Publishing industry statistics say that over 80 percent of people believe they have a book inside of them, just waiting to be written.

I had two adoption books inside of me, and I actually wrote them. I’m simultaneously working with two publishers, and my books will be released this summer, just a few weeks apart. When it rains, it pours!

For those interested in this newbie author’s perspective on the publishing industry, I’ll be updating you on my books’ progress during the next few posts.

My books now have official titles. Drumroll, please…………

The Adoption Decision: 15 Things You Want to Know Before Adopting

The Adoption Network: Your Guide to Starting a Support System


My thoughts on title writing:

When an author submits a book proposal, you must include a “working title” for your book. However, publishers almost always change the book’s title. I knew this going in and had given Book A (now known as The Adoption Decision) a lengthy, descriptive title with the assumption they’d think of something different.

Sure enough, they did. My editor and I (and the title-writing team–yes, publishing houses have teams of people who write titles) bandied about titles and subtitles for several weeks. They, with their vast experience in knowing what titles sell in particular markets, decided on the final title.

Here’s a little secret:
When I heard the subtitle (15 Things You Want to Know Before Adopting), my reaction was: But the book only has 14 chapters! And it covers way more than 15 things. Where’d the “15 things” come from?

I was informed that 15 “sounds better” to a prospective buyer than 14…or 18…or 22. It’s a nice, round number. Still, I felt uncomfortable touting “15 things” in a book with 14 chapters.

The solution: I’ll be chopping one chapter in half. So when you buy my book and come upon two really short chapters, you’ll be privy to “insider” info: that’s the chapter that got cut in half!

For Book B (The Adoption Network: Your Guide to Starting a Support System), the title underwent at least 10 title changes over the course of two weeks. Title writing is not my forte, so I test-drove titles on my friends, several book editors—I even surveyed my blog’s readers!

We decided that the title for Book B needed to closely match that of Book A. They are companion volumes of sorts; Book A details many of the insecurities prospective adoptive parents have and provides practical tips for how to work through them.

Book B starts where Book A left off, giving people who’ve decided they need support a manual for how to start a support network (although I expanded Book B to include birth/first parents, foster parents and adopted people, as well as adoptive parents).

Thus, we have The Adoption Decision and The Adoption Network. Albeit not too exciting, they’re brief, straightforward, and they tell you what’s inside the book.

I’ve been informed by the powers that be that “brief is best.” Bookstore browsers spend about three seconds looking at a book’s title. The whole purpose of the title is to catch their attention so they’ll pick up the book, turn it over, and read the back cover copy.

In the next post: The wonderful world of book covers!