stacks of books book title generator

The Best Free Book Title Generators For Choosing Your Bestselling Title

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You have a book — or a great idea for a book — and you want a title that will immediately grab the attention of your ideal readers and make them want to click on it.

But you’ve been racking your brain for hours to think of good titles and you’ve come up with maybe a few.

And they’re all missing something.

Where can you go for help on how to name a book?

Fortunately, there is such a thing as a book title generator, and we’ve created a list of some of the best to be found on the internet.

The thoughtful geniuses behind the generators listed in this post have created innovative, time-saving resources for authors everywhere.

For your convenience, we’ve grouped them according to genre, so you can try all the generators designed to help you create the best possible title for your specific book.

What is a book title generator?

Generally speaking, a book name generator takes the information you give it and creates good book titles based on your genre.

If you don’t like the first suggestions, you can ask for more.

Some of the book title generators listed in this article offer only random title suggestions, while others require some input in order to generate titles better suited to your specific book project.

You can also use these title generators to get ideas for your next blog post, short story, or online course.

books on a bookshelf book title generator

While looking for the best title for a particular book, you might just find one that’s perfect for another creative project (or something you’ve put on the back burner for now).

So, whether you’re a novelist, a nonfiction book writer, a blogger, a course creator, a coach, or a combination of any of these, you’ll benefit from using these book title generators.

If a title sparks something in you, but you’re not sure it’s the right one, add it to your “maybe list,” anyway.

It might grow on you, or it might make you cringe the next time you read it.

Some of the titles I’ve come up with don’t make me cringe until I’m about to share it in a social media poll.

Keep in mind that when you’re making the first (long) list, you’re just collecting ideas.

Some of the title ideas will make you wonder, “What was I thinking?” while a select few will stand out as definitely worth considering.

In any case, none of this is wasted effort.

And a book title generator might get you to your next great book title a lot sooner.

Title Generator Pros and Cons

Using a title generator has its perks but also its caveats. Consider the following pros and cons when choosing which tools to use and when. 

Pros:

  • They’re free and easy to use. 
  • They can get you started brainstorming great titles for books, etc. 
  • They can save you time and get you to a great title sooner. 
  • Many are genre-specific or can generate titles for multiple genres.
  • The generated title suggestions can also work as writing prompts.   

Cons (or caveats): 

  • Titles suggested are often either too general or too specific. 
  • Using a tool available to many others might result in a title others are using. 
  • If you already have some title ideas in mind, a random title generator probably isn’t what you need (but a customizable one might help). 

What Makes a Good Book Title?

There’s just something about a great book title. See it while browsing a bookstore, and you’re likely to pause and look it over.

books on a shelf title generator

Titles like that have the following traits in common. Keep them in mind to make your title irresistible to your ideal reader.  

Easy to Remember

They stick in your head. Part of you is already hoping when you pick up the book that the blurb on the back cover will seal the deal and compel you to buy it. Days later, if anyone asks you to recall any of the titles you picked up, you’ll probably remember this one. The only hiccup might come if you saw other titles very close to the one you picked up. 

Attention-grabbing 

This one is similar to the “easy to remember” but different. You want your title to raise questions in the minds of readers browsing online or in bookstores. It contributes to its memorability but doesn’t guarantee it. The more you provoke something in your reader, though, the harder it will be for them to ignore it. 

Direct and Unambiguous 

You want your title to address a specific and urgent concern in your reader. If it solves a problem your reader has and wants to deal with, your title should capitalize on that. This is especially important for nonfiction titles. But even for fiction, your title should resonate with your ideal reader, appeal to a strong interest, or promise them something they want. 

Easy to Pronounce

Just as you don’t like mispronouncing a person’s name, it’s super awkward when someone asks you about the book you’re reading, and you mispronounce the title. Go with something your readers will be able to pronounce without Googling it. Readers will thank you by buying your books and happily telling others about how much they loved it. 

Rules for Good Book Title Ideas

Just as the best titles have certain traits in common, they also follow certain rules. With the traits described above and with due respect for the following rules, your book has its best chance at becoming a bestseller. 

Make sure your title is genre-appropriate. 

Your title should fit your genre. Skim through popular titles in your chosen genres and note what they have in common to help with this. For example, pick up a cozy mystery, and its title will probably have a pun (unless the author is allergic to them). Fonts aren’t the only way you announce your genre with your book title. 

Steer clear of morally repugnant expressions and themes.

Even if your book deals with uncomfortable topics, find a way to communicate that topic without using morally objectionable language in your book title.

books with different colored covers title generator

Even if you’re just trying to make your title impossible to ignore, the impression you make will not be a good one (e.g., How Abandoning My Children Set Me Free). Best not to go there. 

When in doubt, leave out the swear words.

