Manuscript Preparation, Copyediting, and Proofreading

Q. When a subsequent edition of a book is being published, is it proper to make any changes to the title of the book, or should the title appear exactly the same in all editions?

A. There’s no law against changing the title of a book, but it can be awkward—think of the confusion. Everywhere the new title appears, it will have to be clarified: Persuading with Power (3rd edition of A Woman's Guide to People-Pleasing). Generally it’s not a good idea unless for some reason the old title has become hopelessly out of date or offensive or problematic in some other way to the extent that confusion is preferable to retaining the old title.