Is a Book Title Important?

[James]

Harry Potter
Gone with the Wind
To Kill a Mockingbird
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf
The Great Gatsby
In Cold Blood
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
The Bluest Eye
Post Office
On the Road
From Here to Eternity
Oliver Twist
Fifty Shades of Grey
Little Women
Fear of Flying
The DaVinci Code
Catcher in the Rye
Slaughterhouse 5
Catch 22
The Hobbit
2001: A Space Odyssey
1984
Dune
A Tale of Two Cities
Black Beauty
The Scarlet Letter
The Bonfire of the Vanities

Anyone see a trend here? Action words? Short? Long? Clever? Describe what the book is about before reading it? I sure don't see a meaningful trend here. It seems that titles become popular after the book does, not the other way around (or after the movie comes out). I mean, anybody here going to stop in their tracks on first sight of most of these titles (if they weren't already famous)? Make the title something you like, something personal. As personal as your writing if that is the kind of writing you do.

[Dwayne]

James wrote: "Make the title something you like, something personal. As personal as your writing if that is the kind of writing you do. "

Sensible advice. This is really about all I do. I can't know what title is going to get the most attention and there is no real hard science to it, nor any magical formula, so I go with the title the appeals most to me out of the ideas I have.

Amusing aside: I do get complaints about my short story Austism, saying the title is misspelled. Heh. No, that's how I chose to spell it and there is a reason for it, so it stays.

As for the list of books, I've read many of those, mostly based on the reputation of the author or the book, but there are a few titles in there that would appeal to me, even if I knew nothing about the book. Still, just because they're interesting to one person does not make them interesting to all.

[James]

Dwayne wrote: "...but there are a few titles in there that would appeal to me, even if I knew nothing about the book. Still, just because they're interesting to one person does not make them interesting to all. "

I agree. Me too. A few of the titles appeal to me instantly, but most of them don't.

And I would point out that Fitzgerald hated the title The Great Gatsby. The editors forced it on him. And the book failed big time. It was out of print until the military issued it free to soldiers in WWII. Great literature. Bad title. Successful because of a massive giveaway. My point? All writing is at the mercy of effective promotion, not clever titles, not pretty covers. Focusing on getting the word out about your book is top priority. A catchy title and cute cover might help, but they won't make or break a book. Oh yeah, and the book has to have quality writing (for some audience) under whatever title and cover you slap on it.

[K.P.]

whew. now knowing that I'm no longer worried about catchy titles and flashy art. I'm sticking to my guns and will roll with what's meaningful to me. I had a similar discussion with my non reading book friends and they had similar conclusions as James & Dwayne.
it's all about the marketing... which I'm epically bad at and can't afford. ~T_T~ so here's to churning them out (since now my time is divided working for a video game company woot )

[Zippergirl]

In Cold Blood and The DaVinci Code would grab me for a second look.

If it were up to the titles above, I would have missed some of the best books I've ever read like Catch 22 and Slaughterhouse (ugh!) 5.

[Zippergirl]

So cover art with no title or a title with no cover art? Which would work harder to sell your book?

[James]

DJ Zippergirl wrote: "So cover art with no title or a title with no cover art? Which would work harder to sell your book?"

If I think about all the great books that have been around for awhile, the covers keep changing, but the titles stay the same. The title is the name, the identifier that everyone can use to discuss the book, share. It is certainly important for that reason alone. And more important than the cover. Word of mouth is difficult when you have a cover with no title. I am reminded of Prince here. When he dropped his name for a symbol, people had to refer to him as The artist formerly known as Prince. But even he had a title first.

[James]

K.P. wrote: "...it's all about the marketing... which I'm epically bad at and can't afford. ~T_T~ so here's to churning them out (since now my time is divided working for a video game company woot )"

Hang in there. Many of us are going through the same thing. What choice do we have?

[Justin]

I've read a lot of great responses on here so thank you to everyone who has chipped in with a comment and opinion. One of the reasons I brought this question up was because I've come across really engaging titles that sounds so cool I just can't help but look into the book. I've also come across titles that are so bland and unoriginal that I question as to whether or not the author put any thought into it.

If I may(answer the original but consider this as well), what do you think of titles that have been used for several books and don't have much originality?

[Alicia]

Justin wrote: " I've also come across titles that are so bland and unoriginal that I question as to whether or not the author put any thought into it. ..."

Don't blame the author unless he/she is indie. Traditional publishing and movie companies do whatever they like with the title, sometimes for good reasons (they have another book coming out with that title). Titles cannot be copyrighted; only possibly trademarked.

Margaret Mitchell's title was Tomorrow is Another Day. The work? Gone With the Wind.

[Mimi]

I think the statistic is about 90% of time the publisher changes the title /in traditional publishing of course/.
It does have a reason though. They have to come up with something they can sell.

For Indie, the title and the cover are equally important. You'll be the one selling them, you better believe in them...:-))

[Alicia]

Mimi wrote: "For Indie, the title and the cover are equally important. You'll be the one selling them, you better believe in them...:-))"

Which is why it is important to either become competent (if you have a bit of the graphics/design bug in you), or to realize you can't or don't want to and find someone and pay them for a cover.

Also remember that fonts can be your brand, fonts have licenses if you want to use most of the good ones (I've paid for mine), and certain fonts have nuances (don't use a Romance font on an SFF story, or use comic sans which has become a joke and immediately identifies the author/designer as a newbie).

Read the indie blogs on covers. Buy a few inexpensive ebooks on covers. This is doable if you put the work in.

And always look at LOTS of covers in your genre: this is one place where you don't want to plagiarize, but you really want 'different but the same,' because covers signal to readers what's inside - and whether you know what you're doing.

[Justin]

Alicia wrote: "Justin wrote: " I've also come across titles that are so bland and unoriginal that I question as to whether or not the author put any thought into it. ..."

Don't blame the author unless he/she is ..."

Good point. Of course if an author is traditionally published I'd trust if that if thepublisher were to change a title it's because the author came up with something bland and the company was helping not making a good title bad.

[Alicia]

Justin wrote: "the company was helping not making a good title bad..."

Not what I hear from many of the authors. They're baffled.

[Justin]

Well I did say I'd trust they'd be making it better meaning trying to help but I guess not always the case.

[T.A.]

A title should draw the reader in.

[Theresa]

Lyn wrote: "Theresa, when you read a work fresh after a long break I would expect a title might jump out at you."

Thanks Lyn. I am hoping that advice works when I get to that particular WIP. Luckily I have a few books in the series to get out before I have to read it again. :)