Two arguments on a book title

Rinose · Mar 21, 2018

ChickenFreak said: ↑

What's "cheezy and generic" about The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe or A Horse and His Boy?

The well-known titles that we're familiar with may sometimes feel generic because we're familiar with them. But there's nothing inherently generic about:

The Subtle Knife
The Hobbit
Dune
The Mists of Avalon
A Wrinkle in Time

or hundreds of other titles.
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Maybe I'm miss understanding your meaning of generic because when I think of generic, I think of a title that is not specific in what the story has to offer or a title that uses themes that are repetitive in other stories.

Rinose · Mar 21, 2018

Mckk said: ↑

It's not really about whether someone else has the same title that makes yours "generic" or "unique" - it's about playing with words. (off the top of my head, A Prophet in Time has a more unique ring to it than The Prophet of Time) It's about evoking in the reader something that feels different, something they haven't read about or thought about before, or that makes the reader wonder about what the title might mean or what the story might entail.

Tenderiser is right to say the title is more importantly a marketing tool (she's a copywriter by trade and a published author with an agent, so I'd honestly listen to her if I were you) - because in the end, if the reader never picks up your book, they're never gonna know what your story is about, and thus they will also never know how or whether your title is relevant to the story itself. You first gotta get the reader to pick up the book - and how do you do that? Title and cover are the first two things, next the blurb, next the first few sentences or few pages. So yes, the title should obviously reflect what's in the story, but it primarily needs to be a marketing tool. If it's related to the story, then it's enough. Anyway, the truth is, I'm not sure you actually get much say in the title anyway if you went for traditional publishing - maybe someone who's been published @Tenderiser @BayView can correct me. What I mean is, you might be worrying over something you in the end have little control over.

The reason why people are saying "The Prophet of Time" sounds generic still is probably because of two things: the word "Prophet" is used heavily in fantasy genres - we've all read that story about the chosen one and some unfulfilled prophecy, haven't we? Thus, the term "prophet" doesn't evoke anything exciting, because every reader thinks they know what it's going to be about based on how often they've read prophecy stories. Whether your story is similar at all to those other stories doesn't matter here - your reader doesn't know, your reader only knows your title and will base their opinions off that and off their own experiences. "Time" says very little - by itself it is a fairly plain word. A Prophet of Time gives the impression that it's probably about someone who has some control over time, which will be pivotal to the plot - however, the person who can control time is hardly a unique concept. It's been done before, many times. So, you've got two fantasy staples in your title. This means, it does not sound unique to the very readers you're trying to entice.

"The Age of Darkness" - again, "Age" is pretty generic. What does it tell me except that it is a period of time? The Stone Age, Ice Age, Prehistoric Age. It's old (pardon the pun). "Darkness" - again, what does that really tell me? Ok, it is a period of time in which things have gone bad. Ok, so? Bear in mind that I, as the reader, have no idea about your world, no idea about your characters, no idea about how exciting or refreshing everything in your story might be. All I'm seeing is, there's an unspecified period of time, which I know nothing about, and apparently the people in it are going through shit. Ok, great. Name me a book in which the characters aren't going through shit You know what I mean, right? Every book includes one or more characters who are struggling for something, who are going through a hard time. So, your title tells me, "Here's a book about a time when someone's going through a hard time." The word "darkness" doesn't have the kind of weight you're looking for when there's no context.
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This is very helpful! When I heard people talking about the titles being generic, It's hard for me to know what they mean by that. This helps a lot with clearing that whole thing up. The only thing I'm still confused about is how do I make the title interesting and intriguing, yet also have it connect with the story?

Homer Potvin · Mar 21, 2018

The Prophet of Time sounds like a Black Sabbath album. Just saying....

Honestly, all three of them have that generic fantasy feel to them. You could move the words of all three of them around without losing the vibe, which signals to me that none of the keywords are very key at all.

big soft moose · Mar 21, 2018

Homer Potvin said: ↑

The Prophet of Time sounds like a Black Sabbath album. Just saying....

Honestly, all three of them have that generic fantasy feel to them. You could move the words of all three of them around without losing the vibe, which signals to me that none of the keywords are very key at all.
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Yep - they are all generic fantasy name generator fodder ... my feeling is finish the book first then worry about the title - every one of my books (i'm curently writing #4) I've changed the name at least once anyway

HisQueen23 · Mar 21, 2018

I love An Age of Darkness and The Prophet of Time. The Time Bender is so generic and really reminds me of The Last Air Bender. I would totally read the ones I like. I’ve read the comments and I really don’t see how y’all think it’s generic and not good, especially seeing that those people saying this are hypocritical. I’ve been published 3 times, and not self published either, I think if you’re really gonna help this person choose a great book title, you shouldn’t be hypocritical and you should at least know what you’re talking about. All in all love The Prophet of Time!

big soft moose · Mar 21, 2018

HisQueen23 said: ↑

I really don’t see how y’all think it’s generic and not good, especially seeing that those saying that are hypocritical.
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I'm not sure what you mean by the latter part of your post - top tip, insults and ad hominems are not a great start to your forum career

On the former part of the point w'all think its generic because its generic

"Age of darkness" has been used by Christian Dunn for a WH40K anthology and by Brandon Chen in his fantasy series, and by Lm Mendolia in their fantasy series,and as a fantasy series title by Stephen Aryan, and as a fantasy podcast tiltle, and as a fantasy comic title by Joe Brusha

Prophet of time is better in that it has not as far as a cursory and half arsed google can tell been used as a fantasy title , but "Prophet of .... " various other stuff is very heavily used.