Unless you’re a well-known author, and you know your audience has zero problems with profanity, it’s best to leave explicit language out of your book titles. Plenty of readers will be put off by it, and you don’t want to alienate them just to score some cool points or get a few extra seconds of attention. 

Avoid copyright infringement. 

You’ll put a lot of creative energy into choosing your book title, but even then, it’s possible to unwittingly copy someone else’s (great minds and all that). So, do yourself and other brilliant authors a favor and research your chosen title to make sure it isn’t associated with the work of another creator (book, course, website URL, etc.). 

Other Ways to Come Up with Cool Book Names

If you’d rather not use a book title generator, there are other ways to create titles all your author friends will wish they’d thought of first (#SideHustle): 

  • Freewrite a list of possible titles based on its primary goals. 
  • Describe your book as you would if someone asked you about it. 
  • Write about what readers will gain by reading your book. 
  • Go dictionary diving or look through a resource related to your book. 
  • Picture the setting for your (fiction) book and write a vivid description. 
  • Write a pretend review for your book, highlighting its key selling points. 
  • Write a Q & A or author interview, and answer your own questions. 

Just getting clear about how your book will benefit its readers can help you create a clear, simple, and elegant title. And with a title like that, your reader is more likely to trust that your book’s contents will follow suit.

List Of Book Title Generator Options

Some of the book title generators listed for each genre will appear in other genre lists because some of them — and some of the categories — overlap.

So, the book names created can suit more than one type of book or story.

Most of these don’t use either custom or suggested values to narrow the search, but some do, and if you’d like a less random approach to brainstorming book titles, click on those options first.

Fantasy Title Generators

Romance Title Generators

Random Title Generators

More Related Articles:

The Definitive Guide To All Parts Of A Book

23 Things to Write About In A Nonfiction Book

First Line Generator: 49 Sentences To Get You Started Writing

Story Name Generators

Try a story name generator from the following list if you’re looking for something that would suit a work of general or literary fiction, whether it’s a novel, a short story, or something in between. Some of the following also work for genre fiction.

Novel Title Generators

Sci-Fi Title Generators

Horror Name Generators

Mystery Novel Title Generators

Crime Book Title Generators

Nonfiction Title Generators

Children’s Book Title Generators

Character Name Generators

Book titles aren’t the only names that draw readers in; characters need appealing and well-suited names to make them more believable and compelling to the reader.

To that end, it pays to bookmark these book character name generators — if only as a stress reliever when you’re worn thin from your writing for the day.

Most of these are random, but the first offers a selection of values to narrow the search.

The Magic of Keywords

If you’re using a generator that allows you to input custom values, you’ll get farther faster if you know what keywords are vital to your book’s success.

To that end, we recommend checking out PublisherRocket (formerly KDP Rocket) by Kindlepreneur’s Dave Chesson.

It’s the best tool we know of for quickly finding the keywords that will make your book more visible and appealing to your target readers.

Amazon looks for keywords in your book’s title, subtitle, and book description. And if none of them contain the keywords your ideal readers are looking for, your book won’t show up in their search results.

Another excellent tool for testing the popularity of keywords on Amazon is the Keywords Everywhere extension, which shows you search stats not only for the words you type into Amazon’s or Google’s search fields but also the words in the drop-down suggestion menu.

Putting Your Titles to the Test

Once you’ve got some promising title ideas, it’s time to find out which of them are the most marketable. In other words, which titles are most likely to catch the eye of your ideal reader and get the visceral “I need that” response you’re hoping for.

Lulu created a free Title Scorer tool that gives your title a grade based on its marketability — or likelihood of succeeding in a crowded book market. It’s well worth a look just to see what grade each of your titles get.

a pile of books book title generator

When you’ve narrowed your options down to a few, and you’re ready to expose your darlings to the scrutiny of others, you could post a poll on social media.

But if you want a more carefully selected group of voters — folks who are more likely to be interested in your book — go with PickFu.

It’s not free, but it’s not a bank-breaker, either. And the results are likely to be more helpful than a random poll on your favorite social media channels.

Ready to generate your own book title?

I hope you bookmarked your favorites and found some intriguing book title ideas.

Writing books is challenging enough without spending weeks agonizing over book titles. And we want your book to make the biggest possible impact.

Your title and cover will be the first thing readers see, so it pays to make sure they’re market-worthy.

Playing with these title generators can also jumpstart your own creative idea machine, helping you add to your list and building your confidence as you get closer to the best possible title for your book.

So, try a few of them today, using keywords you already know or those you can find using Publisher Rocket, and see how many titles you can come up with.

May your creativity and resourcefulness influence everything you do today.

You have a book -- or a great idea for a book -- and you want a title that will immediately grab the attention of your ideal readers and make them want to click on it. But you’ve been racking your brain for hours to think of good titles and you’ve come up with maybe a few. And they’re all missing something. Where can you go for help on how to name a book?

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