What's In A Title (Change)?

Indie authors often wonder whether they can change the title of their book post-publication. Yes, you absolutely can! 

You will need a new ISBN, but that's not a terribly big deal. And, because you have a new title and ISBN, you will likely lose all of your online reviews and have to start again.

However, if the possible benefits of the re-title outweigh the downsides, it can be a solid choice. 

I chose to retitle my first book (which is about navigating the first year with twins) when I wrote the third edition. For the first and second editions, the title was Ready or Not...Here We Come! But after over a decade (and having written 3 other books), I had more confidence in my own voice, and with updated content and a more authentic voice inside in the book, it made perfect sense to change the overall "vibe" of the book with a new title: Holy Shit...I'm Having Twins! 

The book was (and still is) my top-selling book, so I didn't make the shift with a hope of boosting lackluster sales. In fact, I had a small concern that I might actually alienate some readers by having the word "shit" in the title. I also had amassed 135 reviews, and starting over at 0 wasn't the most exciting thing I'd ever done. 

But in the end, it felt really good to present this book in a more "me" way, and it didn't take long for the sales to continue at the same level (they actually increased a bit) and for the reviews to surpass the original number (there are now 188). 

In addition to change the title of a book, people often change the name (or branding) of a business or product.

(Losing the word "donuts" from "dunkin" wasn't easy for me; the donuts were the only reason I went as a young child!) 

After a good bit of consideration, I recently decided to change the name of my flagship course, Publish A Profitable Book, to Publish the Damn Book Already. 

In making this change, there were two primary pros and two cons to consider.  

PROS

✅ Publish the Damn Book Already is far more in line with my brand. I mean, one of my other main courses is Write the Damn Book Already, which is also the title of my most recent book and my podcast. 

✅ It felt great to remove possibly misleading verbiage ("profitable"). I've long been opposed to this kind of "wishful" marketing, but didn't have the gumption to say, "I'm not doing that." I thought that, by saying no, I was doing the "wrong" thing. If that's the case, so be it. I'd rather be "wrong" and content than "right" and 

CONS

😬 I might alienate authors who don't like the word damn (but, were that the case, they probably wouldn't love my programs as a whole. While I don't swear gratuitously, I love a well-placed f-bomb!).

😬 There would be a number of pieces of copy that would need to be changed as well as website copy and graphics. The program has been in existence for 6+ years, and it's talked about in my copy...a lot!

The long-term effect of the pros WELL outweighed the cons, so I dove in. 

The main platform will remain "Publish A Profitable Book" because it's a HUGE lift to change that across the board and, ultimately, that is what most people aspire to. 

But I've never promised anyone any result beyond a top-quality published book (which they will most certainly have if they follow the steps outlined in the course). And while "Publish A Profitable Book" has great alliteration and I've always included the caveat that there are no guarantees in publishing, it feels great to simply say, "I will show you how to publish the damn book already" and do it in a way that it can sit next to any NYT bestseller in quality (while you retain all rights, creative control, and earnings). 

That was my primary goal when I got started 20 years ago, when I started helping others navigate this process, and as I continue to help usher more amazing stories and perspectives into the world. 

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