If you’re old enough, you might remember when there were just two flavors of coffee—Maxwell House and Folgers. Not so anymore.

Not only has the number of large coffee distributors expanded, so have the blends and flavor choices! Hazelnut Creme, anyone? How about a dark Sumatra or Guatemalan blend? 

Why is this? Why do grocery stores show us so many options?

They’ve figured out if we have options, we’re more likely to buy one of them.

If all you see is one coffee option, it’s a yes-or-no proposition.

If you see four options, the question shifts from “Do you want coffee?” to “Which sort of coffee do you find most appealing?”

Why It’s Smart to Include Multiple Titles and Subtitles in Your Nonfiction Book Proposal

The same is true for books. When you’re submitting a book proposal, you could include just one title and subtitle on the cover page. That’s the yes-or-no proposition. I suppose if you can’t stomach the idea of any other title and subtitle, go for it.

But if you want to quadruple your chances of getting published, include three alternative titles and subtitles. (A mediating position would be to include one title but a number of alternative subtitles.)

I encourage using your top pick on the cover page and up to five alternatives on the reverse side of the cover page. You might use a simple heading like “Alternative Titles and Subtitles” and then list them out as a bulleted list.

When More Becomes Less

You might wonder, “If five alternatives are okay, why not ten? Why not twenty? Why not a hundred?!” I would avoid including more than five alternatives because doing so can give the impression that you don’t really know what your book is about.

That’s not good. You want to let your proposal reviewers know you do have a clear idea of what your book is, but you’re also flexible enough to see multiple ways to position your book in the marketplace. Including three to five solid title-subtitle combinations gets you there. More than that, in my opinion, is when more becomes less.

Ahmad Ossayli

How to Do It: Brainstorming Alternative Titles

Let’s say you’re writing a book on how listening can revolutionize your reader’s ability to connect with a conversation partner. And let’s say your top working title-subtitle is:

Connecting: How Active Listening Will Revolutionize Your Ability to Communicate

Fine. Now brainstorm a bunch of other titles.

As you do this, it might be helpful to imagine the multiple facets of a diamond. If you hold up a diamond to the sun and slowly turn it, you’ll see the diamond’s many different facets. But it’s still the same diamond. Your brainstormed titles will bring out different aspects of the same essential concept.

Having said that, when it comes to brainstorming alternative titles, don’t overthink it. Let your mind go, like this:

• The Power of Listening
• Maximizing Your Conversations
• Active Listening
• Communication Booster
• Reimagining Your Communication
• Communicate!
• Reaching Others
• Listen to Me!
• The Key to Engaging Conversation
• Engaging Conversations
• How to Listen So People Will Talk

You get the idea.

Now narrow down the list to your favorites. At this point you may want to poll your audience and see which ones they like best. After going through this process, let’s say you end up with the following alternatives:

• The Power of Listening
• Communication Booster
• The Key to Engaging Conversation

Now you need some subtitles to go with these.

How to Do It: Brainstorming Alternative Subtitles

Your original subtitle, “How Active Listening Will Revolutionize Your Ability to Communicate,” may work with all three alternative titles. That’s not the point. The point is to present to the agent or publisher multiple ways to conceive of your book idea.

Let’s give it a shot:

• The Power of Listening: How to Make Your Everyday Conversations a Lot More Engaging
• Communication Booster: The Power of Active Listening
• The Key to Engaging Conversation: How Active Listening Can Make You More Fun to Be Around

Do you see how these alternatives do not stray very far from the original concept? Do you also see how they bring out different nuances of the concept? That’s the goal.

When you present your book proposal reviewers with multiple ways to conceive of your book and position it in the marketplace, you’ll be dramatically improving your chances of getting published.

Question: Can you see how this approach can make your own book concept more attractive to a publisher? You can leave a comment by clicking here.