Titling your novel is probably something you’ve either thought a ton about or hardly given a thought to. The truth is, it may be a bigger deal than you think. I mean, come on! That story you’ve spent months on, maybe years, can’t just have any old title! You worked hard to craft this masterpiece of a tale; it doesn’t deserve to be titled just anything.
So, where exactly do you come up with a good, original title? I’m currently querying The Sound of Snap Dragons, but it wasn’t always called that. The original title I had was Forget Me Not. Why did I change it? I did my research. I googled books with the title Forget Me Not, and I was astounded to see how many books there were already with that title. I mean, there were tens of self-published books with “Forget Me Not” as their titles. Honestly? I was a little disappointed. No, I was more than a little disappointed. I was completely bummed. I had clung to my title like a beacon in the night, like a kid and her favorite stuffed toy.
So, what’s my point here? Learn to let go of your first title if it’s not original or catchy enough. Sure, use it as a placeholder until you think of something that really bites, something that really catches the eyes of your readers. Ask yourself: If you were to come across your own book in a store (without knowing it’s your own!), would the title grab you enough to make you pick it up?
A good book title should be:
- Unique
- Memorable
- Insightful
Now, I don’t claim to be the be all and end all of experts when it comes to titling my work. Not by any means. Before I republished The Days Without You, it was called “Waiting for You”. Waiting for You was generic and just very…blah.
Now, how should you title your novel? Well, there are a lot of different considerations you can take into account:
- The book’s key theme
- Major characters (The Giver by Lois Lowry)
- Flow of the title
- Major events in the story (The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins)
- Major motivations
- Location or setting
You could also combine them, such as the Harry Potter books. But whatever you decide, have fun with it. Of course, make sure your book’s title doesn’t have any unwanted connotations to it. What I like to do is make a long list of possible titles, and that helps me come up with the right title. I sit down and have a brainstorming session. Whatever you do to come up with your title, make sure it’s intriguing!
How do you come up with the titles to your books?