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2. Protecting Anna Kelsington
3. Saving Anna
4. Saving Anna Kelsington
1-4: Just my personal taste, but I've never been fond of titles that begin with "ing" verbs. And even though I have a few short stories out that use a character name in the title, I'm not a fan of it.
5. The Way of Burning Roses <-- Somewhat intriguing.
6. Way of Burning Roses <-- Same as it ever was.
7. The Way the Roses Burn
8. A Land of Burning Roses
7-8: The second feels much stronger to me, but both give me a nice mental image and make me want to see what this book is about. I'm guessing, by now, a gardener with a tendency toward pyromania.
10. The Girl with the Green Ribbon <-- A lot of titles of popular books these days seem to start with "A Girl" or "The Girl". Could work for you or against you - not sure.
13. And a Ribbon Sailed in the Wind <-- Nice image.
15. What Happened to the Birds? <-- The tasty, tasty birds.
In the end, I like 8 and 13 best.
Dwayne wrote: "1. Protecting Anna2. Protecting Anna Kelsington
3. Saving Anna
4. Saving Anna Kelsington
1-4: Just my personal taste, but I've never been fond of titles that begin with "ing" verbs. And even thou..."
Dwayne:
Wow! Thanks for all the help -- really informative! I like knowing the reasons why you liked or disliked titles, so thanks for that too!
Anyway, I've tallied your votes on my phone and they will go into me making my final decision in time to come.
I personally don't like titles with names in them so 1-4 and 12 don't interest me. I have little to no idea what you want to convey, but these are the general impressions of my favorite titles:
5. The Way of Burning Roses/8. A Land of Burning Roses -Both titles sound like fantasy.
13. And a Ribbon Sailed in the Wind - I am lowkey looking at this title and becoming depressed. This book would be for an intense book about self-discovery and loss.
14. And I Watched Her Cry- For some unexplainable reason, this makes me really curious. Why is she crying? Why aren't they doing anything to help her? Are they the reason why she is crying?? (This feels like another story about self-discovery.)
15. What happened to the birds? - I feel like this book would be quirky and random.
Once again I don't know what you are going for. I would probably look into all of the titles (if I were in the mood for that type of book) I hope this was helpful!
Tony wrote: "I think it is not just the title that catches one's attention but the cover or design is likewise crucial. I think asking one to choose from the titles you have provided might not be the way to go ..."Tony:
You are most certainly not wrong!
I always judge a book by its cover, despite what the phrase suggests. I think I already have a design in mind for my book's cover, but I want to make sure it goes hand in hand with the title I end up with.
I was thinking if I told everybody, "Hey! Buy my book! It's called . . . ", I would need something interesting to grab their attention immediately.
However, thanks for the advice, I'll add tallies to my rose titles and I'll definitely make sure to have a captivating cover.
I absolutely hate titles with the character’s name or a location in them. I think it’s lazy every time. So I agree with the position others have had. That being said, I like your working title. The two that made me do a double take were:The Way the Roses Burn
(And) I Watched Her Cry
Astrid wrote: "I personally don't like titles with names in them so 1-4 and 12 don't interest me. I have little to no idea what you want to convey, but these are the general impressions of my favorite titles:
5..."
Astrid:
This was helpful.
I'm sorry I wasn't able to explain the story better, but I wanted to eliminate as many factors as I could to see how the titles themselves affected everyone.
But either the titles were very appropriate to my book, are you're just really good a dissecting them. This book does contain some elements of self-discovery and loss, although maybe not in the ways one would think. (vagueness. . . ) And it does fall under the fantasy genre so great job on that too!
Anyway, thanks for your excellent advice, I've tallied up your votes and will use them to determine a winner when the time comes.
Phillip wrote: "I absolutely hate titles with the character’s name or a location in them. I think it’s lazy every time. So I agree with the position others have had. That being said, I like your working title. The..."Phillip:
I guess I'll have to consider taking out the ones with names since a lot of people seem to feel strongly against them.
