If you’ve read my blog post “What’s in a Name” you realize naming your characters can be a matter of some importance. Yet, with all that, there is a name you have to consider which makes the importance of character names pale in comparison. This name is for your book.
I tell you this from experience because I made what could be called a rookie mistake with my very first book, and it was a bit of a doozie. The title for my first children’s book is “Boys Will Be Boys” and if you do a search for just the title, I think you’ll see why it was such a big mistake. I didn’t do a search using my preferred title to find out if there were any similar book titles. As you can see from your search results, some of the web pages and books themselves that a potential reader would see are, well … ahem … not for children.
This case of similar title has also been a bit of a problem for my upcoming fantasy novel series. First, I wanted to use the term “Holders.” Then, I found out that another author had called a group of his characters Holders, as well. There were also a few books whose titles used the term. Because of that, I toyed with a title involving the term Weavers, plus the name of the fantasy world I had created. It was only a few months before a writer friend spotted a new book where the title was exactly the same, except with a different name for the fantasy world.
The term “weavers” might bring up results for non-fiction, which could be good because people who are interested in weaving might find my books and decide to give the series a try. Then again, they might not be interested in fantasy at all, and that will cause my books to be found by people who won’t care to read them. It’s a bit of a gamble either way.
Here is how I reworked the name of my books. No, I’m not giving away the titles just yet. I have heard that it is good to have each of the book titles in a book series to have a common theme. Looking around at book series does give me this indication. You can see this in Terry Brooks’ Shannara series, each title ends with the words “of Shannara”. Patricia C. Wrede’s Enchanted Forest Chronicles does something similar but with a single word, “dragons,” and what interaction can take place with those dragons: Dealing with, Searching for, Calling on, and Talking to. If one pays attention to the sound of the titles in the Divergent series, one will notice that even though the words are different, all the titles use single words with similar endings and with the same number of syllables: Divergent, Insurgent, and Allegiant. These techniques hold them all together as a unit through the visual of the cover and the sound of the spoken word.
With these concepts in mind, some of my family and friends brainstormed with me. See my post on “Mentors, Family, and Friends”. Together we wound up with a group of four titles that all fit into a series title, and flow with each other under a common theme, which is the underlying symbolism of the series. I can use all four if I end up with four books, or I can use the best three if I only end up with a trilogy.
Assuming that no title problem comes up before I publish the first book, I am very pleased with the titles. I might even decide to keep the titles as they are even if something is found, so long as it isn’t a huge problem.
Returning to the concept of my children’s book “Boys Will Be Boys,” I’m not sure if I would want to change the title at this point, because, even though there are potential problems that might even drive people away because they get the wrong idea from other books with similar titles, a great deal of thought did go into the title I have. You see, I wanted to take the familiar term “boys will be boys” which is often used to excuse bad behavior, even to the point of bullying, and turn it around. As the title of my children’s book, it signifies the fact that boys don’t have to fit the generally accepted stereotypes. In fact, the title now becomes a call against bullying due to failing to match the stereotypes. I would be hard-pressed to find a title that better fits my story.
Since this post actually has several sub-points, let me summarize before I sign off. 1. Do your research. You don’t want to pick a title and find that there are problems with it that you didn’t foresee, such as many other books with the same title or, even worse, books with the same or a similar title that confuse readers who might be interested in your book. 2. Consider finding ways to link the titles of books in a series together, whether that be by using repeated a word/s, or by using the same number of words with similar sounds. Make them sound good together. 3. Own your title. Make it yours. Even if it isn’t ideal in one way, it might be almost perfect in another. It depends on you and your audience, not just one or the other.
Last, but certainly not least, please remember: there is good stress and bad stress. Keep an eye on which you are feeling and don’t let it turn sour. Writing a book and sending it out into the world should be a delight, even if it is a great deal of work. It should be rewarding. Make sure that, as you write and plan, you are keeping in mind to enjoy the wonder.
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