I Screwed Up My Book Title...

About this video

Dale Roberts argues nonfiction authors waste prime discoverability real estate by choosing titles that are only clever or personal. Reviewing his own first book, he says the original short, ambiguous title set a general health expectation but missed keyword and audience opportunities, and a later revision improved it only partly. He frames a good title as a balance of artistic expression, keyword optimization, and brevity: readers who do not know the author must be able to tell at a glance what the book is. Title and subtitle are extra keyword slots beyond Kindle Direct Publishing’s seven backend keywords, so keywords used there need not be repeated in the backend. He recommends one to three keywords, preferably specific long-tail phrases and an explicit audience identifier — his examples include beginners, stay-at-home moms, and men over 55 — and trimming filler words that add friction. He warns against keyword stuffing and truncation, criticizing long, repetitive Amazon product and book titles he shows as spammy and unreadable, while praising Allan Dib’s ‘The One Page Marketing Plan’ title and subtitle as keyword-rich, audience-clear, and personable. His process is to study successful books in the niche, make the title uniquely his own, not duplicate another book’s title, create at least three variations, and poll readers and peers. The second half demonstrates the sponsor Dibbly Create’s AI title generator, accessed via its assistant Kip, for a hypothetical time management and productivity book. Run once by Amazon category and once by custom search query, the tool returned different related-keyword lists, common topics, title and subtitle suggestions, and different average print prices for the two runs, which he saves to notes for later use.

Key takeaways

• Treat title and subtitle as discoverability slots: use one to three relevant keywords there so they do not need to be repeated in KDP’s seven backend keywords.
• Name the exact audience in the title or subtitle when possible, using specific long-tail phrasing rather than broad terms alone.
• Keep the title brief and readable — trim filler words and avoid keyword stuffing that causes truncation and looks spammy.
• Do not duplicate another book’s title; differentiate for discoverability and to avoid community scorn and potential legal disputes.
• Draft at least three title variations, study successful books in the niche, and poll readers and peers before deciding.

Episode details: published January 20, 2024 · 15:04 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. Business results and any income figures mentioned are Dale L. Roberts’s own claims, shared for education — they are not typical or guaranteed.

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