So you may
or may not have heard me whining about my book title recently. In case you’ve
somehow missed it, I’ll fill you in: The Witch Hunter’s Bible, my 2014 debut
from Random House (you know I just had to do that), is changing titles.
I thought I
completely loved my title and would hate if someone suggested
changing it, (fun fact—it was the title that inspired me to write the book in
the first place!), but all that was before I heard the reasoning behind the
suggestion. Now I couldn’t agree more: that title needs to go. It’s not that I
don’t love it anymore. Not at all. But this book is fun, adventurous,
girl-centered, and snarky (er, so I’m told), and the title just doesn’t reflect
that.
So after
this realization occurred a week of stress, eyelash pulling out, and internet
research whilst I tried to find the perfect name. And during this week of
nachos (did I mention there were nachos? Also, cheese sauce), I came across
some great advice on how to title a book, which I will now share with you.
Literary
agent Rachelle Gardner has such great tips for titling your book that I'm not even going to try to paraphrase her. Just go here and do as the lady says.
And here’s
an additional link from Rachelle highlighting the importance of a great title,
even during the querying phase.
Happy
reading!
Oh, and if
anyone wants to come up with a title for me, have at ‘er. I still don’t have
one, despite the rockin’ advice. WAH!
Love the links to Rachelle's posts. Choosing the right title can be very difficult, but it can also be pretty exciting. Best of luck with choosing a new title for THE WITCH HUNTER'S BIBLE!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Ava!!
DeleteMaybe something like THE YEAR I MADE THE CHEERLEADING SQUAD AND THE LOCAL WITCH COVEN? A little long, sorry, but I'm thinking Meg Cabot meets Rachel Hawkins? :o)
ReplyDeleteThinking along those lines.... INDIE (last name): CHEERLEADER, WITCH AND SNARKALIOUS BIOTCH. (Okay you probably can't have that as your title but lol!!!!)
Titling is hard! VIOLENT DELIGHTS was originally titled The Little Novel that Could (LOL!) then it was titled Downward Spiral and then it was This Novel is Never Gonna Have a Title so Why Should I bother Imagine Querying it Let me just Trunk it now! LOL! I finally came up with VIOLENT DELIGHTS after re-reading Romeo and Juliet before my trip to London....and it hit me. :o)
Haha! Thanks for the suggestions, Rachel! And I LOVE the title Violent Delights. Amazing!
DeleteI wrote a long piece about titles many years ago that you can find here: http://www.scriptfly.com/articles/movietitles.shtml
ReplyDeleteHow about THE CHEERLEADER'S GUIDE TO WITCHCRAFT. I feel like it needs to be THE CHEERLEADER'S GUIDE TO DA da da DA da. THE CHEERLEADER'S GUIDE TO KIDNAPPING WITCHES or something like that.
Thanks, Gabrielle! Going to check out your post now.
DeleteAnd I couldn't agree more re: The Cheerleader's Guide... I had something like that on my maybe list a while back, but then a winning contestant in the Christmas in July had a similar title, so now I think it'd be distasteful to go with that. But awesome idea!
I feel your pain! I just had to change the title for that book that your query critique helped me get published. It was painful but necessary and now the new title is so much better. The way we did it (my editor and I) was make a list of all the words associated with the book from the banal like dark to the specific like syzygy and then we matched up words to create punchy phrases. Good luck and happy title hunting!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Xan! That advice is pretty much in keeping with what Rachelle Gardner says in the links. Ima definitely do that!
DeleteI won't even attempt to make any suggestions, but I can't wait to hear what you finally settle on for your title. Good luck. Wishing you inspiration.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much, Amaleen!
DeleteThanks for the links. I'm not good at titles so I'll refrain from suggestions but good luck!
ReplyDeleteHaha! No problem, and thanks for the luck! I need it
DeleteI stink and writing titles. The only reason I ever settled on any sort of title at all was because I couldn't query the book as "Main Character's Name: Book One."
ReplyDeleteGood luck with your retitling!
Yeah that just doesn't have the right ring to it, does it? Haha!
DeleteThanks, Laura!
Cool links. I can't wait to hear what new title you pick!
ReplyDeleteI'd suggest title ideas, but you've already heard them all in person, on the phone, and through text and email :)
And more wicked ideas have not been had! Keep em coming, B-Randy!
DeleteOoo, I am the worst at this. People have told me my title was clever, but basically the underground shelter the cult in my book uses looks like a farm silo, SO I named it THE SILO. It's so completely literal. Now I'm at a loss for the sequel. A total and complete loss! Hope you land on a good title for yours soon!
ReplyDelete