A title is a name—one that your book becomes known by once it is published. And some books have subtitles, but they don’t exactly function as an alternative name for your work.
In some cases though, a title is enough. But what decides whether your book needs a subtitle or not?
What Is a Subtitle of a Book?
In publishing, a subtitle is a descriptive phrase that accompanies the main title of any written work. It expands on or clarifies the main title, giving readers a better understanding of what the work is all about.
However, good subtitles also set the tone of your work. Inserting certain words and phrases can signal to the reader whether it is lighthearted, serious, scholarly, and more. And when it comes to marketing, these words and phrases can also make your book more visible to search engines.
Some books have titles that can do all of these. But such effective titles are rare, so most writers and publishers opt for good subtitles instead.
You’ll mostly find subtitles being used in nonfiction works today, though you can absolutely use them with fiction. In fact, a lot of fiction classics actually have subtitles such as Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus and The Hobbit, or There and Back Again.
Does your Book Need a Subtitle?
Your book might need the help of a subtitle if your main title is too vague or relies entirely on catching someone’s attention. Both suffer from a lack of context, leaving readers unsure of what your work is about and whether they should even read it.
You also need to consider where you’re making your books available. If you plan to publish digitally (which you should be), it doesn’t hurt to have a subtitle that gives you better visibility with search engines.
How To Write Good Subtitles
Here are some things to consider if you’re thinking about adding a subtitle to your book.
1. Add context.
Keep in mind, the primary use of a subtitle is to give additional information about your book. A subtitle that fails to do that, however clever, is bad.
If you can, take the extra step and make it clear who the book is actually for. Take a look at this book:
Catchy title aside, the subtitle makes it obvious that it is meant for people who own startups or are planning to start their own businesses.
2. Use keywords.
Adding certain keywords to your subtitle isn’t essential, but definitely helps in making your book more visible to both readers and search engines.
Don’t go overboard though. Keyword cramming will make your subtitle sound spammy and unclear.
Check out this book:
The phrases “blood sugar” or “balancing your blood sugar” in the subtitle already make the book easier to find for its target audience: people looking for ways to regulate their blood sugar.
3. Be concise.
Don’t use more words than you need. This doesn’t mean making your subtitle as short as possible though. Being concise is different from being brief.
Sometimes this means being specific with the details—even if you have to add one or more words.
An Illustrated Guide to the Language of Flowers is too general. An Illustrated Guide to the Victorian Language of Flowers narrows it down to a specific period and a specific audience. It even explains what floriography is: the language of flowers.
4. Make it easy to read and say.
Your readers don’t need to remember your subtitles word-for-word. But they should be able to process it instantly. You don’t want them confused when they haven’t even started on the actual content.
Stick to simple language and get straight to the point. You can add some wordplay to it but in a way that doesn’t obscure your meaning.
In the book above, not only does the subtitle avoid complicated words, but it is also clear what the book is about. It even adds some mystery as to what these “hidden realms” are, but doesn’t make the entire thing less clear.
5. Employ the rule of three.
The human mind loves patterns and three is the smallest number needed to establish a pattern. Capitalize on this by using three important pieces of information in your subtitle.
Just by reading the subtitle above, you immediately know that the book revolves around three things: trauma, resilience, and healing.
There’s an immediate emphasis on these topics, making them more memorable to your audience.
6. Consider the tone of your book.
Your subtitle also reflects the tone of your book’s contents. Whether it’s funny, serious, academic, or authoritative, people should get an accurate feel of what’s inside.
If the two don’t match, then you risk disappointing your readers. They start reading your book with a preconceived idea of how it should read only to find their assumption is wrong.
You might think, “Well, it’s their fault for making assumptions.” But keep in mind that everything on the cover and back of a book serves as context clues about the reading experience you’re offering.
7. Compile a list and choose the best.
When you’re in the brainstorming stage, don’t stick with the first good subtitle you think about. Compile a list of possible subtitles, find ways to improve each of them, and then pick the best one.
It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking one subtitle is awesome and never move away from it. Compiling a list gives you a chance to compare and weigh the pros and cons of each one in the list. You could even pick the best elements out of several and turn them into a single, high-quality subtitle.
Subtitles for Different Book Genres
Subtitles generally work in two ways: to further explain the main title or as an actual alternative title (usually accompanied by the conjunction “or”). The latter was often used in the past, though is still sometimes seen today.
Besides that, subtitles also slightly differ in use with every genre. For example, a lot of fiction books simply have “A Novel” as their subtitle. This comes from a time when novels were relatively new and had to be distinguished from other types of literature.
Even today, some books aren’t obviously novels, so adding this particular subtitle immediately identifies them as such. Memoirs sometimes go this route by using “A Memoir” as their subtitle.
Self-help books, on the other hand, usually have explanatory subtitles because they tend to have eye-catching titles like I Will Teach You to Be Rich, Never Split the Difference, and The Power of Now.
Despite all these differences in use, subtitles always have the same goal. Once you’ve hooked your audience with the title, it is time to reel them in with the subtitle.
What are your favorite book subtitles? Share them in the comments below!
If you enjoyed this post, then you might also like:
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Cole is a blog writer and aspiring novelist. He has a degree in Communications and is an advocate of media and information literacy and responsible media practices. Aside from his interest in technology, crafts, and food, he’s also your typical science fiction and fantasy junkie, spending most of his free time reading through an ever-growing to-be-read list. It’s either that or procrastinating over actually writing his book. Wish him luck!
