery with a scientific sounding title…am I in the right genre? Won’t be cozy enough. Or if searching the science fiction and there’s a fantasy feel to the title…was I looking for soft science, mixed science, or hardcore science?
Confusion time…all the above can also work to bring readers to you.
Series Titles…I like seeing the series title in the title. I like it more when I see what book order it is: 1, 2, three, twenty-eight. Saves me from guessing. But, I don’t need it as large as the main title.
Confusion time…uhm, what if I didn’t start out writing a series, so book one doesn’t have a series title. Hmm…use something of book one’s title in your series title? That can work.
Personal preference…I don’t like cursive writing fonts as titles. I stare at the computer screen most of the day. I’m the proud wearer of trifocals. Please give me something clear to see. And watch those bouncing colours…you’ve seen them…the font colour that doesn’t like the background colour so it plays illusion tricks on the eyes. Plus not everyone’s computer/eReader screen shows the same colours. I have two screens to work with and both show slightly different strengths to the same colour.
Confusion time…but…I…the cover artist…remember, there’s no pleasing everyone.
Question…should titles be long, short, one word. Does spelling count?
Answer…yes/no, yes/no, yes/no. And yes, and no, depends on what your story is about and how spelling plays within it.
Question…would I buy a book with this title _____________, depends, let me read the tag and blurb, hmmm, that cover…what genre is it?