My wife asked me a question about a book she is writing and wanted me to bring it up here, so here goes What do you do if you found out the name of your book has been taken by another "well known" author? She had a name picked out a long time ago and now has found out the a well known author has named her book the same title. Do you change you name or stick with it? I know there are several books with the same title but since her book will be published after the known author and is somewhat in the same genre it might be looked upon as coping or ripping off the author.
Titles are not copyrighted, so she can use it if she wants. However, if the other book is in the same genre, I would suggest changing it. Also, if she is going the traditional publishing route, odds are the editor will pick another title, anyway.
Well you first have to get rid of the other author and then destroy all of their books of the same title. Nah, @EdFromNY is right that they are not copyrighted, kinda like songs of same title. As long as it is not the same story you should be fine. Eventually we will see plenty of books of the same title but different authors.
They aren't protected by copyright. It's possible you could run into trademark and related issues, but that's not commonly a concern.
I'm glad this question was asked. I eventually came up with the perfect title for mine but a google search revealed it has already been used. Not a known author to me and different genre so maybe i can use it after all, also very slightly different in that mine has the word 'the' at the beginning.
If the title is something that is already lodged in the public's mind and 'owned' by a certain writer than I'd switch. But if it's rather a general word or a common phrase why not? You take a simple word like Deception(s), a lot of writer's have used this for their title. Some people may think of the Phillip Roth novel, others Judith Michael - me, I'm thinking of Sweet Valley High #14. But I'm with Ed and the others on perhaps picking a different title if the book is in the same genre. Why start confusion? The last thing you want to do is have someone suggest your wives book but the wrong one is bought.
