Names, as I have commented before, are extremely important to writers.  Names of characters are keys to their characters.  Even more so are the names or titles of our books.

Many authors find it easier to create 75, 80, or 100k word works than to come up with the 1 to 6 words necessary for a great title.  And for our books to sell, yes indeed, that title has to be great.  Research shows that unless you are a “name” author, the title (and cover art) are what grab the reader, pull them to the bookshelf in Walmart, or Barnes & Noble, make them take the book off the shelf and read the blurb on the back.  If you’re really lucky, they’ll take a peek inside.

So the naming of books, as T.S. Elliot says of the naming of cats, is a difficult matter.  Some writers agonize over the decision and still are not satisfied with the result.  I have had various experiences with my own attempts at titling.

My current WIP started out as “The Marquess Makes a Mistake.”  I suppose it has something going for it in that it has alliteration and it certainly gives you the basic conflict in the book–the Marquess makes a mistake and has to work to overcome the problems that ensue from that mistake.  But even my 14 yr old said, “I think you can do better.”

So I spent an entire afternoon brainstorming title ideas.  I wanted to give an idea of what the book (a Historical Romance) was about, so I was throwing out things like “The Marquess Must Marry,” and felt I was really close with “To Marry a Marquess,” but they didn’t give a hint of the underlying scandal that threatened throughout the novel.  Plus I wanted one of those titles that could be used for a series, like Mary Balogh’s Simply and Slightly series.

I went back to “The Marquess Makes a Mistake.”  And thought the second book could be called “The Marchioness Makes a Marriage.”  That would work, kind of.  But the plot of the third one didn’t work.  I was stuck. 

So I went back to the idea of the scandal that threatens the H/H during the book.  It took scandal to bring them together.  And an idea popped.  Only Scandal Will Do.  That felt right.  Not too long, gives a hint of what’s going on in the book, the word scandal should be eye-catching.  It worked alone, and it would work with the other books.  I loved it.

Unfortunately, I may have to give it up.  According to Judi McCoy, author of fourteen romance novels and currently writer of the DogWalker Mystery series, editors/publishers quite often insist on changing the name of your novel.  Bummer.  All that work for nothing!

Not exactly.  By making the title the absolute best it can be, it will hopefully catch the eye of the agent or editor.  And that’s a big step toward getting the work noticed. 

Keep working, brainstorming, trying different ideas and combinations.  Persistence works.  It just takes one spark to create the perfect title that will speak to straight to the heart of the reader.  We writers have that spark within us.  Light it up, ladies.

These links lead to great articles regarding the creation of titles in general:

http://www.writing-world.com/fiction/titles.shtml

and of romance novels in particular:

http://www.writing-world.com/romance/title.shtml

Have you had problems creating the perfect title for your novel?  Please share a comment.