The KDP limit
KDP requires the title and subtitle together to be fewer than 200 characters. That is a ceiling, not a target. A title that fills 190 characters is unreadable in a thumbnail and looks like spam.
Key takeaway: Keep the title short enough to read on a phone, and let the subtitle carry the promise.
What the title should do
Fiction titles should sound like the genre. Nonfiction titles should name the topic or the result. Say it aloud. If you stumble, a reader will too.
What the subtitle should do
The subtitle answers two questions: who is this for, and what will they get? "A Beginner's Guide to Pricing, Formatting and Publishing Your First Paperback" does both. It reads like a sentence, and it includes words a reader might search.
Rules that trip authors up
- The title and subtitle you enter must match the cover.
- Do not add claims such as "best seller" unless you have earned and can show them.
- Do not add price, promotions or other authors' names.
- Do not repeat the same keyword five times.
Weak titles and better ones
| Weak | Better | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Money Book: Best Money Tips Savings Budget Debt Free | The Calm Budget: A Simple Plan to Pay Off Debt Without Giving Up Everything | Reads as a sentence, names the benefit |
| Poems | Salt and Morning: Poems About Leaving Home | Gives the book a voice and a subject |
Fiction and nonfiction patterns
- Fiction: a short, memorable title and, for a series, the series name and number in the subtitle or series field.
- Nonfiction: a clear title plus a subtitle in the shape "How to [result] for [reader] without [pain]".
- Workbooks and journals: say what it is. "Daily Gratitude Journal: 90 Days of Guided Prompts" tells the shopper exactly what they get.
The thumbnail test
Most shoppers see your cover at about the size of a postage stamp. Shrink your cover to that size and read the title. If you cannot, the title is too long or the font is too thin. Shorten the title on the cover and keep the longer promise in the subtitle field if the metadata allows.
Five-person test
Show the title and subtitle to five people in your target audience for five seconds each. Ask what the book is about and who it is for. If three get it wrong, rewrite it.
Mistakes to avoid
- Changing the title on the cover but not in the KDP form, or the other way around.
- Adding the word "series" or a number in the title when the series field is the right place.
- Using trademarked names that are not yours.
- Repeating the subtitle in the description's first line.
Test it before you save
- Write three title options.
- Write a subtitle for each that names the reader and the benefit.
- Shrink each one to thumbnail size on a mock cover. Pick the one you can still read.
- Run the final pair through the metadata checker for length.
Next, choose your categories and keywords, and write a description that Amazon will accept.
Check before you publish
Metadata rules change. Read KDP's current guidelines before you save the title page.
