If You Give a Book a Title...
This post will mainly refer to novels and their nitty gritties, but a lot of this can also be applied toward short stories, novellas, poems and poetry collections, films, and the likes).
First Thing: What Does a Title Need to Do?
That depends on a lot of things. The listed things below are not always required but are typically all considered. You know your story best and what you intend on doing with it, so trim the list accordingly.
represent the story, themes, and purpose as a whole
be marketable and easy to pitch
NOT resemble titles of other works in your genre
NOT be the exact same as another work, regardless of genre and medium (although some creator’s have proven otherwise; trust your instincts)
be easy to say and remember for an average joe when they bring it up in conversation
reflect your genre, sub-genre(s), and overall tone
make you feel proud to say and mention to others
be interesting and raise questions or create mystique for someone unfamiliar (right between super-vague and super-specific)
be able to reach a wide audience
Are There Any Contingents?
The Bad: If you are traditionally publishing, your publisher has the final say on the title. I know a lot of us have heard this scary statement, but I did some digging and found out some key things on this.
Yes, it is 100% true; a publisher has the final say. However, it doesn’t seem to be common practice and it’s not done without reason. A good publisher isn’t changing the title because they have their own good idea. When a good publisher changes the title, it’s because these industry professionals (who NEED your book to sell well) feel as if you have done a disservice to your book’s marketability with its original title.
The most common reasons I could find for a publisher changing the title were:
I’m not talking The Knife of Never Letting Go or Are All My Friends Hanging Out Without Me? long. I’m talking very wordy compound sentences long. Said-In-Two-Breaths long.
It was too specific and narrowed down potential readers
Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson appeals to many kinds of non-fic readers; The Roller Coaster of Emotions of a Mentally Ill Blogger by Jenny Lawson, although a funny title (and I love that book), narrows down that broad potential readership
You have to hook ‘em before they know what hit ‘em
It was too similar to another work
Either too similar to another work within the genre, too similar to another work within their publishing canon, too similar to another work coming out at the same time, too similar to a famous work, or just too similar to another work in general
tl;dr: If you think you have a strong, unique, and effective title, chances are you’ll be able to keep it.
The Good: You could be off the hook for a lot of the “necessary” things for a good publishing title if you’re not publishing on a wider scale. If you’re posting on tumblr, Wattpad, AO3, et al. or you aren’t publishing for the public AND you care more about the title meaning than the “marketability”, than you are good to go. There’s no shame in publishing work for your own fun and not for a “bigger goal”. Plus, if you decide to aim for a bigger goal, you can always tweak the title.
The Extra Good: There are opportunities to create nuanced titles all the time that don’t follow any “rule” listed in the first question. And even if they aren’t nuanced, IT’S ART! Do what you want! The advice here is simply to guide writers who want to focus on what makes a good title within a market. Both quests are noble and you should choose based on your story and your goal.
The Extra EXTRA Good: A lot of leeway can be given for series installments (see below).
How Do I Know if It’s a Good Title?
A great way is to survey your friends, mentors, and writerly peers. You could give them the title your set on for feedback or you could give them a list of options for them to vote on. The purpose isn’t to let them decide if your title is bad or to choose which title, but for you to get feedback to use how you want. Sometimes I throw in filler titles that I come up with off the cuff and THEY are the ones who get chosen. Feedback is just food for thought.
Another way is to research published titles in the same genre. Both to analyze overused trends, patterns, motifs, and words AND to get an idea of what gets a lot of readers interested. Of course, the cover and author and so many other variables go into a successful book, but the title is at least one facet.
Overall, you should think about its effectiveness. Does it evoke the tone you want? As you think about plot points and themes, does the title still make sense? Would you read a book with this title? Could this title be misleading in any way?
Slow Down! How Do I Find a Title in the First Place?
First, try to make a list of potential words and phrases to include in the title. There are many ways to find these which include, but are NOT limited to:
a common motif, symbol, image, or theme in the story
a character and their name
a once-said phrase/fragment from the text
a key word, phrase, setting, or name specific to the story’s world
words you like and/or sound pretty and are applicable
words that are uncommon but pretty and applicable (i.e. latin, historical/archaic terms, etc.)
a common expression, proverb, or saying
Now, let’s do some puzzle work.
Some of your words and phrases that you have compiled are perfectly fine on their own as titles. Other may need some support. I have a post on this concept, but I’m going to put it all here and expand upon it.
Here are some common ways author’s arrange these words/phrases into the title*:
The Long-Title Metaphor w/ Imagery
ex. The Knife of Never Letting Go
The Short-Title Metaphor w/ Imagery
ex. The Savior’s Champion
The Main Character(s) (No Names)
ex. The Book Thief, The Help, The Time Traveler’s Wife, Dark Disciple
The Pair of Recurrent Theme(s)
The Execution from the Silent Valley
(paper burns at that temp)
ex. Fall on Your Knees, Call Me By Your Name, Tell the Wolves I’m Home
I Might Regret This, You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me
Trail of Lightning, Evidence of the Affair, Monsters of Men
Hillbilly Elegy, Sharp Objects
*some of these examples include titles that appear in their entirety within the text, which means the author didn’t really have to manipulate a list like yours, but I still think they’re good examples to know
How Should I Title for a Series?
For this answer’s purpose, I’ll be referring to series with interrelated stories rather than anthologies like Goosebumps.
There are two parts here: individual installments and the series as a whole.
You should look at other series of the same length and genre. Some have titles that correlate and some prioritize other things like imagery.
* I’d also like to note that it is much easier to get away with a title that is similar/identical to another work if it is the 2nd+ installment in a series.
In fact, it’s easy to disregard most of the aforementioned “rules” for the 2nd+ installment once it’s under the umbrella of a unique first book title. You don’t have to worry about a title that will “hook” a random reader so much. You do that more with the first book.
Here are some examples to get you started:
The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, Mockingjay
Divergent, Insurgent, Allegiant
And I Darken, Now I Rise, Bright We Burn
Caraval, Legendary, Finale
Shatter Me, Unravel Me, Ignite Me, Restore Me, Defy Me, etc etc
Matched, Crossed, Reached
YA Mystery/Thriller Series
The Naturals, Killer Instinct, All In, Bad Blood
The series’ name can take so many different forms. So, as always, I’ve got some examples for you.
Only example here named after the first book
Above all, an effective series name is short, unique, and memorable.
Awesome! At the risk of totally filling up someone’s dash with one post, I’m going to stop here for now. However, I encourage you to send further questions to my Ask box! Make sure it isn’t anon, though, because I will be updating this post with your question/my answer and I would like to give credit!
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