Married to a Title
Saying "I do" is the single, most terrifying thing a human being can do, I think. And if this current relationship doesn't work out, I can say with confidence that other than a possible elopement with a pal to Paris when we're 70, I will never marry again. BUT, I get very attached to my titles.
It's a common practice for your publisher to tell you that you can't keep your title. This has happened to me three times out of twenty or so books, so I do pretty well, which is a good thing. Example? DOUBLE DOWN was originally called Quarterback Squeeze, but that made marketing nervous--women won't read about football. So then I wanted to name it Squeeze Play, but the marketing guys said women won't get the football reference. So I went with another aspect of my gambling addict's problem and did a casino reference and a book title was born--but NOT the one I originally married.
Spanish Disco . . . . I married that title but hard. That was one I was never going to let go of. Maybe because it was my first book. About halfway through, I wondered if I should let the tango be central to the book. I started panicking. The tango is a more intimate dance. It would have fit with the characters in some ways. But DISCO was funnier. So I kept disco and now I can't imagine if I have screwed it all up by changing the ttitle and theme.
Do They Wear High Heels in Heaven? It was originally, in my head, called Dancing Naked with Angels. I can see why the folks in marketing would panic. I would be offending the sensibilities of angel lovers everywhere.
Mafia Chic. LOVE that title. Married it. Refused to let go--but never had to. Everyone liked it. And now, hopefully, it will be on TV.
Once you sign a contract, you have to give a little. Bend. You get an editor and marketing folks. You get cover samples that may or may not be your vision. So I understand when writers have to give up a title, but I am so grateful that I have not had to.
Because once I marry one of those suckers, I hate quickie divorces. The title affects everything about the book in my mind. In fact, I could NOT start a book called UNTITLED. I can't. I have to KNOW what the hell I am going to call it before I even type the first word. And I NEVER change my mind throughout.
How about you? Married to a title? Can't give it up? Change your title as you go along? Start with UNTITLED? Share away, blog friends . . .
It's a common practice for your publisher to tell you that you can't keep your title. This has happened to me three times out of twenty or so books, so I do pretty well, which is a good thing. Example? DOUBLE DOWN was originally called Quarterback Squeeze, but that made marketing nervous--women won't read about football. So then I wanted to name it Squeeze Play, but the marketing guys said women won't get the football reference. So I went with another aspect of my gambling addict's problem and did a casino reference and a book title was born--but NOT the one I originally married.
Spanish Disco . . . . I married that title but hard. That was one I was never going to let go of. Maybe because it was my first book. About halfway through, I wondered if I should let the tango be central to the book. I started panicking. The tango is a more intimate dance. It would have fit with the characters in some ways. But DISCO was funnier. So I kept disco and now I can't imagine if I have screwed it all up by changing the ttitle and theme.
Do They Wear High Heels in Heaven? It was originally, in my head, called Dancing Naked with Angels. I can see why the folks in marketing would panic. I would be offending the sensibilities of angel lovers everywhere.
Mafia Chic. LOVE that title. Married it. Refused to let go--but never had to. Everyone liked it. And now, hopefully, it will be on TV.
Once you sign a contract, you have to give a little. Bend. You get an editor and marketing folks. You get cover samples that may or may not be your vision. So I understand when writers have to give up a title, but I am so grateful that I have not had to.
Because once I marry one of those suckers, I hate quickie divorces. The title affects everything about the book in my mind. In fact, I could NOT start a book called UNTITLED. I can't. I have to KNOW what the hell I am going to call it before I even type the first word. And I NEVER change my mind throughout.
How about you? Married to a title? Can't give it up? Change your title as you go along? Start with UNTITLED? Share away, blog friends . . .
posted by Erica Orloff at 6:51 AM
16 Comments:
Nope, not married to titles. I've always said that the greatest bonus to find in a CP is the Title Gene, mostly because I don't have it.
It's not so bad that I call my book files 1 and 2, usually they are filed under the protag's name.
I will raise hell if you try to change my character names though.
My wip has gone through several incarnations, and several title changes. I started out calling it Revolver, based on the protag's nickname (and the Beatles' album). Then I saw that there's a magazine by that name, so I changed the title to The Cruelest Month, from T.S. Eliot's poem The Waste Land. That title took a dive when I made some plot revisions and it really didn't fit anymore. Then I started thinking about some sort of hook for a series, and I thought I might use billiards shots. One In The Corner, Two Against The Rail, etc. I decided against that, thinking the books might sound and look like manuals for playing pool, and not sure if pool is popular enough from a marketing standpoint to carry a series of mysteries. Then, I was looking through a classic novel one night called Two Years Before The Mast by R.H. Dana and ran across the line "the latitude of Point Conception," which I loved but is probably too long and too obscure.
