What makes a good subtitle?

I've written a lot about book titles (see 10 Business Book Questions: Q1. What is the title of your business book?) but not specifically about subtitles. I make the distinction as while the title can refer to the whole, it generally means "main title". For me, the main title is how you would refer to the book and the biggest part of its identity, i.e. Meet with Impact.

But a?subtitle is what appears after the colon, i.e Meet with Impact: 40 visual tools for productive meetings and engaging workshops. It's an extra opportunity to explain the premise or style of the book. A valuable few extra words to ensure the reader fully understands how the book works and potentially clinch the sale. It's a big part of metadata that should be part of your book's packaging and identity.

Here are some popular types of subtitles from the bestselling business books of 2022 in the UK. As ever some of these are fashionable, some are perennial, and some are adventurous:

1. No subtitle - best when you have a long descriptive title, or it's part of a well-known series

• 23 Things They Don't Tell You About Capitalism
• What They Don't Teach You At Harvard Business School
• The New One Minute Manager

1. A subtitle that is promotional - when publishers might use the subtitle field to make a claim about the book's sales or link to another book

• The Lean Startup: The Million Copy Bestseller Driving Entrepreneurs to Success
• Talking to My Daughter: The Sunday Times Bestseller
• The Infinite Game: From the bestselling author of Start With Why

1. A subtitle that makes sense of an obscure title - common for deep dives or investigative journalism

• Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty
• The World for Sale: Money, Power and the Traders Who Barter the Earth’s
• Moneyland: Why Thieves And Crooks Now Rule The World And How To Take It

1. A subtitle that explains the format or style - how does it work, what's the structure?

• The Five Dysfunctions of a Team – A Leadership Fable
• Can’t We Just Print More Money?: Economics in Ten Simple Questions
• The Personal MBA: A World-Class Business Education in a Single Volume

1. A subtitle that offers an outcome or result - what does the book help you to do? Pearson's current favourite style.

• The 1-Page Marketing Plan: Get New Customers, Make More Money, And Stand Out From The Crowd
• Doughnut Economics: Seven Ways to Think Like a 21st-Century Economist
• Coaching Habit: Say Less, Ask More & Change the Way You Lead Forever

1. A subtitle that reflects a problem you might have

• The Making of a Manager: What to Do When Everyone Looks to You
• Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don't
• Nice Girls Don't Get The Corner Office: Unconscious Mistakes Women Make

1. A subtitle that makes a statement - they can feel like a manifesto

• No Bullsh*t Leadership: Why the World Needs More Everyday Leaders and Why That Leader Is You
• Leading Without Authority: Why You Don’t Need To Be In Charge to Inspire Others and Make Change Happen
• Less is More: How Degrowth Will Save the World

1. Two subtitles! This is a bit of a wild area and they are often very long.

• Zero to One: Notes on Start Ups, or How to Build the Future
• Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About The World - And Why Things are Better than You Think
• Butler to the World: The book the oligarchs don’t want you to read - how Britain became the servant of tycoons, tax dodgers, kleptocrats and criminals

So if any of the above types of subtitles appeal to you, here are some more tips on how to craft a good subtitle:

• Use one! Pearson has a few books with no subtitle but this is best used by big-name authors or completely definitive titles (i.e.?Zurich Tax Handbook 2015-16) and I think you're wasting an opportunity by not having a subtitle.
• Be as succinct as possible. We're currently aiming for 7-10 words, which is tough but focused. This ensures the jacket has maximum legibility and impact without too much text.
• Avoid repetition with the main title. Using the same words doesn't offer anything new so try to avoid repeating terms.
• Include keywords to improve searchability. We don't know the workings of the algorithms at Amazon (etc) but one assumes the title ranks highly. So?if the main title includes 'money', then perhaps the subtitle would use 'finance' or 'cash' in case readers are searching for other teams.
• Make sense together with the main title. If you have an obscure main title, or it's a phrase, the subtitle should refer to and make sense of it. Perhaps your book is "The Power of X" so the subtitle could be about "unleashing" this power.
• Avoid redundancy. Pearson is fond of a "How to..." but is it necessary? If it's "How to unleash competitive advantage for your business", you could lose the first two words for a bit more brevity and impact.
• Fairly represent the content. You can convey a lot with a subtitle so ensure it's accurate and honest. Don't say 'practical' if it's not.

The Pearson Business Book Club

The Pearson Business Book Club?is open to all who would like to learn more about our business books or a particular topic, and the webinars are free to attend. You can also view the on-demand videos of previous sessions on the Book Club website.

October's Business Book of the Month?is Going Digital by Lyndsey Jones and Balvinder Singh Powar. The webinar is on What works, and what doesn't, in business transformation projects. To attend the webinar on Thursday 26 October 2023, at 2 pm?(UK time), please register at https://pearson.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_8D-ZQsCjTYyJnM4S_aDp8A#/registration.

Going Digital is a practical and revealing guide for anyone dealing with transformation, whatever their business or sector. Understand how to deliver digital change at the coalface, alongside the relevant management theory. Organised thematically and covering AI, diversity, crises, and other topics, each chapter covers the story arc of what businesses have done to address disruption. You will also learn what worked (and what didn’t) from case studies including companies such as the FT, Renault, Nissan, CNN, UBS and others.

"Here is the essential guide to how managers should adapt their businesses to the digital revolution. Written by a journalist who was the driving force behind the shift from print to digital in the Financial Times newsroom, the book offers many examples of how to change mindsets and work practices - and keep employees on board." Lionel Barber, Editor of the Financial Times 2005-2020

Lyndsey Jones is a publishing consultant, strategic advisor and coach working with media companies across Africa and Europe on the digital transformation of their newsrooms, from operations to content strategy. She is also a keynote speaker, guest lecturer and business mentor.

Balvinder Singh Powar is Professor and Business Mentor at IE Business School and an experienced trainer, giving sessions on Leadership, Change Management, Innovation & Entrepreneurship globally.

Just Published / Noteworthy books

How to Be a Complete and Utter F**k Up by Steve McDermott is your ultimate ANTI life coach. Be warned: whatever you do, don’t do the opposite of what you learn here or else you’re in serious danger of making some positive changes and leading a more successful life.

Turning the concept of self-improvement on its head, this book brings together 47 and a half leading ideas in personal and business development and offers a total antidote to the motivational, gung-ho, over-enthused tone of all the usual self-improvement guides.

Delivered in fast, easily digestible chunks, in a style that makes you laugh while you learn, this book offers tongue-in-cheek advice about what not to do to ensure certain failure in every aspect of your life. From not having any goals, to not getting advice from people you’ve never met or who are dead, to not taking personal responsibility for your life and results, every idea, strategy, suggestion and story is guaranteed to propel you into the slow lane of total inadequacy and has been tested with thousands of real people.

Steve McDermott has been established as one of the UK's top motivational speakers and his personal brand is growing. His work includes being a motivational speaker, coach, trainer and consultant.

"Hidden behind the fun, this book will actually inspire you to be the best you can be even in seemingly impossible circumstances." Liz Willis FCIPD FInstLM , Group Director of Learning and Organisation Development, Caring Homes

What am I reading?

I'm getting a lot from How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi. Something that's struck me is how the author refuses to use "microaggression" anymore and prefers the term "racist abuse" because that's what it is. This makes so much sense to me.

Finally

Do you have any ideas or suggestions for future newsletters? Did I strike a chord with anything in this newsletter? Is there a business book you've enjoyed recently that you'd recommend? Add a comment or email me at [email protected].