Do you start with one, or does it emerge organically from your writing process? How important is a title in shaping your project—or even selling it?
A good title is crucial. A good title is the first come-on. You might hear it before you see a cover, before you know the name of the author, even. I love coming up with titles, and I think long and hard about it. Once I land on a title I like, it’s almost like a green flag to get started writing the actual book. It’s rare I’ll start a book without at least a temporary title, and if I’m not sold on it the whole thing gets off to a shaky start.
I don’t mind wordy titles. I know there is probably some marketing data that links short, punchy and easy to remember titles to book sales, but I also tend to get over-simple generic titles confused once too many books use variations on a theme. Remember how many versions of “Girl” came in the wake of Gone Girl? It got so readers couldn’t tell one from the other. Maybe that was the point, to trick readers into thinking they were buying some best seller they keep hearing about. I’d rather not gain readers by fooling them, personally.
Not that a simple one-word title isn’t perfect for the right book. Titling my own work really comes down to a feel. When I hit on the right vibe, I know it.
They come from different places and inspirations. I’d heard the phrase “The Devil Doesn’t Want Me” spoken by a 90+ year old man on an NPR show while out walking my dog and I knew instantly that it was the perfect title for the book I was working on. My first title bit the dust right then and there.
Rumrunners seemed to fit my novel about a family of drivers for criminals who started back in the prohibition days. When I filled out that trilogy I kept things thematically and grammatically consistent with the second book, Leadfoot and the third Sideswipe.
Sitting here, looking at my bookshelf, there doesn't seem to be any hard and fast rules to titles. Some are self-explanatory: The Blonde, The Deputy, The Student. Some go for something more evocative: We Are All The Same In The Dark, The Guilt We Carry, The Devil In These Hills.
I’ve always been a fan of classic pulp titles with their lurid come-ons like: Kiss My Fist, Say It With Bullets, You’ll Get Yours. I think in those days a good pulpy title was certainly a selling point, for crime or any other genre. Titles back then told you immediately about the action in a western, the exotic worlds of a Sci-Fi novel or the tantalization in a Romance novel. Titles today may have gotten a little less overt.
In most of my novels, titles come early and stay. I haven’t had pushback from any publishers on titles, thankfully. I’ve even had some say they like my titles quite a lot. I’ve heard that from a good number of readers. I certainly do think a good title invites someone to pick up a book and learn more.
I know certain sub-genres of crime fiction that I don’t much care for, like political or military thrillers, and one can often tell if a book is in that category from the title. So it works both ways, as an invitation and a warning.
I know some titles are thrust on an author by a publishing house. I’ve heard of authors rolling over and I’ve heard of authors standing up for a title they believe in. But make no mistake, titles are part of writing. It’s the first words of a book than a reader is going to experience, so make them count. A title should never be an afterthought. It should be memorable, evoke the feeling of the book, and set the mood for the story to come.
While writing this I’ve been glancing back at my shelves and marveling again at some of my favorite titles. It’s rare that a good book I love will have a title I don’t care for. Not that it hasn’t happened, but I’m noticing it’s not very often.
I leave you with some of my favorites from my shelf which all happen to have full books as good as the titles.
Where All Light Tends To Go
The Second Life Of Nick Mason
The Wolf Wants In
Nothing More Dangerous
The Terror Of Living
All The Earth, Thrown To The Sky
Nothing Short Of Dying
Three Graves Full
Some Die Nameless
This Dark Road To Mercy
Whiskey When We’re Dry
Everybody Smokes In Hell
Last Call For The Living
Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned
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