Jul 22 2010
Is your title too generic?
Does your title help readers answer at least three of the following questions about your novel? If not, it probably doesn’t say enough about the work.
- What’s the genre? (Action, comedy, sci-fi, fantasy, mystery, romance, horror, etc).
- What’s the subgenre? (Are we talking about an action with… Superheroes? Military/espionage? A natural disaster? Adventurers? Vampires/supernatural creatures? Mythological figures? etc).
- What’s the inciting event? (What event throws the main character out of his status quo/comfort zone?)
- What’s the main character like? (Anything that makes him more interesting to prospective readers or suggests his role–please note that using the character’s name in the title does not necessarily accomplish either)
- What’s the main antagonist like? (Same as for the protagonist)
- What’s the setting like? (Time and/or place)
- What’s the central goal of the main character and/or what’s at stake if he loses?
- What’s the author’s style like?
- Is there an interesting contrast between elements of the title?
If the title doesn’t nail at least three of these, I’d recommend rewriting it and/or starting over. Here are some examples that I enjoyed.
Captain Freedom: A Superhero’s Quest for Truth, Justice, and the Celebrity He So Richly Deserves
- Main character: a highly self-entitled, egomaniacal superhero, maybe a parody of Superman
- Goal: celebrity and recognition
- Contrast: The idealistic, lofty name “Captain Freedom” vs. his preposterously petty goal.
- Author style: I’d totally pick this up, assuming I could survive the cover.
Saddam Hussein and the Hippies from Space
- Main character and antagonist: Either Saddam Hussein and the space hippies or vice versa
- Genre: science fiction/comedy
- Author’s style: Wow. I love the contrast, too.
Autobiographies from Death Row
- Genre and subgenre: autobiography -> true crime
- Main character & setting: Readers can infer most of the stories feature violent felons in prison and/or crime-ridden areas
- Interesting contrast: Death Row inmates as authors. Also, Death Row inmates writing in a genre that emphasizes introspection.
- Genre/subgenre: comedy -> superhero
- Main protagonist: a struggling supervillain seeking power
- Author’s style: I liked this character voice.
- Contrast: It sounds like the character wants vastly more for himself than he actually has or will ever achieve.
The Taxman Must Die (the comic book I’m writing)
- Genre: action/comedy
- Main character: a tax-collector running for his life
- Author’s style: I hope that readers can tell it’s got a wacky style.
- Contrast: Taxmen are about as unsuited for violence and assassination attempts as it gets.
I too would read the Captain Freedom one, but that is easily one of the worst covers I’ve ever seen. If I was randomly seeing that in a bookstore, regardless of the title, I’d probably pass on it.
…Wait, I think I accidentally named one of the members of the Six Captain Freedom. I’d better go fix that.
- Wings
The author told me that it was an “uncorrected draft” but apparently they never got around to correcting it. (Or, if they have, they haven’t gotten around to replacing it on Amazon or B&N).
Robillard strikes me as pretty talented, so it’s especially disappointing that Harper-Collins completely screwed him with the cover. (Who signed off on the art? WTF is up with the lettering/balloons? How do you get a typo on a cover!?)
…
Even the best publishers are not infallible. When there is a vast artistic problem like this, I would personally try to fix the situation by paying my freelance letterer a few hundred dollars for a re-lettering job of the “OHMYGODINEEDTHISRIGHTNOW” priority. The worst-case scenario is that the publisher will fix the problems on its own and I’ve wasted a few hundred dollars. But if the publisher ISN’T fixing the cover, as appears to have been the case here, then having a fixed version available for the publisher’s consideration may well save the cover. Or at least the lettering.
The art is a bit trickier because the main problem here was that the concept was poor rather than that there was an indisputable error. I could commission my freelancer to try a new, better concept, but even a receptive agent would have more trouble convincing everyone involved that the new concept is so much better that it would be best to switch immediately.
In contrast, the lettering would probably have been an easy switch.
1. The typo is indisputable.
2. The publisher is apparently not willing to put in the time/resources to fix the problem on its own, but paying my freelancer to do their work avoids that problem.
3. If there is a stylistic dispute about the new bubbles, I can say something polite like “I have the highest respect for your artist, who has a history of doing kickass novel covers, but he/she is not yet quite as experienced with comic book bubbles. So I would like you to consider this version by a letterer that specializes in comic books.”
You may be right. It’s been more than 5 years, so my memory is hazy.
PS: Wings, have you thought about Captain Liberty or Major Freedom?
I think that I chanced his name to General Freedom in the new draft on my review forum…Although I like the sound of Captain Liberty.
- Wings
I’m not sure if my title is too generic: I’ve read other pages on this site regarding titles and am unsure if mine works or not. The story is entitled “Samsara” which comes from a Sanskrit word that can mean “the world” or “to flow on.” Both translations have high relevance to the story, but, considering that if I attempt to write this, it’s most likely going to be written for an American audience, and the fact that Hinduism doesn’t take precedence over any other religion in the story, I’m wondering if this may be a minor case of false-advertising. Any suggestions?
Unless your prospective readers know what Samsara means, I suspect that you could come up with a more effective title. I don’t think it says enough about the story, particularly if the reader doesn’t know what Samsara means. (Even after you’ve told me what it means, I still can’t guess what the story is about).
I’m not terribly worried about the potential of false advertising, though, as long as a world religion (or several world religions) plays a major role. If that’s a concern, maybe one possibility would be translating it to English (maybe “The World Flows On”) and avoid the religious connotations in the title? (It’s still not very clear what “The World Flows On” is about but I think it’s a bit clearer).
I see. Thank you.
I think I like the sound of “The World Flows On.” It seems to fit the style that I’m going for, and I also agree on your point that it would be accessible to a wider audience.