For authors naming their book
Book Title Generator: 20 Ideas for Your Book
Paste your blurb or synopsis, or describe your book in a line. Get 20 titles in four styles, each with the reason it works.
Free to start. No card needed.
- An image in the storyThe Cracked BellThe object the whole plot turns on, and easy to picture on a cover.
- A line in the bookUntil the River SleepsFrom the guild's oath. Four words that hold the promise and the threat.
What you'll get
Twenty titles for your book, grouped by style, with the reason for each
- 20 titles in four styles, each with the reason it works
- What titles in your genre usually look like
- Your top three, plus the checks to make before you choose
Ideas
Book title ideas by genre
Each genre has title patterns its readers recognize. Here is what they often look like, with one idea in each shape.
| Genre | What titles often do | An idea in that shape |
|---|---|---|
| Fantasy | Name a place, an object or a power, often as "The ___ of ___" | The Bells of Harrowmere |
| Romance | Hint at the couple, the trope or the setting; rom-coms often play on words | Love at Second Proof |
| Thriller | Stay short and ominous: a person, a place or a threat | Nobody Leaves Ardsay |
| Cozy mystery | Pun on the sleuth's trade, hobby or town | A Sticky End at the Maple Fair |
| Literary fiction | Use a quiet image or a phrase lifted from the text | What the Tide Keeps |
| Science fiction | Name the big idea, the ship or one striking word | The Last Clean Signal |
| Nonfiction | Pair a short hook with a subtitle that names the result | Enough Room: Declutter a Shared Home Without a Fight |
| Memoir | Use a detail from the life, with a subtitle that says whose story it is | Salt on the Porch: A Memoir of My Grandmother's Island |
Ideas written for this page to show each shape. Search any title on Amazon before you use it.
Before and after
Your blurb in. Twenty titles out.
It's a YA fantasy. In Harrowmere, the cathedral bells ring every hour so the river spirits stay asleep. "Ring until the river sleeps," the guild oath goes, and seventeen-year-old Wren Hollis has rung them since her uncle's hands began to shake. When the great bell cracks on the eve of flood season, the guild blames her. The only person who can recast it is the smith her family swore never to speak to, and Wren has nine days before the water wakes. First book of three.
What YA fantasy titles usually look like One to five words. A place, an object or a power, often "The ___ of ___". It promises a world, and someone with everything to lose in it. From an image in the story 1. The Cracked Bell: the object the whole plot turns on. From a line in the book 6. Until the River Sleeps: from the guild's oath in your blurb. Holds the promise and the threat. From the promise 11. Nine Days to the Flood: says the deadline out loud. From the genre's patterns 16. The Bells of Harrowmere: the place name tells readers a whole world is waiting. My top three Series name: The Harrowmere Bells. Book two could echo book one: Until the Bells Fall Silent.
Every title comes from the story you pasted, with its reason beside it.
Why it works
How do you come up with a good book title?
A book title generator suggests titles for your book, worked out from what the book is about. Paste your blurb or synopsis, or describe the book in one line, and River writes 20 book title ideas. They come in four groups: an image from the story, a line from the book, the promise to the reader, and your genre's usual patterns. Each comes with a sentence on why it works. Need the sales copy instead? Use the book blurb generator.
A good title tells a browser the genre before they read a word, and gives the book a feel. River builds titles from your names, places, objects and stakes, so you get The Cracked Bell rather than a title that could sit on any fantasy cover. It also sums up what titles in your genre usually look like, from the place names of epic fantasy to the subtitle that carries a nonfiction book's promise. It works for novels and nonfiction, single books and series.
Every list ends with the checks to make before you commit. The US Copyright Office's Circular 33 lists titles among the things copyright doesn't protect, so two books can share one. A name used across a series can be registered as a trademark, though, and a clash confuses readers either way. Search your favorites on Amazon and Goodreads. Once you've chosen, put the title to work in your query letter or your Amazon listing.
