{"id":"6125","date":"2020-12-03T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-12-03T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pickfu.com\/blog\/?p=6125"},"modified":"2020-11-30T09:15:38","modified_gmt":"2020-11-30T17:15:38","slug":"which-one-won-sometimes-a-one-word-book-title-isnt-enough","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.pickfu.com\/which-one-won-sometimes-a-one-word-book-title-isnt-enough\/","title":{"rendered":"Which One Won? Sometimes a one-word book title isn&#8217;t enough"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Some of the most memorable book titles are one word long. <em>Holes<\/em>. <em>Americanah<\/em>. <em>Atonement<\/em>. <em>Beloved<\/em>. <em>It<\/em>. But how do you know if your idea for a one-word book title is enough? Test titles of varying lengths on an audience of PickFu respo<g class=\"gr_ gr_23 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_disable_anim_appear Punctuation only-del replaceWithoutSep\" id=\"23\" data-gr-id=\"23\">ndents<\/g>, as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pickfu.com\/books\/book-titles\/which-book-title-is-better-BS4SWSI9\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" class=\"ek-link\">this author recently did<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The author presented these three titles along with the question, &#8220;Which book title is better?&#8221;:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><em>Insignificance <\/em>(Option A)<\/li><li><em>One of Us is Buried<\/em> (Option B)<\/li><li><em>The Factory Above the Jail<\/em> (Option C)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Can you guess which one won?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:200px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>And the winner is&#8230;Option B, with a score of 54. Option C was a close second with 46 points, and Option A got just 16 votes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here&#8217;s what respondents had to say. <\/p>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"intrigue-is-more-interesting\">Intrigue is more interesting <\/h2>\n\n\n<p>Schadenfreude \u2014 the natural tendency for people to take an interest in others&#8217; misfortunes \u2014 probably explains why Option B got the most votes. Respondents said they were curious to find out who was buried and why.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Option B pops out as more intense\/eye-catching since it jumps right into someone dying,&#8221; said one respondent. &#8220;Option B sounds incredibly intriguing. It sounds like a very dramatic story that I would like to know more about,&#8221; said another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Option C was too wordy. Most thought it sounded uninteresting. One person even found it pretentious: &#8220;[Option C] just screamed no, because it [looks] desperate for attention.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As for Option A, respondents agreed that the single-word title &#8220;has much too little to go on.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"use-the-title-as-a-teaser\">Use the title as a teaser<\/h2>\n\n\n<p>A book title is a window into a novel. It&#8217;s also a teaser. Of the three titles, respondents felt that Option B offered the most compelling hook. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;B is a really interesting concept. It gives you a clue without giving anything away,&#8221; said one respondent. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Another respondent agreed, adding, &#8220;[Option B] seems very intriguing and intense and gets my interest a lot. [Option C] seems descriptive and somewhat interesting. [Option A] feels really generic and not very descriptive and makes me think the book is probably gloomy and not well written.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You definitely don&#8217;t want a title that makes readers think your book is poorly written. Tease your story&#8217;s hook in the title, and you&#8217;re more likely to earn readers.<\/p>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"key-takeaways-for-oneword-and-longer-book-titles\">Key takeaways for one-word (and longer) book titles<\/h2>\n\n\n<p>Your book title should hook readers, whether it&#8217;s a one-word title or longer  \u2014 and especially if your book is a mystery or thriller. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Learn more about <a aria-label=\"testing your book titles (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pickfu.com\/book-title-cover-testing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" class=\"ek-link\">testing book titles<\/a> and <a aria-label=\"targeting the right audience (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pickfu.com\/audiences\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" class=\"ek-link\">targeting specific audiences<\/a>  \u2014  people who read mystery and crime books, for example \u2014 on PickFu. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":""},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Some of the most memorable book titles are one word long. Holes. Americanah. Atonement. Beloved. It. But how do you know if your idea for a one-word book title is &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":""},"author":"9","featured_media":"6162","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":"","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_editorskit_title_hidden":"","_editorskit_reading_time":"0","_editorskit_is_block_options_detached":"","_editorskit_block_options_position":"{}","advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","footnotes":""},"categories":["21","15"],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Which One Won? When a one-word book title falls short - The PickFu blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A one-word book title can be powerful. 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