Changing the title of your book, thinking it might be weak

[sunaynaprasad]

Despite receiving many free downloads of the first book in my series after successfully getting it perma-free, the second book is barely selling, regardless of everything I've done. I did hire a professional illustrator, copywriter for the blurb, get good reviews, and pretty much everything else. However, I am wondering if my title is too weak. A few people have said using the word, unruly, in a middle grade fantasy book title, might be too big of a vocabulary word for children in that age group, even though their parents would buy the story for them. In spite of that, I did a poll using the current title, The Unruly Curse, vs. The Terrible Curse. I was surprised how the current title received more votes since they thought the word, terrible, was too generic.
The people who thought the word, unruly, was too advanced for MG readers were part of a Facebook group for self-published authors. One of them even has children in the middle grade range and even those kids didn't know what unruly meant. Obviously, I do.
Anyway, I am wondering if it's worth it to change the title, even if the book's been out for 7 months. I would keep the same cover image and content, though. Not many people have gotten the book, so maybe it wouldn't hurt.
I'm still brainstorming different titles in the meantime. But if you think this is unnecessary, please let me know. Thanks.

[sunaynaprasad]

I've actually now decided on replacing "Unruly" with "Disastrous". However, I took no action after rewriting the title on my front cover.

[Ma'am]

I don't think changing that word in the title will make any difference, tbh. What you've experienced is pretty typical. People will snap up anything that's free in great numbers and that's usually the end of it.

It's hard to get notice as a self-published author. It just is.

So you've got a good number of reviews and a few books out. That's a good start.

In my opinion, the best thing you can do is just keep writing more. That increases the attention you get and makes you look more and more legitimate as an author, without putting in a bunch of money on dubious marketing attempts.

Also, do whatever you can to improve the quality of your books. Study similar books for the same age group, etc. And try for an agent or publisher for any new work.

That's my opinion, anyway. Good luck.

[sunaynaprasad]

I am definitely writing more books, such as the 3rd and 4th installments of my series. So, you think I should keep my title as is?

[Ma'am]

I am definitely writing more books, such as the 3rd and 4th installments of my series. So, you think I should keep my title as is?

Yes, I do. Just my opinion of course but I really don't see it making any difference in how drawn people would be to the book.

[rodrigoborges]

Selecting a very good title can make a huge difference in grabbing attention from prospective readers.

[Bloggsworth]

If you are wanting to appeal to children "Mischievous" might be a better word.

[Taylor]

It would help to give an opinion if we could see what the cover looks like. I don't see it on your website.

[sunaynaprasad]

The title of the sequel is now, "A Curse of Mayhem", which got a lot of popular votes on a poll elsewhere. I retitled the sequel that in February. Both book 1 and 2 covers are on my website. I hired a professional illustrator to do the covers, and he has done lots of fantasy book covers.

[Taylor]

The title of the sequel is now, "A Curse of Mayhem", which got a lot of popular votes on a poll elsewhere. I retitled the sequel that in February. Both book 1 and 2 covers are on my website. I hired a professional illustrator to do the covers, and he has done lots of fantasy book covers.

Covers are gorgeous! Have the sales picked up after the new title?