Sometimes we are too close to what we do and cannot see the forest for all the damned trees in the way.
This is my story… heh.
My book (which is pretty good) had what I realize now is most likely the worst book title EVER, and it has cost me dearly in sales.
Here’s the title (no longer available on Amazon… with no change in sales numbers. Heh.)
“What I’ve Learned So Far”
1. It made no sense to anyone but me and a handful of people.
2. It didn’t have any context to what it was about.
3. It was “me” focused instead of the end user.
4. Nobody really cared about what I had learned because it didn’t impact them.
5. Nobody really cared about what I had learned because they had no clue who I was.
It is really possible that I titled my book with the worst possible title ever.
Better titles would include.
“My Photos Don’t Totally Suck”
“I Got Your Photos Right Here…”
“Is There Salt In Donuts?”
Any title with the terms F**K or Badass in it… Those are really hot right now.
Oh I know one…
“MASSIVE FAIL”
Awesome.
I needed context, information, and some way of telling people what the book would do for THEM. How it would help THEM learn stuff.
The stuff I learned can help them, but the title didn’t say anything even remotely associative to that possibility.
I.
Am an idiot.
So it is time to rewrite, re-edit and RETITLE this book.
(And if you have any ideas, let me know please.)
PHOTO: ANJALI FONG
Recent Journal Posts
Facebook Fatigue?
From a very interesting take on how Facebook creates multi-faceted personna's. "A friend’s like on an anti-gay-rights page. A comment making fun of your musical tastes. A vegetarian friend linking to an article about the evils of eating meat. A complaint about how...
Apple Looks Back to See Ahead…
Apple has returned to its roots with the new ad campaign for the iPad. "What will your verse be?" A reflection of their earlier marketing approaches when it was geared toward the creative professional, this ad takes the view that we are all creative now. And their...
Three Words… for Now.
Chris Brogan talks about choosing his three words for the year. I don't usually do formal things like that, as the formality of them seems almost stilted and far too much like limitations than opportunities. However, I do get the idea... and while I may have more than...