Book titles are extremely important. As an author, creating a memorable title should be a high priority. The numbers in the book titles work with elements that already quantify. For example, a book titled ‘Get 6-Pack Abs in 6 Minutes a Day’ makes sense. I like to use numbers in a book title when it’s relevant and helpful in describing what the book is about. A recent example that really works is Tim Ferriss’s ‘The 4 Hour Work Week’ and his ‘4 Hour Body’. That number stops you in your tracks because it’s shocking. How can you work only 4 hours a week? How can you have a good body in just 4 hours? Ferriss has capitalized on his ‘4-Hour’ brand and has just published ‘The 4 Hour Chef’. He owns that number now. He has tagged his name with ‘4-Hour’ and may incorporate it into his future work.
A number is an image that is quickly understood because it is a symbol and is represented by a minimum number of characters. For example, ‘Thousand’ written in letters is represented by 12 characters, but only four characters if used as a number; 1000. This can save space on the cover, and in this digital world, sometimes saving a few characters can make all the difference if Google shows the full book title or even Amazon. Also, there is a magic number of 65 characters for some search engines before it is truncated or cut off. Another often overlooked benefit is that a number rises to the top of a list when sorted alphabetically along with symbols like ‘@’ or ‘$’, for example.
Here is a list of some well-known books that have used a number in the title:
1 catch-22
2. The 4-hour work week
3. The 4-hour chef
4. The 4-hour body
5. Europe on $5 a day
6. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
7. Fahrenheit 451
8. 1984
9. The 39 steps
10. 1, 2, Fasten my Shoe
11. Around the world in 80 days
12. 1001 thousand and one nights
13. 13 Reasons Why
14. 3:10 to Yuma
15. Under the 13 Moons
16. Size 12 is not fat
17. 13 little blue envelopes
18. 13 treasures
19. The sixth objective
20. The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Lasting Love
21. Seventh Heaven
22. 10,001 ways to live on a small budget
23. The $100 Start-Up
24. The 48 laws of power
25. Steal like an artist: 10 things nobody told you about being creative
26. The 4 Disciplines of Execution: Achieving Your Important Goals
27. 5: Where will you be in five years?
28. Rules of the Brain: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School
29. 30 things that every woman must have and must know by the time she is 30 years old
30. 17 Cents and a Dream (a new book by one of my clients)
Whenever possible, I use numbers in the titles of my articles because it allows me to understand what the article is about. Here’s a sample:
22 tips on what to wear for a TV interview
52 ways to promote your iPhone app
33 Radio Interview Tips
55 reasons to send a press release
15 tips for a great book cover design
The top 25 book fairs and festivals authors should attend.
You can find even more articles on book promotion topics on the author’s website.
On LinkedIn, the question received many insightful responses. One I particularly liked was from James Cosenza, a software engineer: “I think the number approach is especially useful for self-help and how-to books. People want to know that they can change their life or learn a new skill in 5, 10 or 15 ‘easy’ steps I don’t know if there is clutter but I think conflicting titles on the same topic can be off putting For example would you buy ‘Install a New Patio in 10 Easy Steps’ vs. ‘A New Patio? Patio in Seven Easy Steps’?
Ethan de Jonge Kalmar, founder of Make Your English Work, says: “I think it depends on your content and audience. Numbered lists certainly work well for blog posts and social media sites, but given the speed of information now and the Tendency to want to have everything in a concise and easy to digest form, I think many book readers (I mean works of at least 100 pages or so) are looking for a deeper insight, and numbered list titles don’t communicate. exactly that the book provides that.”
“For a short promotional eBook, or perhaps for the self-help/entrepreneur market, it might work well. Also, I think if you’re giving information that’s comprehensive because it covers a lot of different things, it might work well, as in James’ example Cosenza of 1000 places to see before dying”.
Tim Lemire responded from an author’s perspective: “I never bothered to find a good title; I knew the publisher was going to assign their own title to the book anyway.”
Please note that not all book titles need a number. For example, the number 7 is overused because people are trying to cash in on Covey’s books. He even invented the “eighth” habit to deviate from the number 7. So if he’s thinking of adding the number “7” in the title of his book, think again because it won’t stand out.
If you choose to incorporate a number into your book title, make sure it is added to the book. Don’t put a number in the title because you think it might be a good idea. Not all book titles need numbers. However, some books may sell better because of the number in their title.
The bottom line: Finding the right name for your book is more than important, it’s critical. Creating a memorable headline is really the point. Using numbers in your title could help make it even more memorable.
