How to pick a title? What kind of titles work?

[ScarletWeeb]

Longer titles like "I was...in another world" or shorter titles like "Cradle" "Shadow Slave" etc. Does the title actually matter? How much should the title convey about the story? Please give me your honest thoughts.

 

[RepresentingWrath]

Title matters.

 

[RecursiveDescent]

For context my first try at writing is shit and had 1k views by the first few chapters uploaded and it followed the title of common isekai like "reincarnated as a ..."
My new one has a less wordy title and it barely has 100 views after 4 chapters. Of course that's mostly because it doesn't have many chapters yet but the growth is very different.

The one that has so many views is so bad I want to just drop it but I have to finish it. It's starting to feel like a chore and I'm not even that close to the ending yet.

 

[John_Owl]

Longer titles like "I was...in another world" or shorter titles like "Cradle" "Shadow Slave" etc. Does the title actually matter? How much should the title convey about the story? Please give me your honest thoughts.

each has a different school of thought. The typical isekai anime title works if you want to give a synopsis without giving a synopsis. "Oh, this anime is all about a vending machine in a world that doens't have electricity yet. how does that work?" These titles are also different in that they could potentially be copyrighted. "I reincarnated in another world as a vending machine" Is long enough to *possibly* qualify. "ShadowBound", however, is not.

The classic novel title style works well if it's somehting that can hook someone's attention. You'll notice mine kinda straddle the line. Lay the Dragon gives a decent idea of some of the content without being too in-depth or spoilers. DragonBound is closer to classic title, but combined with the Cover kinda gives the feel of someone stuck between the world of Dragons and the World of mankind (spoiler: The MC is a halfdragon). A Succabus' Love likewise kinda gives the feeling that it's about a succubus that's genuinely in love, rather than just having sex (fair warning, it's NOT pornographic. it does have some graphic sex, but it does have plot that doesn't revolve around sex).

As long as it catches the attention of the reader, it's fine. If you give a brief summary and whatever other info won't spoil the novel, I'd be happy to offer a few suggestions.

As an alternative, I usually talk to AI chats about my stories until an idea pops into my head.

 

[beast_regards]

Do not use the impossibly long titles like "Reddit Mod In the Another World become a hokage of hidden journalist village" or "That Time I Reincarnated on the Royal Road as a tentacle monster but there aren't any magical girls" unless you want to explicitly evoke the Light Novels and their style. Though this naming convention has a very relatable reason for being around, it's rarely used in English. I don't think you could make the title long enough here, anyway.

I would go for the simple titles, usually two or three words, like "Promise of Smut" or "Scribble Hub" or so.

Including genre in the title is debatable, since there are tags visible i.e. [FANTASY]

 

[wresch]

I'm glad somebody asked this question. I could use all the advice I can get. I do think though that the cover also has to match. I find I am going to Pixabay to get an image I like, then go for a title. We have so little time to get anyone's attention. With an established author, it is a different world. What sells the book? The author's name. My name? Not so lucky.

 

[CharlesEBrown]

Titles are tricky. Go with what feels best is my rule. Sometimes that's "Title (a Book)" and sometimes it's "I Got Lost on the Road to Oz and All I Got Was This Lousy Tin T-Shirt"

 

[ConansWitchBaby]

Make single letter titles.

 

[beast_regards]

I'm glad somebody asked this question. I could use all the advice I can get. I do think though that the cover also has to match. I find I am going to Pixabay to get an image I like, then go for a title. We have so little time to get anyone's attention. With an established author, it is a different world. What sells the book? The author's name. My name? Not so lucky.

A free-to-use pictures often discourage the readers from reading the novel as they tend to not entice any attention and are often bland and uninteresting, especially compared to anything else you see on Internet. Web novels don't operate in the same way the traditional publishing novels do. There is no initial investment, and no obstacle preventing the user from leaving, and readers often demand immediate results. This starts with cover. If there isn't a flashy cover, there is nothing motivating them to try whether the story is actually good as the alternative is the one click away.