Today, I’m guest posting on The Book Designer, with a post titled, “How Searchable are Your Book’s Title and Subtitle?” Here’s an excerpt:

Who are we kidding? Readers will judge a book based on its title and subtitle. The book’s title, subtitle, and cover are our first (and, often, only) chances to hook readers’ attention. Readers look at the cover or read the title, make a snap decision, and they’re either hooked like a mackerel—or they are outta there.

Just as importantly, titles and subtitles are becoming increasingly important in the shadow world of metadata and SEO. The words we choose for our titles have to be more than just catchy sound bites. They have to be stocked with viable keywords that will help online retailers’ search engines guide readers to our books.