Great title right? Yeah nah! Sometimes titles are hard.
Sometimes the title pops right up and just works. Other times it doesn’t become apparent until halfway through whatever the thing is and then there are those times when a title seems like mission impossible.
Do you know what else is hard?
Writing an entire book that makes sense, has amazing characters, and is a 70K+ cohesive read with a solid plot.
Surely, titles should be easier than that?
You’d think.
For some people, titles are the hardest thing.
Think about it for a second. The title of your book is there forever. That’s a long time. It’s a much longer time if you don’t like the title or the title doesn’t seem to gel with the story. You’re going to see that title on bookmarks, books covers, posters, Facebook, and whatnot. You are going to be saying that title over and over again. Think carefully about your title, is what I’m saying here.
I love my titles. All of them. I really do.
I was very lucky to be with Rebel ePublishers for ten years and to be able to name my own books and have the titles stick. Publishers don’t always love your choices!
These days it’s slightly easier to name my books … that people was a lie. 🙂
I’m writing a series that I’m calling “Veronica Tracey Spy/PI” – but when I come up with something better, I’ll change the series name. We’re only 3 books in so far so I don’t need to worry too much about an umbrella term for the series. I thought I’d write 3 books. But, I’m writing the fourth … that doesn’t really have a title yet. The working title is [Foxtrot Uniform Charlie Kilo] and I probably should come up with something less sweary at some stage. I was tempted to go with [Whiskey Tango Foxtrot].
We’ll see!
The others in the series are; [Nothing happens here], [Lure the lie], and the soon to be released [Leave a message] … each of those titles works with the story. Each tells you something about the story. When I think about the 4th book nothing is really jumping out but I know it will.
How do you come up with your titles?
What determines the length of your title?
I had all single word titles for my Byte Series which made life very easy for everyone.
The Kiwi series however seems to have a three-word pattern going. Still easy enough for people to say and remember, and write down. 🙂
Right, off I go to get things done.
FYI I am the Author in Focus at Writers Plot Bookshop this week. Such fun. I was away sick all last week but I’m back today. And wouldn’t you know it – after being back at school for 1 day, Doris ended up going home at breaktime today with a sore throat!
We cannot win at the moment.
Cat Connor 
Sorry to hear about Doris! I hope she feels better soon, and that it’s not anything serious. As for titles, I know what you mean about how hard they can be. You want them to be short and easy to remember. You also want them to give a hint about the story. You also want them to be attention-getting. You also want… I generally give my stories a ‘just for now’ title until the story is well underway. Then I let the title evolve. Right now, for instance, my WIP is called ‘Diner Story.’ That’s not going to stay the title, but it’s a placeholder title for the folder where I have the story files. It’s better than nothing…
Tested neg for COVID, hooray!
Fingers crossed she stays that way.
I like your “Diner story” title as a working title and now I want to know what’s going on in the diner! And I Can’t wait to see what the actual title is!
My Byte novels mostly started life as “UnknownByte”, in their own folder and as the title became apparent I renamed the folder and file.
Hi Cat, trust your gut feeling. ‘Whiskey Tango Foxtrot’ would appear to fit the requirements.
Your friend John 🐸
As I was writing this post it occurred to me that [Whiskey Tango Foxtrot] did fit the requirements, and maybe the plot too! 🙂 Thanks John.