I added tallies to the two titles you liked and now I'm beginning to narrow some down and cancel other out, so thanks a million!
#8 is the one which would call the most attention to me.Being a raving birds lover, #15 invokes feelings of drama related to birds and I would avoid it just in case (very personal opinion, as you can see).
Another personal opinion would be to avoid the "girl" part in the title unless you're talking about an eight-years-old; if you refer to a grown woman as a "girl", some of us will walk away.
Haru Ichiban wrote: "#8 is the one which would call the most attention to me.Being a raving birds lover, #15 invokes feelings of drama . . ."
Haru:
Number 8 seems to be a popular opinion, I'll have to remember that.
On the "girl" subject, the person I'm referring to is 5-years-old so she is an actual "girl". I know how the world can be with things like this so I would never call anyone above 16 a girl.
But' seeing as there's no way of knowing her age from the title, I'll take your advice. :)
And it's okay that your opinion about the birds is personal, that's the kind of opinion I'm looking for anyway.
Thanks so much for your help, Haru!
Mod
Like the others, I think that #5 and #8 are the best ones. It has a potential for a metaphor and if the blurb builds on that...
Tomas:What you're saying makes complete sense, and I agree. For now, I'm just trying to eliminate the bad titles and narrow down the the list to the good ones. Then I can see about the genre, because, you're right, depending on one's favorite genre, one might like different titles.
But with some of my more popular titles, a few people have been able to guess the book's genre.
I've tallied your favorites up and will use the score to determine which title to pick, so thanks so much for your help!
# 8 stands out for me - exactly that - it sets me thinking.
Well, if I can be brutally honest...1.
While this makes me question who is this Anna...I just would not care enough to read it and find out.
2.
Pretty much same as the first, who is protecting her? If it is another girl, I might just read it. If it is just another guy then it would be dull for me to read.
3.
Saving Anna from what? Yeah, still would not read it to find out.
4.
Yeah...see #3
5. The Way of Burning Roses
This sounds like a some kind of martial arts book or something. It does sound cool, but I don't know what genre you are going for. Maybe I would read it...but possibly not.
6. Way of Burning Roses
More or less same as #5
7. The Way the Roses Burn
Hm. This could be a good one, but again depends on the genre. Would possibly read.
8. A Land of Burning Roses
I just see a red rose and I want it painted black...This one is not too bad. Made me think of a song so that is something. Could probably do better.
9. The Green Ribbon
Symbolism, could work for you, or against you. More then likely though I would not read it, if someone just handed me a book with this title.
10. The Girl with the Green Ribbon
This feels a bit overused, I am pretty sure I would not read it.
11. Battlecry
War? Fantasy? Elves, Orcs, Humans, Drawfs? If fantasy is what you are going for this could work.
12.
Sad to say, I don't care enough to read about Ann Kelsington. Nice name; not so much a great title.
13. And a Ribbon Sailed in the Wind
It is a decent title...but I probably would not read.
14. I Watched Her Cry
BDSM? Kinky sadist? I could get behind that if it isn't like 50 Shades of Grey...and it if it a yuri. (not really one for straight or yaoi erotic novels.)
15. What Happened to the Birds?
Hm. Well, that does ask a lot of questions. It could work pretty well if that is what you are going for. Personally, I would not read it but that is just me.
16. And Then She Died*
Well...shit. This reminds me Silence Silence's song "...and then she bled" this one jumps out to me quite a bit. Sounds like you are in the mind of a killer or like something sad that happened. Quite a lot of things come to mind. I would be tempted to read this...maybe.
Overall:
Out of all of these if one was to just hand me a book out of the blue and not tell me anything about it I would probably go for "And then she Died" for me that one jumps out at me with this bold statement and no answers.
Erica wrote: "1. Protecting Anna2. Protecting Anna Kelsington
3. Saving Anna
4. Saving Anna Kelsington
- Saving and Protection [Name] books feel very generic. If you add [Surname], it's a little more unique bu..."
