Knowledge for Development

Book titles are important ... They sell the book. Or is it the cover that sells the book? Forget about all the work put into writing something of quality. It's all in the cover and the title (?).

I've been stuck on Learning Log as the title for my book, but I've never been 100% sure that it was the right title. In the process of thinking through what would be an author's introduction to the book, writing a short white paper about how KM instructors might use it in structured training, and thinking about how to "sell" the concept of the book to a publisher, I've had to look at the book from a 50,000 feet perspective.

Talking about the book to people has forced me to explain and to focus on the big picture. That in itself has been very useful.

As I was doing all this thinking and drafting an author's introduction, I was reminded of a book that had a significant influence on me a while back, Donald A. Schon's The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Action.

It dawned on me that the main character in Learning Log is a "reflective KM practitioner," or at least she tries to be.

Now I have more than more titles to consider and I still don't think I've got the right one.

Learning Log: A Knowledge Management Novel (current title)
The Reflective Knowledge Management Practitioner: A Novel

Let's go a little crazy now!

RKMP Certified: A Novel
Experienced RKMP Wanted: A Novel
The Learning Organization: A Novel
The KM Practitioner's Guide to Thinking while Doing: A Novel
The (learning) Loop: a Knowledge Management Novel
A Year in the Life of a KM Practitioner: A Novel
The Knowledge Manager: A Novel
Deputy Chief Learning Officer: A Novel
The Deputy: A Knowledge Management Novel

Wow... now I can't stop. There could be variations in the subtitle.

... An Introductory Novel
... A Novel for Beginners
... A KM 101 Novel
... A Novel to Demystify Knowledge Management
... A Novel for KM Practitioners
... A Practitioner's Novel
... A Novel Introduction to Knowledge Management

A hint of humor wouldn't hurt.

Related resources:

Now think for a second... aren't these article titles a reflection of how I searched for information on the web? Wouldn't you want your book title to reflect how people might search for topics related to your book?

There are so many people on the web with advice, it's amazing. I feel perfectly justified in adding to the cacophony.

Here is my piece of advice regarding book titles: If you are trying to find a good title for your book, brainstorm first, then read all the advice articles listed above (and more). Reading the advice first might kill your creativity.