Lucynda Storey-Erotic Romance Writer

Frequently, a title is the very first introduction a reader or book buyer will have to you and your work.  Is your title creative or ho-hum?  Does the title represent something about your story?  A theme perhaps?  A common thread linking this story to another you have or will be writing?

The title for Blind Devotion was chosen carefully.  I had a solid premise and I knew what I wanted readers to take away from the story…the idea that while devotion is good, blind devotion can lead one astray and cause you to miss out on certain aspects of life.

The Reckoning of Asphodel by Celina Summers tells you what the story is about…a reckoning.  But it also makes me curious.  What sort of reckoning is this?  Is Asphodel good or bad?  What happened that a reckoning is coming?

Even the title Birdman makes one pause.  How does one become a birdman?  Is this some sort of superhero?  The title itself teases and creates a desire to find out a little more.

What else is in a title? 

Potentially, the ability to brand oneself. 

Think of J.D. Robb and all the novels with death in the title.  She’s developed an entire series around the word.  Janet Evanovich has done the same with her Stephanie Plum character by playing on the nursery rhyme “One for the Money”.   Think of James Michener.  He made a fortune off his location titles.  Remember Hawaii, Chesapeake, Poland, Alaska? Orson Scott Card has some renown for his Ender books.  Ender’s Game, Ender’s Shadow.  When buyers see these titles, they see an old friend and something familiar.

Think about one of this summer’s blockbuster movies…Live Free and Die Hard.  Hello…ring any bells?  How about Die Hard, Die Harder, Die Hard With a Vengeance?  Not a person alive who has seen one of these movies would have the least little doubt what the others are about…a bad guy who ends up having John McClane interfering in his operations.

Even our own Wayne Greenough is doing something similar.  Wayne’s novel, Who is Offing the Collectors? is being followed up with Who is Offing the Private Dicks?  The titles alone tell us this is a mystery and that someone, namely a person in the occupation listed in the title, is going to die. 

We have another example with Jessica Russell and her New Tortuga series.  This series uses the children’s poem Monday’s Child.  If you liked Monday’s Child and Jessica’s writing, as a reader you will know to expect six more similar stories.

When the Del Fantasma series previews, readers will know that the stories are contemporary paranormal romances.  They will already have a basic idea of what the stories are about without having cracked the cover.

Become a connoisseur of titles. Take a look at Amazon or Fictionwise and read the titles.  Some snag your attention.  Others are duplicated.   Some take a slight twist on an old phrase.  Some create a repetitive word from title to title. 

Remember the Rabbi stories? Friday the Rabbi Slept Late, Saturday the Rabbi Went Hungry, Sunday the Rabbi Stayed Home by Harry Kemelman.   All these stories feature Rabbi  Small, an amateur sleuth who solved mysteries with his acquaintance, Hugh Lanigan, the Chief of the local police department.  And, if you notice, we have a pattern set up.  We can expect one novel for every day of the week as well as knowing who the heroes will be.

And what about those one hit wonders?  Maybe they were one hit or maybe not.  Poor title choices may have made an author of multiple tales disappear into the woodwork.  One excellent title may have made the work stand out, far above the others.  I only know that I recently repurchased a book that came out in the very early 70’s because the title made me remember a lot of the story.  What was it?  The President’s Plane is Missing. 

Stuck for a good title name?  Think of your theme and premise (two different animals) and then hit a quotation book.  Even a religious book like the Bible or Koran can suggest potential ideas.   What if all your titles came from 80’s songs?  Lines of music lyrics?  What if all your titles were based on the pithy sayings of Benjamin Franklin? An article of clothing?  The season of the year?  The surname of a family? A part of a house?

Try to have the best title you can for your story.  If possible think of how the story will be alphabetized in a catalogue.  Skip those determiners (a, an, the) when thinking up your title (they are basically throw away words).   Here, try to pump up your creativity…what titles can you think of that might go with the first word of aspen?

Aspen After Dark: What happens in the playground of the rich after sunset?

Aspen Speed: Downhill skier’s competition turns deadly

Aspen Ice: Stranded outside Aspen, two city slickers try to survive the wilderness

Aspen Quake: A tectonic event shakes the town, but was it a natural event or a terrorist act?

Aspen Spring (Fall, Winter, Summer)

Aspen Lights: A strange glow in the sky brings an unusual event to the town of Aspen

Aspen Stars:  An astronaut from Aspen fights prejudice in outer space

Aspen Murder Chronicles: A reporter for the Aspen Chronicle is targeted for death

What can you come up with?

Take charge.  Be proactive in selecting a title.  If you have a good title to begin with, odds are your publisher won’t change it.  Remember, titles are one of the first things to sell a reader on your story.  Make yours great.

Coming Soon: Blind Devotion

Now Available: The Collector 7: This Time Forever

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 5th, 2007 at 7:33 pm and is filed under Lucynda Storey. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.