I’ve never been a fan of chapter titles. I just don’t see the point. I mean, if you liked chapter one, you’re going to read chapter two, whether it has a catchy title or not. And three seconds after you read the chapter title, you’re going to forget it. You don’t read along, thinking, this chapter was called Starfish, so there better be a starfish in here somewhere! No, you forget all about it, because you’re interested in the plot of the book.
On the other hand, a book’s title, of course, is crucial. It is used to catch the eye of potential readers and get them to buy the book. It should be intriguing, suggestive, informative, and have attitude. It should give a sense of the style of the book, the subject matter, the protagonist, or the theme.
The title can be just one word and have all those things. Then, you have the book’s cover design to help bring that title across and really sell the idea of the book. So that book cover or dust jacket is your billboard, your advertisement, your teaser. BUT, once the reader has bought the book, you don’t get to use advertising to keep them reading. At that point, you have to actually write a good book.