This morning I was getting ready to post an excerpt from my work in progress to Scribd.com when I looked at it and, for the first time, thought: “Man, that’s a really lame title.”
The thing is, I wrote this book nearly two years ago and the title has always been the same: The Good Vampire.
It’s about a high school kid who gets a summer job for… you guessed it… a vampire. But it turns out his new boss is a “good” vampire, one who’s fighting this kind of Creature from the Black Lagoon style monster and, well, not to give too much away, I just always thought The Good Vampire worked.
Then I was looking through it today, and I was just like, “Meh, I can’t put this up with that title.”
So I started reading the first few chapters and it was all summertime and classifieds and help wanted ads and resumes and interviews and suddenly, it clicked: Summer Jobs Suck! It’s got what the book is really about, plus implies vampires with the “suck” in the title and, eureka; done deal.
PS: Here’s the cover I designed for it…
Now, you can debate whether or not that’s really a “better” title, but the exercise was a good one because it helped me dust off tired ideas and make them fresh; at least, for myself! And it started me thinking about titles that work versus working titles, aka ones that are just sort of “place holders,” and how to tell the difference:
Step 1: Read it Again
Go (back) to the source material.
Read the first few chapters.
Read your query.
Read your blurb.
Read your synopsis.
See if the title you’ve chosen really reflects the book you’ve written. In my case, it did; and it didn’t. Even if you’ve always “loved” your title, like I did; read the piece over again and see if something else doesn’t pop up.
If you have to, set it aside and read it later. I’m not saying shove it in a drawer for two years like I did, but… let it sit over a weekend and then come back to it fresh and see what you think. You never know; a new title might be staring you dead in the face, smack dab in the middle of page 41!
Step 2: Road Test It
Ask your friends.
Say it out loud.
Post several versions on your blog or Facebook page and let fans vote.
Write it down somewhere other than your title page.
Design a book cover!
Do something, anything, to take it to the street and test it out before you decide it’s the right one for you. Writing often happens in a vacuum; titling is part of writing. But it can be really helpful to step outside of your office and just do a quick poll of one, two or three titles side-by-side and see which works the best.
I can tell you that last month I uploaded two excerpts at about the same time. One was called Soil City; the other was called Panty Raid @ Zombie High. So far, “Panty Raid” has twice as many reads as the other title.
Now, I’m not saying to put “panty” or “thong” or “bra” or “jock strap” in EVERY title, but we all know certain words are certainly going to get a second glance. Take your title to the masses and see which one they like most. It’s okay to get a vote by popular opinion!
Step 3: Cool It On the Keywords
Too often, we get so caught up in filling our titles with keywords or source clues or cleverness or snark that we lose sight of the book we’ve written. For two years, I kept The Good Vampire because, duh, it had “vampire” in it. I knew if kids were looking for a vampire book, eventually, they’d come across it in a keyword search.
But… is that enough to base a title on? Sure, if keywords are all that matter to you, but you have to remember: kids don’t pick a YA book just because it has vampire or werewolf or zombie in the title. Okay, it might get their foot in the door, but that’s about it. They’re still going to dig on the cover, read the blurb, see what other kids think, check out the four- and (hopefully) five-star reviews, whatever, before they actually pick YOUR book, title or no title.
There are a million reasons why a kid buys a book, but probably only one or two reasons why you chose a particular title. So lay off the keywords and trust your inspiration to come up with a title that not only reflects what’s actually inside the book you wrote, but that will also appeal to your target audience.
So, that’s a process that worked for me.
Will it work for you? I don’t know, but it couldn’t hurt!
Yours in YA,
Rusty
The thing is, I wrote this book nearly two years ago and the title has always been the same: The Good Vampire.
It’s about a high school kid who gets a summer job for… you guessed it… a vampire. But it turns out his new boss is a “good” vampire, one who’s fighting this kind of Creature from the Black Lagoon style monster and, well, not to give too much away, I just always thought The Good Vampire worked.
Then I was looking through it today, and I was just like, “Meh, I can’t put this up with that title.”
