Comments on: Ten Words That Will Ruin Your Title

By: Thomas

Thomas — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 23:47:50 +0000

Regarding number FOUR on the list…

What about “Uhura’s Song”? That title got my attention. Enough to purchase the book, and even today I think it is one of the better Star Trek novels…

By: David

David — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 12:58:57 +0000

How about “Otherworld” or “Cara the Banshee princess”? Or something else? I’m struggling with a decent title.

By: Marissa

Marissa — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 07:07:54 +0000

There are always exceptions, Paul. B. Mac is referring to in general.

By: B. Mac

B. Mac — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 06:53:15 +0000

Thanks for your comment, Paul.

Rebecca and Jane Eyre were originally published in 1938 and 1847… I think they faced a very different publishing market. For that reason, I’m not sure how applicable they are to modern authors looking to get published for the first time.

Mother Night (Vonnegut), Green Mile (Stephen King), and Strangers in a Strange Land (Heinlein) were all written by well-established authors. Strangers in a Strange Land came two years after Heinlein made it big with Starship Troopers and Mother Night came a year after Cat’s Cradle. In general, I think that the titles matter less for superstar authors because readers are more likely to start reading their books even if they have a poor title. (For example, Michael Crichton got away with Prey, Sphere and Next).

Green Mile came twenty years after Stephen King hit the big time with a book called Carrie, of all things. Incidentally, Stephen King received an advance of $2500 on Carrie. According to Wikipedia, the Source of All Knowledge, that was “not large for a novel, even at that time… but the paperback rights eventually earned $400,000, with half going to the publisher.” The conclusion I would draw from that is that publishers are more likely to move aggressively (and will pay more) to acquire books that have a kickass title.

Red Dragon is another interesting case. It was published in 1981, six years after Bloody Sunday was published and four years after it was made into a movie. So he was probably pretty successful at the time Red Dragon came out. RD still sold meekly. According to Wikipedia, “It was originally published in 1981, but found a new audience in the early 1990s after the success of its sequel, The Silence of the Lambs.”

So, to make a long story short, I think it’s very difficult for an author to break out with– or even get published with– a boring title.

Yours,

BM

PS: Timequake sounds so bad it’s awesome, like a deliberately cheesy B-movie. I think using time as part of a compound word feels more effective there than it did in Timeline, which just sounds bland.

By: Paul

Paul — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 06:27:17 +0000

What about “Mother Night”, “Heart of Darkness”, “Rebecca”, “Jane Eyre”, “The Green Mile”, “Red Dragon”, “Stranger in a Strange Land” and “Timequake”? They violate these rules but were still very successful.

By: David

David — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 08:36:46 +0000

i still need to work on there personaitys a bit

By: Ragged Boy

Ragged Boy — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 01:24:46 +0000

I’ve read and commented your story overview Psycho Child, looking in Story Arcs.

By: David

David — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 01:05:44 +0000

well as for the Chraters
Caras Goal will be to search and save her parents
her personel gorth wil be from a childish person intorarnent of other speiesh “naimely Angels” to a matrue confadinet indepente Tornarent woman

Michielle being the daugter of an Angel and human and not the creaction of god she needs to rise to be accepted in heaven and her goal is to make sure the books safe

due to her need to prove her self it could make her Zelies or Recless what you think?

By: Psycho Child

Psycho Child — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 00:59:22 +0000

Ragged Boy, could you read my storyline under Five Story Arcs?

By: Ragged Boy

Ragged Boy — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 00:57:17 +0000

That sounds good so far. What would you like to work on next?

By: David

David — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 00:51:24 +0000

I kind of had it like this.

It starts off with Cara’s 106th birthday, so we can learn a little about her Ra and her guardian the Valkyrie. But the celebration is stopped short with an attack from an evil overlord from another land. The overlord manages to surprise them because of the celebration.

The King uses a transportation spell to send Cara with Ra and her Guardian to the other side of the otherworld. After figuring out what happened, Cara stubbornly refuses to just run away and wants to save her parents. Because none of them know any magic, and Cara cannot yet understand the book, they set off by foot on their travels. Michelle arrives and says she’s been sent to help keep the book safe because the overlord will threaten everything if he gets his hands on the book. After a few heated words between Banshee and Angel, she joins the party. Soon they arrive at another town where Cara gets a change of clothes. Anyway, they continue traveling and find the castle in ruins. Searching the castle, they find their parents and fight to rescue them.

As for the theme, I’m thinking dramatic with some laughs mixed in.

By: Ragged Boy

Ragged Boy — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 23:58:57 +0000

So far the story is pretty vague. Let's start with general ideas.
What the mood of the story?
What is your target age group?
What do you have planned so far?
Neither of the sides seem very evil, so it may be slightly difficult to make one side bad. I think this may be especially difficult if the main villains are the Angels.
What exactly are the roles of Cara and Michelle in the story? Are they both main characters? Are they friends? Are they rivals?
If the main villains aren't the Angels, I think the story would go something like this:
The Angels and Banshees are at war because the Banshee Book of Ultimate Magic is lost. The Banshees think the Angels took it and the Angels are sore about the accusation. What they don't know is that a third party has the book. The main villain wants to unlock the powerful arcane magic of the book, but needs a Banshee to read it.
Cara and Michelle are friends between warring nations. They stumble upon some clue that leads them to a dark, foreign land, the home of the main villain. Cara, Michelle, and Ra venture into the land, finding new odd and strange creatures while unraveling some evil plot. They are stopped by your Valkyrie character who warns them of the danger ahead. They trio is stubborn and refuses to give up, so the Valkyrie fights them or joins them (your choice) and they go off to stop the bad guy, retrieve the book and end the war. But by doing so they are helping the villain by basically sending him the Banshee he needed.
What do you think?

By: David

David — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 23:11:50 +0000

i need help with my new book about the young Banshee and her group keeping the magic book out of danger and saveing a kindome

so far all i got is Book quest and its rubbish i know any sujjestions?

By: Marissa

Marissa — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 21:34:19 +0000

Jade Elizabeth,

You make a very good point, but I’d like to point out that Eragon does all kinds of stuff wrong, but still managed to gather a massive fanbase, so it’s common consensus that Eragon is the exception rather than the rule.

By: Jade Elizabeth

Jade Elizabeth — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 21:03:39 +0000

I agree for the most part! I don’t think I’d pick up a book with “song” in the title, that’s definitely a turn off….I’m here for a story, not a song. And I wouldn’t pick it up if it had “story”….maybe “tale”.. I mean look at “Tale of two cities” which is so famous, we’re still forced to read it [in school] today!

However, I disagree with 9 and 10. I think sometimes these names can make the book more appealing – especially with sci-fi or fantasy type books. Also, unknown words that are from a fictional or real language, are pretty cool too. Check out “Eragon”, which has some of such titles in it…and is (or was?) a hit.

9 and 10, IF creative, can make a hit of a book for the simple reason that they get the reader curious – they pick the book up and read the blurb – if it sounds good they buy it! I mean if it was called “Matthew” or “Claire” I wouldn’t give it a second glance, but if it were something creative (without sounding too foreign) I’d pick it up and flip it over!

Just my two cents!