Erica:
This advice was really helpful! I've heard a lot of people saying not to use names in the title, so I think I'm steering away from doing so.
And thanks for including the reasons for your opinions, they help me tally the points for each title easier.
I agree A Way of Burning Roses sounds a lot like A Court of Thorns and Roses and it almost made me change my mind about including it, but I figured I'd put it in to see what happened. So far, though, it doesn't seem very popular.
I like your title suggestion Of Burning Roses and it definitely stuck out to me. But I feel like if I choose that then I'd have to focus even more heavily on the burning roses, and I don't want to change the story anymore because it's too close to perfection (in my mind) to make many more changes. I probably could if I took the time to do so, but I don't think I should.
Either way, thanks again for taking the time to offer your opinions! They were really helpful and I definitely enjoy reading what you all have to say!
Anna Faversham wrote: "# 8 stands out for me - exactly that - it sets me thinking."Thanks, Anna, for your opinion. I feel like this title has a very high chance of getting chosen.
Wolfy wrote: "Well, if I can be brutally honest...1. Protecting Anna
While this makes me question who is this Anna...I just would not care enough to read it and find out.
2. Protecting Anna Kelsington
Pretty m..."
Wolfy:
Thanks for being brutally honest!:D I much enjoy reading other's opinions about my material and I'm glad you enjoyed the last title. On the title I Watched Her Cry I just wanted to point out that the kind of genre you were suggesting is the farthest thing from what I'd write. But don't worry, no one had a way of knowing that so it was probably my mistake.
Anyway, thanks again for your opinions! I've tallied them up to help me pin down the best title. At this point, I've pretty much eliminated the first 4 because no one seems to like them. ;)
A. J. Deschene wrote: "Wolfy wrote: "Well, if I can be brutally honest...1. Protecting Anna
While this makes me question who is this Anna...I just would not care enough to read it and find out.
2. Protecting Anna Kelsi..."
Anytime ^-^
I kind of figured that title I Watched Her Cry was not what I thought of haha, but I mean, that is just what came to my mind when I saw the title. I mean, could have been many other things, crying over some emotional event, mental abuse, death of a some loved one, etc... my mind just tends to be in the gutter first else where second ^-^; haha.
And to point out, it is not that any of them are by any means bad titles, just probably not the strongest title to sell. Still good luck ^-^
Wolfy wrote: "A. J. Deschene wrote: "Wolfy wrote: "Well, if I can be brutally honest...1. Protecting Anna
While this makes me question who is this Anna...I just would not care enough to read it and find out.
2..."
Wolfy:
I'm not offended if you don't like the titles, I was hoping to find out whether or not they were strong anyway, so thanks for your honest opinion!
Mod
Mod
16. And Then She Died
No. It's so... juvenile feeling. I realize most literature, at the heart, is about death and generally in most books there is a death or a thousand. But, to tell us in the title, "Hey, someone's gonna die!" is a bit silly to me.
8 and 13 still feel the strongest to me.
Dwayne wrote: "You added a title, A.J.16. And Then She Died
No. It's so... juvenile feeling. I realize most literature, at the heart, is about death and generally in most books there is a death or a thousand. ..."
Dwayne:
Thanks so much for sharing your opinion! I've taken it into account and recorded some tallies to determine the best title.
I like any of the "ribbon" titles (9, 10, 13). As others have mentioned The Girl with the Green Ribbon sounds similar to a lot of other popular books, which could be a good thing when it comes to marketing. However, it is a title that would make me think it is historical fiction / women's fiction / or perhaps mystery/crime/psychological. The Green Ribbon, and And a Ribbon Sailed in the Wind both sound slightly historical fiction to me, the latter also having a thoughtful and slightly wistful feel. None of the ribbon titles sound particularly like fantasy, if that is your genre, but the cover would also contribute a lot to showing the genre.Other than that, I like no. 8.
