How to write a provocative book title that attracts many more readers

Is the title of your book provocative? Do you reach out and grab the attention of your potential readers and compel them to read? To create a provocative book title, one must aim to provoke action, thought, or feeling. In other words, should your title capture the interest, engage or shock the senses of your reader?

The book cover, including the title, is considered one of the most important elements of the book. Seventy-five percent of the 300 booksellers surveyed (half from independent bookstores and half from chains) identified book cover appearance and design as the most important component. They agreed that the dust jacket is prime real estate for promoting a book.

Here are some tips for creating a provocative book title that will draw your readers in like fish on a hook.

1. Ignite interest in your message with a provocative book title. Spark interest with reader benefits included in the headline. Let your potential reader know exactly what you offer to solve within your book. For example, “7 Easy Steps to Lose Weight and Keep It Off!” Your readers are always interested in knowing what is in your book for them. Ignite interest by putting the WIIFM profit right on the title.
2. Offer specific information in a provocative book title. General information does not attract as much attention as specific information. The writer has to work on this. A good way to be specific is to add the numbers. You already know how many or what percentage. For example, “How to write articles that get read more” will not generate as much interest as “How to write articles that get read 300% more”.
3. Increase interest with alternative effect words. Have you noticed how some words with the same meaning have a different effect than other words? For example, 72 hours sounds like a shorter or faster period of time than 3 days. Or 300% more sounds like a bigger benefit than 3 times more. A marketing specialist friend used “How to sell 300% more product in 72 hours than in a whole month” instead of its less effective equivalent, “How to sell 3x more product in 3 days than in a whole month” . ” Create a provocative book title that sounds bigger, faster, better, etc. using alternative words that mean the same thing.
4. Use the shock effect to create a provocative book title. Has a shocking title caught your eye recently? One of Oprah’s most popular shows was a show that claimed that “experts now estimate that as many as 40 million women suffer from loss of sexual desire; their partners likely suffer as well.” She even called it “A Secret Epidemic.” The title that helped attract viewers was “Wives Who Don’t Want Sex.” She creates a shocking title for her book backed by a shocking statistic to capture the most attention from her audience.
5. Engage your readers with a negative slant. “5 Website Mistakes to Avoid That Will Drive Your Site Visitors Away in Less Than 2 Minutes” was one of the most popular headlines from a writer friend. MCould your site be driving away visitors that fast? I have been working hard to attract visitors to the site; I want to know what would scare them off so fast. Provocative statements grab our attention like an electric shock. They make us curious. Sometimes they make us angry. They make us feel many different things, but above all they make us read.

Don’t wait to develop this important skill. Add the magnetic drawing power of provocation to your book cover. Provoke your readers into action by engaging their interest, stirring their emotions, or adding specific benefits. Then, keep them reading through the attention-grabbing chapter titles and even bullet points throughout your book. Create your best provocative headline and attract 300% more readers than you ever dreamed possible. Title well and prosper!