For all these reasons, I've been thinking a lot about my novel, Death in The Family and doing some of the research I really should have done before. I meant Death In The Family, as a grimly humorous title, summing up Tom's discovery about his father being a vampire. However, I have come to the conclusion that the name is putting off potential readers, because it very closely mirrors more factual books on handling familial bereavement. Thus, after much deliberation, I have decided to change the title to something that I feel fits the book and the genre more closely and hopefully won't put off my readers.
So, the new title is Night Blood.
I'm also changing the title of the series to The Night Blood Chronicles, which is also slightly more Young Adult Paranormal (in my opinion that is) than Heritage is Deadly.
There will be a new front cover too, when I release the second in the series, Witch Blood, later this year.
So, what are your opinions on titles. Have you had any experiences you can share?
I haven't changed any titles after figuring out the first title. Most of the titles I come up with a pure luck. They hit me one day and that's what I end up calling the story.
ReplyDeleteThat's how most of mine come along as well - I think I tried too hard with this one originally though and I went with what I wanted rather than what feels right for the genre.
DeleteMy way of titles are my way of introducing some element to the story that gives it a good introduction. Doing this is a hard task, which is why I often come up with the title last, though put a placeholder title in.
ReplyDeleteMy titles:
Scraping By - This is to indicate many different things and in my opinion is a rather clever title. It is used to indicate the character never has enough money in his life. Just enough really. Also that he is a scavenger and will deal with scrapped goods. Lastly that he, in the book (spoiler) narrowly escapes with his life.
Karma's Redemption - This book was initially titled Karma's Bitch, as the title character was called as she was seen as a punishment to her marks for their wrong doings. Karma catching up with them. I changed it due to Bitch in the title may have the wrong interpretation, and that this is a series so I wanted to call it the Karma series, even though the character still refers to herself as such.
Terran Psychosis - Initially I called it Crazy Alien. It was a placeholder, until one day out of nowhere i came up with Terran Psychosis, and ended up being a perfect title for it.
Daygar Legacy/Templar Five - Originally the story would start off in the past and then jump to 500 years in the future to deal with vampires set to protect mankind becoming corrupt and humans looking for help in fighting against them. I called it Dhampire's Curse. However, as i began to do worldbuilding, the story itself changed and I then called it Day Guard. More time passed before I decided on Daygar.
I agree, the title almost always comes if not last then a significant way through the writing of any piece. It can make finding works in progress on my hard drive quite difficult as I try and remember what place holder title I gave a piece ;P
DeletePublishers have people who spend a lot of time crafting titles, but I do wonder if taking the title away from the author is a good or a bad thing.
I often have trouble with titles. Though a couple times a title has come to me first, then become a short story. Those are fun, more like prompts. Good luck with your changes!
ReplyDeleteNow the other way around sounds like more fun. I have never been in the wonderful position of having a title and developing the story to go with it - maybe I should try it :)
DeleteUsually, my titles are pretty easily decided. For the first book of my Kaimi Rowe series, Seeker Borne, it comes from Kaimi's name. In old Hawaiian, it means Seeker. So, mystery series, with a 'seeker' for a main character? Too easy.
ReplyDeleteAlso, The naming convention for my Kurylian saga is pretty simple. The Sorcerer and The Swordsman, I.E. the two most important characters. The Prince and the Corpse. Again, two most important characters. The Apprentice and The Doll, Also the two most important characters. ^.^
Sounds like you have your title process nailed :)
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