THEN, one night a title just hit me, with no prompt, and I love it and it's the one I'm married to. It's a title that I would have to pick up if I saw it on a shelf, and it's a title that's never been used that I know of. Soooo, long comment here but after much angst I've finally found a title that works for me on several levels. I'm keeping it a secret until the book comes out. :)
P.S. You don't HAVE to wait till your 70 to elope to Paris, Erica. Life is short. Do it today! :)
Can't say I've ever been married to a title. One or two have come to me already titled, but like May, they are usually just filed under whatever character name I type first.
Also like May, don't mess with their names! I once had a cp who had just divorced a guy with the same name as my character, she couldn't stand it, but I couldn't think of him with any other name??
So I'd be willing to let marketing call the book whatever they thought would sell best. I'm just adamant about NOT having a bare-chested Fabio on the cover. However, if it was Fabio or no deal, guess I'd learn to deal with his flowing locks.
Sheesh, what a sell out I am. :(
May:
As I can see from the comments after yours . . . those character names are definite keepers. I am the same way. I cannot start until I have them firmly in my mind.
E
Jude:
Paris in springtime is lovely, I hear. :-)
Can't wait to hear for sure what your new one is. Love hearing the progression of creativity and change in your title.
E
Lainey:
You sell-out, you. Your posts always make me laugh!!!
E
I'm married to "ROGUE." I love that title. DH originally had a kick-ass title for it but halfway between my fourth and fifth draft, the title suddenly didn't fit. H/S has a series right now called "Rogue Angel" that's making me nervous. I love "Rogue." Love it, love it.
I can't seem to start writing a manuscript until I nail down the title. To me, the title is more than what the book is called. It's thematic. My next manuscript after Rogue is called "Redemption."
So yeah, I guess I'm sorta married to my titles. Maybe not so much *married* as "in a serious relationship." Hehe...
My favorite of yours is "Do They Wear High Heels in Heaven?" I *love* that title. LOVE IT.
karm:
I love Rogue. Single-word titles are awesome, I think. They have power.
E
I can't start a book without a title - because it grounds me somehow. Sometimes I start with a title and then get to a plot.
But, being the pragmatist I am, it didn't upset me when the title for my YA was changed. Originally I called it Virgin On The Ridiculous (and I was, and am, seriously in love with that title), but the publisher thought - rightly - that it made it sound more light and fluffy than it really is.
So, The Second Virginity of Suzy Green was born - I desperately want to take credit for it, but I have to admit that the most I did was shout YES! as soon as I heard it.
Everyone (apart from my father, but he's not the demographic we're aiming at!!) likes it better than the original. And it's one that, hopefully, will at least get a second look when it's on the shelves - especially if I get the cover idea I want....
Sara:
I love the new title--seems more YA than the first. More intriguing to me.
I am like you, I need the title to "ground me" during the process. To weave themes.
E
for me, the title just "happens" during the writing process... I initially get a few scenes in my head, then the characters start to flesh out a bit, and then in the course of writing it all weaves together.
I'm not wedded to anything... except the wife, and she's a keeper :)
ewoh:
I try not to be wedded to things. I mean, I get that sometimes things happen and you may have to lose part of your novel if you want to sell it, but . . . . For instance, I have an unfinished book about the IRA, and the hero/main character is an impotent bombmaker who leaves the IRA--or tries to. Well . . . he takes sexual pleasure from watching explosions . . . I worked on the book a while and then 9/11 happened. My main character is not an evil man, but he is definitely troubled and dark, and there is no way in this political climate that I think this book could get published. I understand that. But I wasn't willing to let go of that, so the book is shelved for now, and at some point I will write it my way, and if it's bought, great, and if not, it's still my book.
E
I'm married to the sea...
I'm using Shakespeare quotes (short ones) for the titles for my ongoing series. I tend to dip into poetry and plays a lot for titles. I'd be loath to change a title I'd written a whole book under, but I can understand why it's done.
naomi:
It's especially tough giving up a title when you construct something major in the book--or a series--around in. Equally hard, in another way, is IMPOSING titles on a series. I had Trace of Innocence. Then they wanted "Trace of" for each successive title. Trace of Doubt. Then Trace of Malice. Drove me nuts.
E
Like much of my writing process, I am completely inconsistent in my titling. :)
Usually, I "get" the title partway through the initial draft. I've only had my publishers change a title once. Sometimes, my titles are perfect, but that's very rare (one is Black Widow, about a woman who has been married six times and widowed four).
I have a series that begins with a book with a dragon hero. That's Soul of the Dragon, and the only book I can remember where I had the title long before I had the story. The sequels are Soulflight, Harte and Soul, and Soul Deep. I haven't sold the first book, so the third is only a quarter written. I hate titles in series that don't tell me which book is which (Suzanne Brockmann's books come to mind), so I tried to keep the titles anchored to the story. The heroine in Soulflight can fly, for example.
The hardest title I've ever had to come up with so far is for the book I just finished, which is about superheroes with everyday problems. The heroine is an empath. I have the book done, the synopsis written, and an agent waiting for the partial, and JUST came up with a title today.
And no, I'm not married to it. :)
Hi Natalie:
I hear you on trying to intertwine the series names. But yours are good ones.
E
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