Choosing a Title for Your Book (guest post by B. L. Ham)
Sometimes a book title flies into an author's mind, and from there begins the writing of a story or a book. More often, though, an author agonizes over the title of a book, and that agony can slow down or even preclude the writing of the book. Does not having a title mean not having a book? No. Just put nearly anything as a working title (only because you will need to file your documents under some title), and write the book. Focus on the theme of the book and the goal that you want to reach. Why are you writing the book? Let the words for that play out in your story. What is the story about? Develop it. Who are the characters? Develop them. What is the takeaway you want for readers? Make sure that is clear. Along the way, the title will likely become obvious. If it does not, stay with your working title. Make it short (less than 8 words). Make it clearly connected with the theme/message of your book. Make it your 8-second elevator speech about the book. Then, send ...