(also if His queen has really been published 3 times on trad deals he/she will know that in a trad deal the publishing house has some say in the title, so it is even more likely to change from a working title than a self pub book)

awkwarddragon · Mar 21, 2018

big soft moose said: ↑

"Age of darkness" has been used by Christian Dunn for a WH40K anthology and by Brandon Chen in his fantasy series, and by Lm Mendolia in their fantasy series,and as a fantasy series title by Stephen Aryan, and as a fantasy podcast tiltle, and as a fantasy comic title by Joe Brusha

Prophet of time is better in that it has not as far as a cursory and half arsed google can tell been used as a fantasy title , but "Prophet of .... " is very heavily used.
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I agree with @big soft moose. Who's to say a reader will read OP's An Age of Darkness?

BayView · Mar 21, 2018

HisQueen23 said: ↑

I love An Age of Darkness and The Prophet of Time. The Time Bender is so generic and really reminds me of The Last Air Bender. I would totally read the ones I like. I’ve read the comments and I really don’t see how y’all think it’s generic and not good, especially seeing that those people saying this are hypocritical. I’ve been published 3 times, and not self published either, I think if you’re really gonna help this person choose a great book title, you shouldn’t be hypocritical and you should at least know what you’re talking about. All in all love The Prophet of Time!
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Where are you seeing hypocrisy?

ChickenFreak · Mar 21, 2018

HisQueen23 said: ↑

I love An Age of Darkness and The Prophet of Time. The Time Bender is so generic and really reminds me of The Last Air Bender. I would totally read the ones I like. I’ve read the comments and I really don’t see how y’all think it’s generic and not good, especially seeing that those people saying this are hypocritical. I’ve been published 3 times, and not self published either, I think if you’re really gonna help this person choose a great book title, you shouldn’t be hypocritical and you should at least know what you’re talking about. All in all love The Prophet of Time!
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With your very, very first post, you enthusiastically agree with one (fairly new) poster and throw unfounded insults at everyone disagreeing with that poster.

Interesting.

Wreybies · Mar 21, 2018

HisQueen23 said: ↑

I love An Age of Darkness and The Prophet of Time. The Time Bender is so generic and really reminds me of The Last Air Bender. I would totally read the ones I like. I’ve read the comments and I really don’t see how y’all think it’s generic and not good, especially seeing that those people saying this are hypocritical. I’ve been published 3 times, and not self published either, I think if you’re really gonna help this person choose a great book title, you shouldn’t be hypocritical and you should at least know what you’re talking about. All in all love The Prophet of Time!
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I think perhaps you are mislead as to the meaning of the word hypocritical, like, at a technical level. It requires a comparison of behavior, which is not in play here.

Here’s a term for you: troll
Here’s another: banned

big soft moose · Mar 21, 2018

coming back to the OP with thus synopsis

"Starting out, At the start of the novel, Jayden is going through severe depression over losing his best friend, Skye. Which, is the first real look at the Age of Darkness that is consuming his life. The book continues with him running away from home, losing his arm, and being told about his destiny to kill The Black Knight(Valadia.) This is yet another example of how a new age is formed by Valadia to end him and the children of light. Hence "An Age of Darkness." This is the start of the new age. That's the main reason why I feel it ties with the book well."

I'm not seeing how either 'time bender' or 'prophet of time' are relevant to the story at hand

I was going to say that "the children of light" would be a good series title ... but its already the title of a theological work by Reinhold Neibuhr

Wreybies · Mar 21, 2018

Shit-ton'o sockpuppets. Not just the two...

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Two arguments on a book title

Which title is better?

An Age of Darkness

The Time Bender

The Prophet of Time

Rinose Banned

Rinose Banned

Homer Potvin A tombstone hand and a graveyard mind Staff Supporter Contributor

big soft moose An Admoostrator Admin Staff Supporter Contributor Community Volunteer

HisQueen23 Banned

big soft moose An Admoostrator Admin Staff Supporter Contributor Community Volunteer

awkwarddragon Member

BayView Huh. Interesting. Contributor

ChickenFreak Contributor Contributor

Wreybies Thrice Retired Supporter Contributor

big soft moose An Admoostrator Admin Staff Supporter Contributor Community Volunteer

Wreybies Thrice Retired Supporter Contributor

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Two arguments on a book title

Which title is better?

An Age of Darkness

The Time Bender

The Prophet of Time

Rinose Banned

Rinose Banned

Homer Potvin A tombstone hand and a graveyard mind Staff Supporter Contributor

big soft moose An Admoostrator Admin Staff Supporter Contributor Community Volunteer

HisQueen23 Banned

big soft moose An Admoostrator Admin Staff Supporter Contributor Community Volunteer

awkwarddragon Member

BayView Huh. Interesting. Contributor

ChickenFreak Contributor Contributor

Wreybies Thrice Retired Supporter Contributor

big soft moose An Admoostrator Admin Staff Supporter Contributor Community Volunteer

Wreybies Thrice Retired Supporter Contributor

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