Naming the Book

I’m the first to admit that titles aren’t really my thing.

Every script I’ve ever written has a title like “Mob Movie,” “Band Movie,” or “Clint Movie” — basically whoever or whatever the project’s about. So, when it came time to actually name our children’s book, I knew it was going to be a challenge.

Luckily, I wasn’t doing this alone.

The Brainstorming Phase: Lists, Links, and Lots of Opinions

When Daniel and I got serious about naming the book, we each created lists — possible titles, keywords, emotional words, themes, vibes, phrases, even specific images we wanted the book to evoke. Then we shared them with each other and cross-referenced what resonated. Along the way, we also started sharing articles and videos that offered the most useful advice on how to come up with a great title.

The Two-Part Title Formula

One tip we came across was the idea of a two-part title:

- A fun, playful main title that grabs kids’ attention

- A more specific subtitle that let the parents know what the book is about

Something like:

Cookie Fight!

A food fight story about kindness, love, and cookies

Doing it this way ensures your title is creative but still checks the important SEO and marketing boxes.

This was great information, but we still had no idea what to name the book. The only thing we knew for sure is it should have the word "screen" or "device" in it somewhere.

Luckily, we came across another great resource: Evie Jones’ free Perfect Title Formula Masterclass. (I’m a huge fan of her YouTube channel — it’s packed with great advice for children’s book writers and self-publishers.) In the masterclass, she recommends doing a keyword search on Amazon and/or Google, on your topic, to see how books similar to yours are titled.

So, I did just that. Our book centers around screen time — more specifically, too much screen time — so I started Googling things like “children’s book screen time” and “kids and devices.” I quickly noticed a trend.

Who Is This Title Really For?

Most of the subtitles I found weren’t really written with kids in mind. Yes, my research showed that subtitles are written for parents, but a lot of them read like advice books- even if they were children’s picture books. They had subtitles like:

“How Too Much Screen Time Creates Children with Low Attention Spans and What to Do About It”

Obviously, that’s not a real title, but you get the idea.

I'd the seen videos explaining it and I get why you'd do it that way. Creating a SEO filled subtitle that tells parents what the book is about a great way to rank higher in the search results. But Daniel and I wanted to create a book that would fully appeal to kids, despite having a parent approved message. We wanted a subtitle that a kid would look at and not roll their eyes at when it's presented to them. Something that wouldn't feel preachy.

That meant walking a tightrope:

Kid-friendly, fun, and playful — but also keyword-friendly, clear, and marketable to parents.

The Final Pick

We drafted a bunch of combinations, narrowed them down to our top picks, and then sent them off to our focus group. If you're going through this process yourself: get feedback early. Other people will see things you don’t — or better yet, they’ll confirm when you’re on the right track.

We combined their suggestions and feedback with our ideas and finally came up with:

Art Adventurers: Stupendous Screen Screw-Up

It’s fun. It hints at adventure and chaos, and — it includes the word screen.

Will It Work?

Honestly? Only time will tell. Titles are a weird mix of art and science. But we made something we believe in — something we think kids will want to read, and parents will feel good about handing them.

If you're writing a children's book (or thinking about it) I've been putting together a YouTube playlist of helpful videos as I come across them.

Is there a helpful video I didn't include- let me know!

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