How important are Title and Description?

[yowser]

Consensus seems to indicate title and description make a decent difference to authors and their readership.

An interesting tangent off of this is a French Literary prize, the 'Prix de la page 112' which operates on the premise that any writer of any talent or imagination should be able to come up with an intriguing title (and first sentence or paragraph) that would draw in the reader.

But the real test of a writer's ability would be if you read a page later in the work (say p. 112). If there was still intrigue and interest then, well, now you had real measure of the writer's craft.

For Lit, (and this would take more work than most readers would be willing to do) a look at the beginning of page two (I believe the vast majority of stories is at least two pages long) would, under this premise, give an idea of how well the author delivers. If you've got a story with movement and interesting characters then, well, now we're talking.

Now I'll have to try this little experiment, maybe on the recent 'Love the one(s) you're with' contest ...

 

[Enchantment_of_Nyx]

Consensus seems to indicate title and description make a decent difference to authors and their readership.

An interesting tangent off of this is a French Literary prize, the 'Prix de la page 112' which operates on the premise that any writer of any talent or imagination should be able to come up with an intriguing title (and first sentence or paragraph) that would draw in the reader.

But the real test of a writer's ability would be if you read a page later in the work (say p. 112). If there was still intrigue and interest then, well, now you had real measure of the writer's craft.

For Lit, (and this would take more work than most readers would be willing to do) a look at the beginning of page two (I believe the vast majority of stories is at least two pages long) would, under this premise, give an idea of how well the author delivers. If you've got a story with movement and interesting characters then, well, now we're talking.

Now I'll have to try this little experiment, maybe on the recent 'Love the one(s) you're with' contest ...

I'm not sure I completely understood the experiment/challenge.

1. Pick a title and first sentence (or title and description) that is intriguing.
2. Read page 112 in the book (or the top of page 2 in the Lit story).
3. This is where I get confused. If steps 1 and 2 have a good result, then it is successful? Or is there more involved? Does the page later in the book need to relate to the title?

 

[Paul_Chance]

Crucial

If you're just writing for personal enjoyment and if people like it, that's cool, then I wouldn't sweat it.

If you're trying to hone your craft and use reads as an indicator - then they're crucial.

The reader glances at the title and description. You get maybe 5 seconds or less of their attention. If the title looks mundane, they skip to the title that looks interesting from their POV. They might come back later, but all too often that quick glance yes/no decision sticks.


As noted above, the authors brand can draw readers past a bad title, but if you're still building your brand, the title and description are you first and only shot.

 

[Scareltt]

Important..

I spent time writing, reviewing, reading, editing, and working on the guts of the story, ie the story itself so I can entertain, tittilate, and hopefully get some people excited out there.

I spent maybe 10 minutes, tops, on the actual Title and Short Description.

My question: How much importance do you place on those two elements to get more eyeballs on your story? We'd all love to have more readers but what kind of time and effort do you spend on descriptions and titles, especially if you don't have much of a following?

The title is what will catch the reader’s attention. The description is the marketing for your story, if that line isn’t interesting they I won’t click on it..

 

[Enchantment_of_Nyx]

The title is what will catch the reader’s attention. The description is the marketing for your story, if that line isn’t interesting they I won’t click on it..

After we've all devoted paragraphs to it, you wrapped it up succinctly in a couple of lines. That pretty much says it.

Sadly, I am still no better equipped to come up with good descriptions.