Novel Titles

Discussion in 'Genre Discussions' started by Charisma, Sep 10, 2007.

  1. Timothy Schablin

    Timothy Schablin New Member

    Joined:
    Jan 1, 2018
    Messages:
    11
    Likes Received:
    0
    What is a series title? So if I had a series called 'Animals' and books under that called 'Cats' , 'Dogs' , 'Rabbits' , would the series title be 'Cats' or 'Animals'?
     
  2. GlitterRain7

    GlitterRain7 Galaxy Girl Contributor

    Joined:
    Jun 24, 2017
    Messages:
    639
    Likes Received:
    904
    Animals.
    I used to read the series, "Warriors" (about cats). That's what the series was called. Then there was arcs within the series. (six books I believe in each arc). Each book then had a title. So, the books were "Warriors (arc name) #x (title of that specific book)
    Just throwing this in, the first arc didn't have an arc title.
     
    Last edited: Jan 1, 2018
    izzybot likes this.
  3. Vrisnem

    Vrisnem Member

    Joined:
    May 6, 2015
    Messages:
    75
    Likes Received:
    42
    Location:
    UK
    In your example: Animals.

    However, if your series name is unrelated to the first title to be published then it’s likely people will just refer to it as the “[first novel name] series” for convenience. Especially if those books focus on a singular POV character or cast.
     
  4. mad_hatter

    mad_hatter Active Member

    Joined:
    Nov 26, 2014
    Messages:
    201
    Likes Received:
    62
    Location:
    England
    Twilight and The Hunger Games would be good examples of this.
     
  5. MrWisp

    MrWisp Member

    Joined:
    Mar 6, 2013
    Messages:
    73
    Likes Received:
    19
    Location:
    New Jersey
    Hi all. I haven't been on here for a while, but I'm happy to report that a small press has sent me a contract for the publication of my first novel. So that's the good news!

    The bad news: I'm really not loving my working title and am itching to change it...quickly. I find that I'm running into several problems. First, a lot of the phrases and sayings that I'd like to pull from have apparently already been used for several other books, so I'd like to avoid them. Second, this is a young adult, urban fantasy novel, and while nouns like "blood," "shadow," etc, come up early and often in the book, I don't really want to a) give the false impression that this is some sort of Gothic thriller (it's much more lighthearted than that) or b) pidgeon-hole the book with a title that is too generically "fantasy."

    I know that you can't give too much help without details from the story, but I was wondering if anyone could share any tips that they have for crafting titles. I feel like I'm stuck in a rut and need to break out of my circular thinking. Thanks in advance!
     
  6. MrWisp

    MrWisp Member

    Joined:
    Mar 6, 2013
    Messages:
    73
    Likes Received:
    19
    Location:
    New Jersey
    Follow-up question: is it a dumb move to name the book for the antagonist? (It's the first book in a series.) He doesn't have as large a role as the protagonist, of course, but he's very prevalent throughout, is (I think) an intriguing character, and most importantly...has a catchier name for the cover of a book. I'm leaning toward "The Demons of Desmond Duquesne"
     
  7. Necronox

    Necronox Contributor Contributor

    Joined:
    Sep 1, 2015
    Messages:
    724
    Likes Received:
    802
    Location:
    Canton de Neuchatel, Switzerland
    Honestly can’t really help you. Took my about three month to find a title I thought didn’t not completely suck.... but good luck!
     
  8. Laurin Kelly

    Laurin Kelly Contributor Contributor

    Joined:
    Jun 5, 2016
    Messages:
    2,521
    Likes Received:
    4,054
    In your shoes I would ask for advice from my publisher. They should be very invested in making your book as marketable as possible.
     