14, 15 and 16 are my least favourites. I Watched Her Cry sounds like it is going to be about a serial killer, or a horror novel. I find it off-putting, because even if it was one of those genres the title then seems overly literal, and if it isn't those genres it is a bit confusing. 15 and 16... they make the book sound like it's going to be a bit random, unusual, but also, to me, they sound perhaps slightly silly... which would maybe be good if the book has a humorous tone, but I'm sensing that it doesn't, so I would find these titles confusing.
1. Protecting Anna2. Protecting Anna Kelsington
3. Saving Anna
4. Saving Anna Kelsington
12. Anna Kelsington
Just like everyone else, I find these off-putting for some reason.
7. The Way the Roses Burn
15. What Happened to the Birds?
I find these two awkward for some reason. The first one because of the word order and the second one because it's a question and not one that I have any investment in yet as a potential reader.
13. And a Ribbon Sailed in the Wind
14. I Watched Her Cry
16. And Then She Died*
I'm getting a strong sense of memoir or like those 90s movies that were supposed to be sad/depressing because someone died from these titles. I would pass on them.
9. The Green Ribbon
10. The Girl with the Green Ribbon
Is it literary fiction? Without the cover available that's the genre I would guess from these titles. And I'm not a fan of it so I would pass.
5. The Way of Burning Roses
6. Way of Burning Roses
8. A Land of Burning Roses
11. Battlecry
Now we're talking Fantasy (my fav genre). Out of the burning roses titles I would go with Way of Burning Roses because there's no point in starting a title with The or A when you can just as well get to the point.
...or perhaps try "Land of Burning Roses." Not sure why, but that sounds better to me and a bit more in the Fantasy genre.
Battlecry sounds so different from all your other suggested titles. I like it. It's short and gives the fantasy feel immediately and has a sense of urgency to it that the other titles don't.
So yeah, I would go with either Way of Burning Roses (or Land of Burning Roses) or Battlecry. If I knew more about it or could see the cover I would narrow it down a bit more, but without that I can't decide between the two titles.
/2cents
Hope this helped. Good luck with your release!
Noor wrote: "1. Protecting Anna2. Protecting Anna Kelsington
3. Saving Anna
4. Saving Anna Kelsington
12. Anna Kelsington
Just like everyone else, I find these off-putting for some reason.
7. The Way the Ro..."
Noor:
This was super helpful and I'm really getting close to narrowing the list down to one title.
At this point, I've eliminated 1 - 4 and 12 because no one likes them (yet somehow a book called Harry Potter became popular??)
Anyway, thanks so much for your opinions, Noor! :D
I'm a fan of 5 and 8 personally. I like the imagery and they make me wonder what a Way or Land of Burning Roses entails.
Haha, true about Harry Potter, but I think in that case the HP titles the second half of the titles: "and the Philosopher's Stone" or "...and the Chamber of Secrets" etc. set the tone for the Fantasy aspect of the books a bit. Also, you never know what will catch on, I guess. We're all trying to figure that out! So I guess at the end of the day you should go with what you prefer as the author! :)
One of the things I find fascinating is that people do not like the title with a name. Fashion? I don't know, but one of the greatest books ever written was "Anna Karenina". Then there are those eminently forgettable titles like "MacBeth". I think it depends critically on what sort of book it is. The single name as a title, in my opinion, works well for a tragedy, where the deep inner failings of the character are critical to the story. As it happens, I am not a great fan of having "the" in the title, UNLESS it focuses on some singular attribute or factor. I would also think very carefully about something like those with "green ribbon" unless somehow that is extremely prominent in the story.
My recommendation is for you to sit back and think which title best describes what your book is about. If you pick a title based on some other criterion, you risk annoying readers.
Steven wrote: "I'm a fan of 5 and 8 personally. I like the imagery and they make me wonder what a Way or Land of Burning Roses entails."Steven:
Awesome! Thanks so much for your opinion!
The one that got my attention off the top, "Protecting Anna." But I think you said it's fantasy and that is not really a fantasy title. However, I would not likely click on a title without seeing the cover. The cover is first.
