This week: Now ...What Do I Call It? Edited by: Fyn  
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Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read. ~~Groucho Marx
You can't get a cup of tea big enough or a book long enough to suit me. ~~C. S. Lewis
When you are old and gray and full of sleep, and nodding by the fire, take down this book and slowly read, and dream of the soft look your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep. ~~William Butler Yeats
You can never step into the same book twice, because you are different each time you read it. ~~John Barton
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Been in the midst of several conversations of late about name/changing the title of their book. There is SO much that goes into naming the thing they've been working on, bleeding over, stressing about for what seems like forever. One tends to come up with a shorthand version of the title over time and then when they start saying the entire title, now it doesn't 'sound quite right' to them.
Now comes the overthinking, the rethinking, the changing, the 'trying on,' and getting opinions. It's a big deal.
Is there a central thought you want brought out in the title? A character or perhaps a place? How do you make it intriguing? It helps if it is easy for people to remember. The book title is extremely important. An excellent title may not mean the book goes over the top, but a bad name can really hurt its chance of doing well.
A good title may be evocative, controversial, enticing. Attention Grabbing. You want folks to wonder what it's about before they even see a cover or read a synopses. You want it memorable. They might be interested, but if they can't remember it should they search for it... well ... not good.
Along with memorable, you want the title to be easy to say and pronounce. You don't want people to feel awkward or silly saying the title. The more uncomfortable a person might be saying your title, then the chances of their telling their friends drops. Word of mouth is very important.
Brainstorm your cover. Start a list of every conceivable potential title. Keep in mind your target audience. In the case of children's books, keep in mind both the actual audience and your buying audience--teachers, parents and grandparents. Don't be afraid to think in either metaphors or alliteration. Do you have cover art already? How well do any of the titles fit in with it? The other side of that coin is does one particular title let you envision what you want it to look like? Think about word variations and don't be afraid of pulling up a thesaurus. Taking care with multiple meanings of words can make sure you give the impression you want to give. Naming a book 'Cleaving Your Spouse' could mean being faithful to them or ... chopping them up!
Write all the titles down...even ones that may seem silly or boring or too long. Let them simmer for a day or so, kind of like how beef stew is better two days out! Then go back and winnow it down to the ones you and whomever else you've asked who knows your book like the best. Talk about the whys and the why nots!
Check your top several titles. Are there umteen other books called that? You don't want that title. Titles cannot be copyrighted, but original will usually be better. You do have to be careful that what you use is not part of branded material. Overall, you want your book to stand out in a search.
When you have your shortened list, play with it. Play with the wording some more. Sure, you might have asked your beta readers for their thoughts. However. Friends and family may say one is great trying to make you happy. If they can't answer a cohesive 'why this one or that one' that is not a positive. Tossing it out to Facebook is probably going to be an exercise in frustration. It's like someone reading something and saying, "it's good. I liked it." but NOT being able to fully express the "why" behind it.
Ultimately, it will come down to your gut feeling about how it presents your book and how YOU feel about it.
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DRSmith  writes: Great newsie on wordsmithing, there Fyn. I read it twice, thrice, and almost forthwith, but the dang phone rang. But afterwords, I got to thinking about two words that always gives me trouble... BURRO and BURROW. Wife says its because I don't know my ass from a hole in the ground. (but what does she know; she's English where they curry favor and curry flavor at the same time.)
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For Authors: March 27, 2024 Issue [#12481]
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