  9. big soft moose

    big soft moose An Admoostrator Admin Staff Supporter Contributor Community Volunteer

    Joined:
    Aug 1, 2016
    Messages:
    22,566
    Likes Received:
    25,882
    Location:
    East devon/somerset border
    That - not to mention that some publishers insist on name changes so changing it now is a bit pointless (unless the 'publisher' is in the Austin Mcauley/ Novum etc range in which case you have larger problems)
     
  10. Alan Aspie

    Alan Aspie Banned Contributor

    Joined:
    Jul 31, 2018
    Messages:
    2,641
    Likes Received:
    3,358
    1. Tell your story to yourself with one sentence.

    2. Think about something that both tells the core of that sentence and gives false hints.

    3. Repeat until you have your book name.
     
  11. BayView

    BayView Huh. Interesting. Contributor

    Joined:
    Sep 6, 2014
    Messages:
    10,462
    Likes Received:
    11,689
    I think brainstorming can be useful, and agree with @Laurin Kelly that you should bring your publisher into the process. I've often found titles in the past by dragging up five or ten ideas, none of which I really like, and sending them to the marketing dept at my publisher and having them pick through and come up with new combinations or refinements and then going through those myself and figuring out new ideas or refinements, sending that list back to marketing, and on and on.

    That said, I don't hate "The Demons of Desmond Duquesne" for a fanciful YA novel, sort of an aged-up "Lemony Snicket" style. My main hesitation would be that "Duquesne" would be hard for many YA readers to pronounce and that may turn them off.

    There's also a weird echo in my mind coming from the name... not sure if I'm thinking of Denny Duquette from Grey's Anatomy or Andy Dufresne from Shawshank or if there's some other pop-culture character I'm being reminded of? That could be totally idiosyncratic to me, though!
     
  12. EdFromNY

    EdFromNY Hope to improve with age Supporter Contributor

    Joined:
    Jun 13, 2010
    Messages:
    5,101
    Likes Received:
    3,203
    Location:
    Queens, NY
    I'll agree with Laurin Kelly, too. Usually, the reason you want a catchy title is because it's part of what you want to use to hook an agent or editor. But you've already done that. So, in a sense, you're looking to close the barn door after the animals have returned.
     
  13. Irina Samarskaya

    Irina Samarskaya Senior Member

    Joined:
    Aug 9, 2018
    Messages:
    290
    Likes Received:
    140
    As someone who has yet to title my first professional book, I cannot say for certain;

    However I think two things to consider are:

    #1 Whether or not a very similar title already exists (you could try searching up your intended title to find out)
    #2 How it can encapsulate the core theme of your book and represent that to would-be buyers. Like books that begin with "Legend(s) of..." tend to be fantasy or drama, and long (like a sentence-long) titles tend to be either non-fiction (like a manual) or as a result of combining the series title with the book title ("A Song of Ice and Fire: A Game of Thrones").

    If a title is unique-sounding and memorable, that's good. If it also gives a general idea of what the book will be like, it'll appeal to those seeking that kind of experience.

    I'm not sure what to title a "Young Adult" though since I generally don't read them and so I cannot tell you any trends you could work off of.
     
  14. LoaDyron

    LoaDyron Contributor Contributor

    Joined:
    Oct 27, 2018
    Messages:
    877
    Likes Received:
    1,243
    Hello everyone, I hope you are having a beautiful day today.

    I am coming with a question on my head. While I like one name only to describe the story, I am having the struggle to find a word for a distant love relationship, and while searching for a short name I think bond isn't a bad word. However, what do you guys think? Is there another word that could fit better?

    Any advice will be appreciated, many thanks :)
     
  15. Lane1777

    Lane1777 Member

    Joined:
    Jan 8, 2011
    Messages:
    21
    Likes Received:
    5
    maybe find something out of the write, I know people don`t like to use words twice,
    so that might not be a good thought.. affair?..
     
  16. katina

    katina Banned Contributor

    Joined:
    May 30, 2018
    Messages:
    1,800
    Likes Received:
    769
    Location:
    London
    1) When do you normally decide on a title?
    Before, after or in the middle of writing a story/poem?

    2) Have ever written something without giving it a title?


    I don't find titles easy to put on/write but I always put them after I finished writing.
    I have never written anything without one either.

