After being told politely by my writers group that the title for my latest WIP sucked, I spent a week looking into a new name for my baby. I soon discovered that there’s a lot more to the process than I first supposed. After much research and examination of different opinions, I compiled my own list of what I think are the rules.
A good title should reflect:
- Your voice
- Your Market
It should also
- Sum up your story
- Be catchy and memorable
- Not be too long
Yep. So it’s worse than writing a bloody synopsis. How do you summaries a 100 000 word novel in five words or less, whilst showcasing your voice, attracting your market and being clever at the same time. I’ll let you know when I find out.
Examples of titles I think got it right are:
The Devil Wears Prada
PS. I Love You
Memoires of a Geisha
The thing is, titles are so important for the unknown author because it’s your first selling point. If readers aren’t looking for your name, they’ll probably buy your book based on the title or the cover art. Usually writers don’t have much control over the cover art, so that leaves the title. Hence, in my book, (pardon the pun) you’d want to spend some time getting it right.
Unfortunately, time is my least expendable commodity at the moment.
Always the way.
Loretta
6 comments:
The problem as well is that you may slave and slave over a title and you thinks it's fabulous.
Get to the publishing stage and the editor and marketing will probably change it. It's their job to make it catch the readers eye.
For me personally, and I say for me personally, I try not to get to attached to a title because I know it's probably going to change.
But it would be the best feeling to get the title that you slaved over loved by the editor and marketing!!
*sigh*
I have trouble naming my characters, let alone finding a title. And go ahead Loretta, add to the pressure, now it has to say all that other stuff too? I think perhaps judicious amounts of chocolate are required, along with a nice dessert wine and a long night with the girls.
Occasionally that engineer who I live with offers his help . . . as bad as I might be at titles, he really needs to stick to his day job. Good thing I love him!
H! :)
My advice:
Check the top 20 titles in the Romance section of the New York Times. Average out the number of words in the title and use the most commonly used word in them all. Then add your favourite word to describe your book. Let me know what you come up with.
Kym
Titles seem to be the only thing that I can write quickly. I understand that the publisher will have the final say if it is published but while you are writing , through submissions, pitches, queries and competitions your own title has to do the work so it is worth having a good one.
My maxim is that the title is the first promise that you make to the reader and you have to fulfill the promise. So your title needs to convey genre, voice and story.
I often change titles a few times throughout the story until I find one that fits.
My current WIP has a wonderful title - now it just needs all those chapters to go with it.
lesley
I identify my WIP by the Heroines name until a title pops into my head. Until I name my Heroine the WIP stays in the ideas file...
Picking a right title is really hard. Right title will give an extra exposure to the topic.
Regards,
photoshop masking
Post a Comment