What lands in your doc
What lands in your title doc
- Twenty titles in four groups: an image, a line from the book, the promise, the genre's pattern
- One sentence under each title on why it fits, and a warning when one is hard to spell
- A short summary of what titles in your genre usually look like, so yours fits the shelf
- Your top three picked out, each with a subtitle when your book is nonfiction
- A series name, and a title for book two that echoes the first, when you're writing a series
- The checks to make before you choose: Amazon, Goodreads, copyright, trademark and KDP's title rules
How it works
From your blurb to twenty titles
Paste what you have
Paste your blurb or synopsis, describe the book in one line, or drop in your manuscript file.
River reads your book
It picks out the genre, the stakes, and the names, places and objects readers will remember.
Get twenty titles
Twenty titles in four groups land in your doc, each with its reason and any risk noted.
Narrow it down
Ask for more like your favorite, add subtitles, or have River write the blurb that goes with it.
How to choose a book title readers remember
Start with where readers will see it. Online, your title is often read on a small cover image beside a dozen others, so short, concrete words are easier to take in than long, abstract ones. Say each title aloud, as if you were recommending the book to a friend; if you stumble, so will they. Type it into a search box, too. Invented words look lovely on a fantasy map, but readers can't find a book whose title they can't spell.
Titles aren't protected by copyright; the US Copyright Office groups them with names and short phrases. Series names are different. The USPTO explains that the title of a single book can't be registered as a trademark, but the title of a series can. If you self-publish, KDP's metadata guidelines say the title field should hold only the title as it appears on your cover. Title and subtitle together must be under 200 characters, and words like "bestselling" or "free" don't belong there.
Narrow the list to three, then test them on people who read your genre, not only on friends and family. Ask which book they'd open first and what they expect it to be about; if their guess is far from your book, the title is promising a different story. Search each finalist on Amazon and Goodreads and look at what comes up in your category. Keep your working title until you've chosen, and pair the winner with your Amazon listing.
Questions authors ask
Common questions
What is a book title generator?
A book title generator, sometimes called a book name generator, suggests titles for a book from a description of it. River's reads your blurb, synopsis or manuscript and writes 20 titles built from your own story: its images, its lines, its promise and your genre's patterns. Each title comes with a reason, so you can judge it for yourself.
Can my book have the same title as another book?
Yes. The US Copyright Office says titles can't be copyrighted, so many books share a title. A series name is different, because a title used across several books can be registered as a trademark. The practical risk is confusion: if a popular book in your genre already has the title, readers searching for yours may find that one first. Search Amazon and Goodreads before you commit.
How long should a book title be?
There's no rule; published titles run from one word to a full sentence. Shorter titles are easier to read on a small cover image and easier to remember. KDP requires your title and subtitle together to be under 200 characters, but that's a ceiling, not a target. Nonfiction usually pairs a short title with a subtitle that explains what the reader gets.
Does a nonfiction book need a subtitle?
Usually, yes. Nonfiction readers are often looking for an answer, and the subtitle tells them what the book delivers and who it's for. That leaves the title free to be short and memorable while the subtitle says plainly what the reader will learn or be able to do. When your book is nonfiction, River writes a subtitle for each of its top three titles.
Does it work for fantasy, romance and thriller titles?
Yes. River reads the genre from what you paste and writes titles that fit its patterns. Fantasy titles often name a place, an object or a power; romance titles hint at the couple or the trope; thrillers lean on short, ominous phrases. Each title is still built from your story, so it fits the shelf without sounding like every other book on it.
How do I choose between the titles?
Cut the list to three. Say each one aloud, picture it on a small cover image, and type it into Amazon to see what else comes up. Then ask a few readers of your genre which book they'd open first and what they think it's about. If their guess matches your book, the title is doing its job.
Your next step
More for your book
Give your book its name
Paste your blurb, your synopsis or one line about the book, and get 20 titles with their reasons in a doc you keep.