    You?
     
  17. LastMindToSanity

    LastMindToSanity Contributor Contributor

    Joined:
    Feb 8, 2018
    Messages:
    753
    Likes Received:
    382
    Sometimes I have a title in mind when I start. I usually end up changing it when I manage to come up with something actually good. I don't like writing without a title, so, if I can't think of one, I'll just make a simple placeholder until I get one.
     
    Legolas, Stormburn and katina like this.
  18. katina

    katina Banned Contributor

    Joined:
    May 30, 2018
    Messages:
    1,800
    Likes Received:
    769
    Location:
    London
    Interesting. What is a placeholder?
     
  19. LastMindToSanity

    LastMindToSanity Contributor Contributor

    Joined:
    Feb 8, 2018
    Messages:
    753
    Likes Received:
    382
    For example, I have this project going that's about five people standing up against a king. In spite of an actually good name, I used something that easily describes something about the story, without it necessarily being good. I used 'The Five Heroes' as the placeholder, as the story was about five heroes. The placeholder is just there to make sure you know what your story is about while you're writing it.
     
    katina and Stormburn like this.
  20. Carriage Return

    Carriage Return Member

    Joined:
    Oct 7, 2018
    Messages:
    296
    Likes Received:
    250
    11
     
    Last edited: Dec 31, 2018
    LastMindToSanity and katina like this.
  21. katina

    katina Banned Contributor

    Joined:
    May 30, 2018
    Messages:
    1,800
    Likes Received:
    769
    Location:
    London
    Now that is interesting. So this placeholder may or may not change depending on how the story ends right?
     
  22. LastMindToSanity

    LastMindToSanity Contributor Contributor

    Joined:
    Feb 8, 2018
    Messages:
    753
    Likes Received:
    382
    Yeah, pretty much. While a placeholder isn't really meant to be the final decision, it very well could be.
     
    katina likes this.
  23. Hammer

    Hammer Moderator Staff Supporter Contributor

    Joined:
    Oct 28, 2018
    Messages:
    2,260
    Likes Received:
    4,014
    Location:
    UK
    Like @LastMindToSanity I will give something a working title from the outset - apart from anything else I create a folder in dropbox for all the associated scraps and files -- I tend to use "mind mapping" software to thrash out plot lines and as a reference for characters (I have memory like a - er... what are those things again...), and that folder has to have a name. The working title may change, but in the case of my second (unpublished) book I would say that it actually helped to shape the story and remained throughout. With its predecessor (also unpublished) the title changed after some beta-reads.

    Tons of things. Emails, shopping lists, notes to the cleaning lady... but stories have to have a title in my world in the same way as people have to have names (although I did once have two cats called "he-cat" and "she-cat"; I got them from a hippy who lived on a boat, when I mentioned names he simply replied "they know who they are" and I am not sure he didn't add "man" at the end...)

    Generally speaking I think the title should be written in stone before you finish revising because the title does identify the work and vice versa, but I still wonder whether there isn't a snappier title for my book 1...
     
    katina likes this.
  24. BayView

    BayView Huh. Interesting. Contributor

    Joined:
    Sep 6, 2014
    Messages:
    10,462
    Likes Received:
    11,689
    I'd say at least 50% of my books with publishers end up with a different title before they hit the shelves, anyway. Even if you have a title you think is perfect, the publisher may have just put out a title that's almost the same, or maybe trying to market your book as part of their XYZ line and your title needs to play on XYZ somehow, or... whatever.

    Titles are marketing tools. Until you know what the rest of the marketing strategy is going to be, the title is mostly just to make it clear what you're talking about.
     
    Stormburn and katina like this.
  25. Legolas

    Legolas Member

    Joined:
    Nov 12, 2018
    Messages:
    38
    Likes Received:
    36
    Location:
    Northern Virginia
    This is exactly what I do. Usually as the story progresses a better title appears from what I have written.
     
    katina likes this.

Share This Page

  1. This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.
    Dismiss Notice