Selling Books

Your Guide to Writing, Publishing and Marketing Books and Ebooks

  • Blog
  • Free Newsletter
You are here: Home / Book Titles / Use Alliteration for Illumination of Your Book Title

Use Alliteration for Illumination of Your Book Title

December 26, 2013 by Scott Lorenz

Amazon ImageAlliteration is a very useful literary tool. Alliteration is simply defined as the occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words and also the repetition of an initial consonant sound, as in “a peck of pickled peppers.” Incorporating alliteration into your book title can help people remember your work and it will stick out in people’s minds. Here are a few examples of books with alliteration in their titles:

The Teeny Tiny Teacher by Stephanie Calmenson

The Magical, Mystical, Marvelous Coat by Catherine Ann Cullen

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

Love’s Labor’s Lost by William Shakespeare

The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens

The Princess and the Pea by Hans Christian Andersen

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Caesar and Cleopatra by George Bernard Shaw

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le Carré

The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

Roger Parker of personalbrandingblog.com explained on his website, “Sometimes the most important lessons in personal branding are the simplest ones, like using alliteration, or repeated “hard” sounds, to make the title of your brand-building book stand out and be easy to remember.” You want readers, fans, and your potential audience to enjoy your book’s title. Alliteration can help that title roll off the tongue nicely. If your book’s title is memorable and fun or easy to say, people will talk about it. The alliteration will stand out in conversation or in the review section of a website.

According to Mike Ball, author of ‘Banjos, Boats and Butt Dialing’, alliteration can be a very effective  tool for a humorist. Ball explains, “I rarely use it for serious subjects but judiciously used, alliteration is an author’s best friend. Since humor is all about timing, alliteration forces the reader to participate in the timing you are trying to set up. That’s why my book title ‘Banjos, Boats and Butt Dialing’ gets people to laugh before they crack the cover.”

As J.R.R. Tolkien observed, alliteration “depends not on letters but on sounds.” Thus the phrase know-nothing is alliterative, but climate change is not.”

Domey Malasarn from the website “The Literary Lab” feels that alliteration can belong in titles as well as within your book. “I have used it on occasion myself in places where I thought it was helpful. For example, if I had a sentence like ‘Alfred was furious.’ I might revise it to “Alfred was angry.” because to me it pairs the subject of the sentence with his emotion a little more powerfully.”

Puja Lalwani of buzzle.com explains, “The importance of alliteration should not be undermined as just another literary device that is beyond comprehension. It is highly useful and most invaluable, whether just to drive a point home, make for a fun read, or as a marketing tool that will leave your product etched in the mind of the consumer.”

On the website, helium.com, Stella McIntyre perfectly outlines the benefits of using alliteration across various mediums. “Although most commonly used in literature, most particularly poetry, alliteration can also be found in non-fiction writing: leaflets, newspaper headlines, advertising and merchandising. Its effect is twofold. Firstly it draws attention to and emphasizes a phrase and secondly, it can create connotations that significantly add to the understanding and enjoyment of a writer’s meaning.”

The Bottom Line: Alliteration in book titles will help people remember your book title because it will help your work stand out and engage your reader before they even open your book.

Book publicist Scott Lorenz is President of Westwind Communications, a public relations and marketing firm that has a special knack for working with authors to help them get all the publicity they deserve and more. Lorenz works with bestselling authors and self-published authors promoting all types of books, whether it’s their first book or their 15th book. He’s handled publicity for books by CEOs, CIA Officers, Navy SEALS, Homemakers, Fitness Gurus, Doctors, Lawyers and Adventurers. His clients have been featured by Good Morning America, FOX & Friends, CNN, ABC News, New York Times, Nightline, TIME, PBS, LA Times, USA Today, Washington Post, Woman’s World, & Howard Stern to name a few. Learn more about Westwind Communications’ book marketing approach at http://www.book-marketing-expert.com  or contact Lorenz at scottlorenz@westwindcos.com or by phone at 734-667-2090. Follow Lorenz on Twitter @aBookPublicist Check his blog at: http://www.The-Book-Publicist.com

Related Posts :

Eight Criteria to Consider When Working on Yo...
How to Find an Endless Supply of Best-selling...
Lessons from Napoleon Hill for a Million-Doll...
Using Numbers In a Book Title

Filed Under: Book Titles

Sell More Books!

FREE! Sign up Cathy Stucker's Selling Books newsletter. You will get useful tips and techniques for writing, publishing and selling books, plus member-only exclusives such as free webinars.

BONUS! Get instant access to Cathy's audio program on how to Build an Effective Author Platform!

I respect your privacy & will NEVER sell, rent or share your email address. More than a policy, it's my Privacy Pledge.

Recent Articles

  • Save the Cat! Writes for TV
  • Summarize Your Book and Increase Your Book Sales
  • Why Structure Is a Friend, Not a Formula
  • Save the Cat Story Cards
  • Save the Cat! Cracking the Beat Sheet
  • Stop Procrastinating, Start Writing
  • FAQs About Children’s Book Illustrations
  • 5 Posts Every Author Should Write on their Website
  • Reducing Everyday Distractions So You Can Get More Writing Done
  • E.S.Danon – Moon in Bastet

Pages

Contact
Contribute Articles
Contributing Authors
Free Newsletter to Help You Sell More Books
Get Interviewed
Publishing Resources
Subscribe/RSS
Privacy/Disclosure Policies

Categories

Agents Amazon.com Article Marketing Author Interviews Author Platform Blogging Book Business Book Design Book Marketing Book Proposals Book Publicity Book Publishing Book Reviews Book Signings Bookstore Book Titles Book Tours Cathy's Blog Children's Books Content Marketing Copyright Copy Writing Ebooks Editing Fiction Writing Freelance Writing Get Published Ghostwriters Internet Marketing Marketing Fiction Motivation Networking Non-Fiction Writing Oprah Winfrey POD Publishing Public Speaking Research Resources for Writers Running Your Publishing Company Self Publishing Social Media Special Sales Video Marketing Writers Block Writing

Return to top of page

Copyright © 2006 - 2022 Cathy Stucker · All Rights Reserved

Log in to your account