Want a short cut to titling/writing a book? Come up with a color and a subject of interest and you're halfway there (provided it's a specialty you know something about). Let's play ... Color - Green; Subject - Landscaping =
The Little Green Book of Landscaping
Color - Orange; Subject - Spreadsheets =
The Little Orange Book of Spreadsheets
Color - Puce; Subject - Pool Skimming =The Little Puce Book of Pool Skimming
Laugh but these formulaic titles are everywhere. If you want a digestible diatribe on a particular subject (especially aspects of business) you can easily run to your bookseller or Amazon and pick up The Little Red Book of Selling, The Little Black Book of Connections (same author), and The Little Blue Book of Advertising.
There's probably more. I know there are across topics. Wanna learn golf? Check out Harvey Pennick's Little Red Book. If you're feeling broad you can read the colorless but comprehensive Little Book of Food or The Little Book That Beats the Market.
Now these titles sound may sound dorky but the formula must be a successful one to merit the kind of play it's getting. Take it apart, though, and it's pretty simple to see why titles like this work:
'Little' implies that it's small and as few people read books anymore you may need to telegraph to the unidoctrinated that this book won't hurt you. Toss the color in and it sounds almost fun. Like a children's book (I think subconsciously this construction draws strength in it's motivational tie in with The Little Engine That Could). So we've communicated twice already that it's easy and we've added a dash of fun. 'Book of' is just the exposition leading up to your closer - the subject of interest. Not the most exciting part of all but if I need to step up my selling game, a title like this preceeding the subject helps the medicine go down.
When you look at it this way, it's kind of brilliant. This title formula is just a step above the lowballing and wildly popular Dummies and Idiots series (and I'm not turning my nose up - I just got the Idiot's Guide to Wine).
The Point? One of these books makes a respectable case for "thinking inside the box." Careful now. I'm not saying stifle creativity but rather there are tested formulas out there that are tried and true. You don't always have to reinvent the wheel. Save your wheelsmith-ery for when it's time to change the game entirely. And chances are that will be simply taking one of these tried and true methods and turning it on it's side.
No comments:
Post a Comment