I believe that a well-chosen title
helps to sell a writer’s work. The first impression a book or story creates
depends on several factors, one of them being the title. The title will set a
certain tone or expectation. Whether you write literary work, genre fiction,
nonfiction, poetry, etc., the title should fit the work. If it’s not appropriate,
the reader may rightfully feel cheated.
I have a few suggestions that I think might prove useful:
First suggestion is to do some
initial research. For instance, visit Amazon and Google. Check out titles for
the kind of work you’re writing to get a sense of what is appropriate.
All right, let’s assume you have
formed some ideas for titles. Second suggestion, go to World Cataloging and
type in your title under the keyword heading. See what pops up. If your title
is used by many authors many times, you might want to try for something
different. Ecclesiastes states that there is nothing new under the sun;
however, you can do some variations that are unique. Also, keep in mind that
titles are not copyrighted unless there’s a trade mark involved. You can, in
fact, have the same title as another author, although if possible, it’s best to
distinguish it in some way. My next Five Star/Gale novel is a mystery entitled
THE THIRD EYE. There are other books with the same title. However, my full
title is: THE THIRD EYE: A PINE BARRENS MYSTERY. This differentiates it.
Several people have asked me if the
title of my novel THE INFERNO COLLECTION (http://www.harlequin.com/storeitem.html?iid=27895&cid=)
was taken from Dan Brown’s new bestseller. I responded it’s more likely
Dan Brown’s INFERNO title was borrowed from my work since my novel was
published originally in hardcover in 2007-- although it came out in a new
paperback edition from Harlequin Worldwide Mystery two months ago. However,
although the themes of our novels are different, Dan Brown and I both wrote
serious mystery suspense thrillers. Also, the term “inferno” directly connects
to Dante’s Inferno for both books. In fact, the initial quotation that starts
my novel is a quote from Dante’s Inferno.
Dan Brown observes in “10
Questions,” an interview with him which appears in the May 27, 2013 issue of TIME Magazine, that an
important theme of his new bestseller is overpopulation. In my mystery novel
THE INFERNO COLLECTION, the title refers to a banned book collection, and in
part the theme of censorship.
This brings us to my next
suggestion: consider if the chosen title can properly characterizes a theme of
your book, story, poem, article via your word choice. This can make the title more meaningful.
Another suggestion: keep your title
short if possible. Modern titles are generally brief unless you’re writing an
academic dissertation. Otherwise, a few words will suffice. For example, the
title of my last suspense thriller was DEATH LEGACY.
Last suggestion: Try for a clever
use of words which will make your title in some way memorable, interesting,
intriguing, and/or provoke curiosity. Example: for the third novel in my Kim
Reynolds mystery series I used the title THE TRUTH SLEUTH. http://www.harlequin.com/storeitem.html?iid=27323
Kim is an amateur detective. So the
title fits the main character. The bit of rhyming hopefully makes the title
stand out.
As a reader, what titles stand out
in your memory and why? If you are a writer, how do you select your titles? Are
there some that have been memorable and increased your sales?