So I started reading the first few chapters and it was all summertime and classifieds and help wanted ads and resumes and interviews and suddenly, it clicked: Summer Jobs Suck! It’s got what the book is really about, plus implies vampires with the “suck” in the title and, eureka; done deal.
PS: Here’s the cover I designed for it…
Now, you can debate whether or not that’s really a “better” title, but the exercise was a good one because it helped me dust off tired ideas and make them fresh; at least, for myself! And it started me thinking about titles that work versus working titles, aka ones that are just sort of “place holders,” and how to tell the difference:
Step 1: Read it Again
Go (back) to the source material.
Read the first few chapters.
Read your query.
Read your blurb.
Read your synopsis.
See if the title you’ve chosen really reflects the book you’ve written. In my case, it did; and it didn’t. Even if you’ve always “loved” your title, like I did; read the piece over again and see if something else doesn’t pop up.
If you have to, set it aside and read it later. I’m not saying shove it in a drawer for two years like I did, but… let it sit over a weekend and then come back to it fresh and see what you think. You never know; a new title might be staring you dead in the face, smack dab in the middle of page 41!
Step 2: Road Test It
Ask your friends.
Say it out loud.
Post several versions on your blog or Facebook page and let fans vote.
Write it down somewhere other than your title page.
Design a book cover!
Do something, anything, to take it to the street and test it out before you decide it’s the right one for you. Writing often happens in a vacuum; titling is part of writing. But it can be really helpful to step outside of your office and just do a quick poll of one, two or three titles side-by-side and see which works the best.
I can tell you that last month I uploaded two excerpts at about the same time. One was called Soil City; the other was called Panty Raid @ Zombie High. So far, “Panty Raid” has twice as many reads as the other title.
Now, I’m not saying to put “panty” or “thong” or “bra” or “jock strap” in EVERY title, but we all know certain words are certainly going to get a second glance. Take your title to the masses and see which one they like most. It’s okay to get a vote by popular opinion!
Step 3: Cool It On the Keywords
Too often, we get so caught up in filling our titles with keywords or source clues or cleverness or snark that we lose sight of the book we’ve written. For two years, I kept The Good Vampire because, duh, it had “vampire” in it. I knew if kids were looking for a vampire book, eventually, they’d come across it in a keyword search.
But… is that enough to base a title on? Sure, if keywords are all that matter to you, but you have to remember: kids don’t pick a YA book just because it has vampire or werewolf or zombie in the title. Okay, it might get their foot in the door, but that’s about it. They’re still going to dig on the cover, read the blurb, see what other kids think, check out the four- and (hopefully) five-star reviews, whatever, before they actually pick YOUR book, title or no title.
There are a million reasons why a kid buys a book, but probably only one or two reasons why you chose a particular title. So lay off the keywords and trust your inspiration to come up with a title that not only reflects what’s actually inside the book you wrote, but that will also appeal to your target audience.
So, that’s a process that worked for me.
Will it work for you? I don’t know, but it couldn’t hurt!
Yours in YA,
Rusty
Terrific post! I have the hardest time with titles. I think the thing that helps me most is emailing with one of my friends - we talk about our writing a lot, so I type my titles over and over. I've found that if I can write it fifty times and it still doesn't sound too lame, it's a keeper!
ReplyDeleteWow, that's a great idea; that should be # 4 on my list; thanks for sharing it!!!
ReplyDeleteGreat new title. Waaay better. Titles are tough. I usually run through 10 or more. My original title for "Never Slow Dance With A Zombie" was "Getting By At Zombie High."
ReplyDeleteBTW, I saw your banner ad on PW online this morning. Very cool, bro. Congrats!
-E
Thanks, E! A lot of times the title comes to me from a line one of my characters says in the book; it'll pop out while I'm doing the umpteenth re-read so, yeah, 10-12 various titles sounds about right.
ReplyDeleteThat's funny about "Getting by at Zombie High." A.) because it's hard to picture the book with the current cover and not see "Never Slow Dance..." B.) 'Cause my latest WIP is Panty Raid @ Zombie High.
Lastly, thanks for the compliments about PW online; haven't seen that yet, but now am excited to check it out. Thanks, too, for stopping by; your feedback/input is always spot on! Can't wait to read what you've got coming up next....
Russ