I have written a book and I am trying to give it an eye catching title that will be seen by search results and also make it apparent what the book is about. I want to call it "True Paranormal Stories: Bologna or Not?" Now being paranormal stories, it is questionable if any of the stories are true, though I based most of the stories on supposed actual events and witness testimony. But there are some totally made up facts and even some totally made up stories as well. So you could called it "faction". Would it be immoral or fraudulent to use the term "True Stories" in the title?
If you're worried that people might take it wrong, you could try the other way and emphasize the "true" bit in the title by somehting like "Absolutely True Stories". If anyone falls for that, they deserve it.
I'm not clear on what you are asserting this book is -- true or not true. It sounds like you don't believe they are true, particularly since you state that you made up facts and some of the stories are entirely made up. I would not call them "true," because a large proportion of the stories are not. Just because they relate to the paranormal doesn't mean that they cannot be "true" in the sense that they could describe events that did actually happen and that the people involved believe to be true. If you don't believe in the paranormal, I don't see why you'd want to write a nonfiction book about it. Since you seem to have written a fiction book, I don't think you want to confuse people by asserting that they are "true," particularly since there do exist nonfiction books about this subject. There certainly is room for people to deem your book "fraudulent." Although you could make clear in a subtitle or on the cover that the stories are fictional. Incidentally, I don't like the phrase "bologna or not." It's too flip and casual. But that's more of a personal thing.
both... you could put 'almost' before 'true' to make it tongue-in-cheek... i agree about the bologna bit not being very appealing... besides, when used to indicated fraudulence, it's usually spelled 'baloney'...
ah thank you Maia for clearing up the Nologna bit - I didnt get it at all You could always just stick a question mark after True Stories? You decide! "Victim's" accounts of alien kidnappings and Loch Ness Monster Surf Riders.
Thanks for the replies. This is helpful. Also, my intent is to be deceptive about the the fanciful details that have been added to the stories and pass them off as totally legit, though they would be obvious once read.
I think this is a pretty dangerous position. I'm not certain why you would intentionally want to be deceptive. You won't be attracting the readers you want. And readers who feel that they've been duped are not generally going to have pleasant feelings toward you.
Although I belive honesty is the best policy, I'll play Devil's advocate and cite a counterexample: Michael Crighton's The Andromeda Strain never wavered from its assertion that the events reported were factual.
You can make it something like "They are true:Stories of the Paranormal" or something. If you are intentionally deceptive then readers might disapprove
As a reader, I'd feel cheated if I found out the author used "true" in something they knew was far from it. :/
But, The Andromeda Strain was a traditionally published book, categorized as a science fiction novel and sold as fiction. The OP seemed to indicate that he'd be publishing the stories electronically, findable via websearches, with no clear cut identification of the collection as fictional stories.
I personally think there would be no problem with writing out something cheek 'n tongue with a play on true and what is true. I don't think there is anything dishonest about being tongue 'n cheek.
Tongue in Cheek is not quite the same as being intentionally deceptive. The OP stated that he wants to be deceptive in his comments. and
I think you can get away with it so long as there's a disclaimer in the front matter saying "This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to blah blah blah ..." (You know the rest of it.) It should also be classed on Amazon, and whatever other online retailers sell it, under the heading "Fiction." Like Yoshiko, I would feel cheated if a book not only had the word "True" in the title, but was sold as nonfiction without any disclaimer.
Yes, unfortunately. Bad movie. Shakycam gives me a headache. That and boredom were my only reactions to the film.
Good point. I do have that disclaimer on the title page and I will put it in the fiction classification. I bring it up because it was similarly implied to be a true story.
