What Should I Title my New Devotional Book?
Giving a Title a to New Devotional Book.
I wanted to give you a little update on my new devotional book. (if you are on my mailing list you may have already read this)
Before I begin assembling it together on the publishers website, I need to settle on a title. I have several that I’ve been thinking about, but I wanted to hear from you first. I listed some of the title options below. Let me know in the comments which one is your favorite and which one is your second favorite?
To help you in choosing favorite title I thought you might like to know a little bit more about the book. So I have included an excerpt from the new devotional book’s introduction page.
New Devotional Book Excerpt
Here is that excerpt. You’ll find the title options below the excerpt.
“Many heroes in the Bible spent time connecting with God in the wilderness. Even Jesus headed out to nature. Over a dozen times the gospels mention Jesus going alone into the wilderness or to a quiet place to meet with His Father. The gospel of Luke said He did it often.
Today, we miss that. These days, not too many people head out to nature to spend time with God. Those of us who do, know that nature is a great place to connect with God. God reveals Himself through His creation. Creation speaks to us about God and God speaks to us through His creation.
I wrote this devotional because so much in our world today keeps people from drawing near to God. We often find it hard to get outside enough and seek God there. I desire to help people meet God and see God in His creation. I want to help them draw near to Him. Like the heroes in the Bible, when we spend time with God in His creation, we draw near to Him.
If you get outside a lot, then take this devotional with you. Reading it in the outdoors is a great way to enjoy it and fully experience it! But if you cannot get to the outdoors, use this devotional to help you better understand what the outside tells us about God. Either way, may it help you draw near to God.”
Here are the title options:
- Drawing Near: An Outdoor Creation Devotional
- Drawing Near: Spending Time with God in His Creation
- Drawing Near: Meeting God in His Creation.
- Drawing Near: A Devotional Helping You See God in His Creation
- God of Creation: An Outdoor Devotional Helping You Draw Near to God
Let me know in the comments below. I look forward to Reading what your favorites are!
Thanks!
Pasquale
I like #5 the best. I personally think a title should not too long so I would just say, “An Outdoor Devotional Helping You Draw Near to God.” My second choice is #4. Again, I would shorten the title to read: “A Devotional Helping You See God in His Creation.” Also to help you because I’m excited about your project, I wanted to mention that in the 2nd paragraph, it should read “These days” not day. Thanks so much for your inspiring pictures and devotionals. I love all of them and read them each day.
Thanks Sylvia! I appreciate your vote and your comments. The title is actually short. The title is “Drawing Near.” Everything after the colon is a subtitle. The purpose of the subtitle is to give a little bit more insight to what’s in the book and they’re generally a little longer. The title itself will appear in a large font on the cover of the book and the subtitle will be much smaller and in a different font.
I connect best with #3 and #5. I’m wondering if #5 could be reworked somehow to express it more concisely, removing the “helping” part.
Thanks Donna! I appreciate your feedback.
Number 3. You have nature pictures showing what God created, plus inspiring Bible verses giving your readers comfort and peace.
Okay – A title is an advertisement for a product – in this case, your book. I worked in marketing for years so I am accustomed to putting a lot of thought into word usage. I love your work and want your book to be a huge success so it needs a GOOD TITLE!! That’s why I’m taking my time to explain my thought process for each possible title. It’s a very important decision.
#1 is so-so. It has no spark, it’s a “take it or leave it” title.
#2 sends me running. I’m too busy to SPEND TIME anywhere. So don’t put TIME in your title if you want people to pick up your book. Unless your book will tell me how to get 30 hours out of a 24-hour day I’m not interested. I’m bankrupt. I have no more time to spend – even if I really need this book.
#3 is my first choice – Drawing Near: Meeting God In His Creation. It’s short and it’s intriguing – How do I meet God? Creation as in what exactly? I’d pick that book up to find out.
You could also change #3 slightly – Drawing Near: Meeting God In His Creation Devotional. This lets the reader know it’s a devotional but do they need to know that? Couldn’t you attract more readers by not putting the word devotional in your title?
#4 is out – Title is too long – didn’t make me want to know more – just got bored reading the title. If I were looking for a book, there’s nothing in that title to make me take a closer look.
#5 This is my second choice but only if you make the title shorter – God of Creation: An Outdoor Devotional. Period. Again, don’t make the title too long. Why? It’s important to arouse curiosity but not say too much causing the reader to pass over the book from preconceived notions on their part. In this case the book title is definitely defining itself as a devotional but if I’m buying a devotional, then I might want that word to be in the title.
You will need to decide if you are marketing this book to all potential readers or limiting it to the devotional book shelf. I think limiting it to devotionals will prevent a lot of people from discovering your gemstone. That’s why #3 is my top choice. Besides, some devotionals are too good to wait a day to read the next page so I read them through all at once. That’s the kind of book this will be – an “I can’t stop reading this!!!” Kind of book. I can’t wait!
I am praying that this book will be a huge blessing to others. I have enjoyed your emails for quite some time now. I thought my husband was also reading them but learned recently that he didn’t remember me ever telling him about your site. So I shared it with him again and he immediately subscribed. He is an avid hunter and fisherman. He loves getting your daily emails and quickly reads them. When I buy your book for him it won’t be a huge surprise now that he knows about you but that’s okay. It will still be one of his favorite books! Question: Will it be available in an ebook format, ie Kindle or iBook, paperback or hardback?
You share your God-given talents with the world in a way that brings glory to God. Blessings to you, in the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ.
Hi Irene! Wow, great thoughts and insight. I am definitely thinking about what you wrote. I might ask you for more marketing advice once the book is published.
Like you, it seems most people like number three, but like you suggested, perhaps I need to add the word “Devotional” to it. Either way, I agree that there can be potential benefits to leaving the title as is, or by adding the word “Devotional” somewhere to the sub-title.
Thanks for introducing my website to your husband. I’m glad he is blessed by it!
And the book will be released as a paperback and on Amazon as an e-book. I believe the publisher will also release it as an iBook.