Guest Blog by Karen
Lenfestey,
Author of A Sister’s Promise and
What Happiness Looks Like.
“What’s the title of your novel?” the writing instructor
asked. Proud of mine, I volunteered, “Small Town Colors.” I thought it was
brilliant because my story included diverse cultures in a small, Midwestern
town. On the cover I pictured trees in the midst of their autumnal color
change. So clever, I thought. The instructor emitted some sort of disapproving,
unimpressed grunt. Then called on her next victim.
I went home and asked myself, “What is my book really about?” I made a list of words that
described my novel: marriage, sisters, motherhood, childlessness, guilt,
jealousy, promises, lupus, and secrets. As it turned out, diverse cultures had
little to do with the story I’d actually written.
Who is my audience? Women
who read for fun, women who are considering motherhood or are mothers, women
who want to read about relationships and marriage.
What words speak to
that audience? Along with the artwork on the cover, titles signal to the
reader if a book is in their preferred genre. The word “sister” immediately
designates my book as geared toward women. So many of us either have sisters or
wish we had sisters. Ultimately, my story is about a sister’s promise and a
wife’s promise. My protagonist, Kate, must break one. I decided on the title A Sister’s Promise.
I have to admit, people have mixed reactions to the title of
my second novel, What Happiness Looks
Like. It’s about how our lives don’t always turn out the way we envisioned.
I heard a woman in a movie accused of being miserable say, “This is what
happiness looks like.” I immediately thought it sounded like the title of a
novel.
How many other books
have that same title? Often when I think I’ve created the ultimate book
title, I discover it’s not so original after all. For example, I thought
“Forgotten Dreams” would be a great title. Well, so did a lot of other writers.
Go to amazon.com and do a search for your book title. If several books already
have that title, I suggest you alter it. You want your title to come up first
when someone searches for it.
Is my title too long
and complicated? When I tell friends and fans about my book, I don’t want
them to say “Spell that for me” like they do when I tell them my last name is
Lenfestey. I want my title to be memorable but simple. I pulled up the titles
of the New York Times bestselling hard covers for one week in February 2012.
Most of them are fairly short and sweet. Maybe we can learn something from
them: Home Front, Private #1 Suspect, Taken, Defending Jacob, and Death comes to Pemberly. Now look at
the books on your shelf or on your e-reader. Study the titles and think about
which ones you picked up on your own without a recommendation. Ask yourself
what word(s) in the title intrigued you.
What if I can’t
decide? Come up with a few possible titles and poll people through
FaceBook, Twitter or your website. Ask those in your critique group or anyone
familiar with your work. Everyone has an opinion and we love to be asked!
Basically, if your title works, readers will pick up your
book rather than emitting some sort of disapproving, unimpressed grunt like my
writing instructor did. (Although her lack of enthusiasm is what pushed me to
work harder, so I’m thankful for that). Now that you’ve had my crash course in
titles, see if you can match the book title from some of my favorite authors to
its genre below:
Name that Book Quiz:
The Detroit Electric
Scheme--by D.E. Johnson non-fiction
Pink Champagne--by
Nicole Green urban
fantasy
Declutter Your Diet--by
Tanya Isch Caylor thriller
Prophecy Denied--by
ML Rigdon historical
fiction
Wolf’s Bane--by
Judy Post romance
The Perfect Crime--by
Les Edgerton fantasy
A Fatal Waltz--by
Tasha Alexander mystery
Visit www.karensnovels.com
to check your answers or to read excerpts of A Sister’s Promise or What
Happiness Looks Like. Karen Lenfestey, a Midwest Writer’s Fellowship
winner, writes women’s fiction with characters you care about. Her books are
available as e-books and in paperback at amazon.com.
1 comment:
Thanks for the post! I see a lot of WIPs with blah titles and I never know if I should say anything, but I usually do. :)
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