A. J. Deschene wrote: "Haru Ichiban wrote: "#8 is the one which would call the most attention to me.Being a raving birds lover, #15 invokes feelings of drama . . ."
Haru:
Number 8 seems to be a popular opinion, I'll ha..."
*hugs* Glad to be of some help.
By the way, another thing. The Green Ribbon titles kinda point to a subdued nature, as Green is in general, unless it's neon or bright lime green. In my novel, the girl who wears the green ribbon is a secondary, emotionless, subdued character (while the large ham hero wears all black and the bubbly heroine wears bright lime and 500 colors). Without knowing the nature of the book, that sounds boring compared to a burning land. I mean, which of the two would you look at?
I think the reason many like #8 is that it raises so many questions. A whole land where roses burn? That definitely is something you don't see everyday.
I don't have a huge hate response to much of anything, but these are the titles that pull me in more, seem to ask a question, or promise something interesting. Honestly, it would depend on the cover image more than the title, but that's me.5. The Way of Burning Roses
8. A Land of Burning Roses
14. I Watched Her Cry
15. What Happened to the Birds?
16. And Then She Died
17. Out of the Fire and Into the Flames
_Wow! Thanks everyone for your help! Your opinions were really informative and helped me to narrow down what title I should use: Land of Burning Roses. Noor suggested to take out the A in the title and I realized that it did sound better without it.
Land of Burning Roses is my working title for now, but when I get a cover I'll show it to ya'll with some of the titles on it to see what you think then, as most of you suggested that the cover would affect how you choose whether or not to buy the book more than the title would. :)
Anyway, here are the number of votes for and against each title:
1. Protecting Anna
+1
-6
2. Protecting Anna Kelsington
-6
3. Saving Anna
-6
4. Saving Anna Kelsington
+2
-6
5. The Way of Burning Roses
+7
-1
6. Way of Burning Roses
+2
-2
7. The Way the Roses Burn
+3
-2
8. A Land of Burning Roses
+12
-1
9. The Green Ribbon
+1
-4
10. The Girl with the Green Ribbon
+1
-4
11. Battlecry
+3
-2
12. Anna Kelsington
-6
13. And a Ribbon Sailed Through the Wind
+4
-2
14. I Watched Her Cry
+4
-3
15. What Happened to the Birds?
+2
-4
16. And Then She Died
+3
-3
And, I wouldn't really count this one because I added it later on, so only a few of ya'll saw it:
17. Out of the Fire and Into the Flames
+1
Anyway, thanks again for your help! I'll be coming back later for opinions on the cover, blurbs, opening chapters, then the book itself. So keep an eye out!
#LandofBurningRoses
I am working on a novel right now and have been for over 2 years, and I hope to publish it in December 2019.
The current working title is A Land of Burning Roses and it has worked for me so far.
But I feel like this title might not elicit the kind of impulse-click-response I want people to have when they first see my novel when it comes out; titles and descriptions are everything when selling your books because it's the only thing the potential readers can rely on when judging a book.
I have compiled a list of titles that complement the story and could have been chosen as my working, and may still have the potential to replace what I have now:
1. Protecting Anna
2. Protecting Anna Kelsington
3. Saving Anna
4. Saving Anna Kelsington
5. The Way of Burning Roses
6. Way of Burning Roses
7. The Way the Roses Burn
8. A Land of Burning Roses
9. The Green Ribbon
10. The Girl with the Green Ribbon
11. Battlecry
12. Anna Kelsington
13. And a Ribbon Sailed in the Wind
14. I Watched Her Cry
15. What Happened to the Birds?
16. And Then She Died
17. Out of the Fire and Into the Flames
Note: I'll keep adding titles as more come to me.
What do you think? Which of these titles sounds the best to you? I won't express my personal feelings for the titles because I want your opinions to help guide my final decision.
If these were all books and you were offered one for free . . . judging by the titles only, which would you choose to take?