Nora
Roberts, writing as J.D. Robb has the word ‘Death’ in her near-future series.
John
D. MacDonald used a colour in his Travis McGee titles.
And
Simon Brett uses alliteration in his Fethering crime series, viz:
The Body on the
Beach, Death on the Downs, The Torso in the Town, Murder in the Museum, The
Hanging in the Hotel
etc.
The
following is an extract from Chapter 6 of Write
a Western in 30 Days.
The title of your
book should attract the reader’s attention and even provide sufficient intrigue
so that the cover will be turned over and the first page will be read. If the
cover and title do that, it’s done the job. Of course, it helps if the title is
memorable!
The title should be one or all of these:
Phrased concisely
Expressed in concrete terms – not abstract ones
Able to arouse curiosity concerning the main character’s predicament
Fresh
Often, the ideal method to conjure up a
suitable title is to fasten on an aspect of the book’s conflict.
A turn of phrase that sums up the
underlying theme might work, too. Or play on the words: Blind Justice at Wedlock was about the hero being blinded and seeking justice. I couldn’t simply use Blind Justice, as that title was already over-used. There is no copyright for a book title, but it pays to check that your title hasn’t just been released into the marketplace. If it was used several years ago, then that’s not a big problem, but if the title is recent, then it can cause confusion. It might also suggest that it’s not particularly original.
Sometimes, a phrase from a quotation might serve. Beware of using quotations from individuals who have not been dead for at least seventy years – they’re probably still in copyright and you might need to get permission to use the quotation. Prolific author E.V. Thompson’s story about early Texas, Cry Once Alone (1984) used this title from a lengthy quotation of Comanche Chief Ten Bears.
Generally, one-word titles rarely work in the memorability stakes. If there hadn’t been a film featuring Paul Newman, would Elmore Leonard’s book title Hombre be as memorable? Probably not. One-word titles don’t evoke any image in the mind’s eye, particularly if they’re abstract – hence, the recommendation to use concrete terms.
Yet, to contradict that observation, they’ve always been popular with western writers – not least, Louis L’Amour: Brionne, Callaghen, Catlow, Chancy, Conagher, Fallon, Flint, Hondo, Matagorda, Shalako, Sitka, and Sackett, among others, so perhaps it’s the exception that proves the rule? If the title is a character’s name or the town’s name, it might work.
In the end, maybe it comes down to personal preference. But don’t always go for the simplest option – the character’s or the town’s name.
Sometimes, the theme is significant and can be used for the title, as long as it isn’t too abstract.
Indeed, the title might depend on whether or not you’ve decided to write about a series character. That may dictate a slightly different approach to selecting a title. Oliver Strange’s character Sudden, for example, started out with the book The Range Robbers (1930) but was followed by Sudden (1933) and six more with the Sudden name in the title.
Don’t get bogged down thinking about a title. Quite a number of authors simply use a ‘working title’ just to get started, feeling sure that by the time the book’s finished, a title will come to mind.
E-book from Amazon com bought from here
E-book from Amazon co uk bought from here
or paperback post-free world-wide from here
On
Amazon.com this book has eight 5-star reviews and two 4-star reviews; on
Amazon.co.uk it has an additional three 5-star reviews.
This
book is a very useful guide for anyone wanting to write genre fiction – that
is, any genre, not only westerns. Those
aren’t my words, but the opinion of reviewers on Amazon.
4 comments:
Good suggestions for determining an appropriate title. I'll be ready for one in a few months.
In hindsight, I probably should've came up with a different title for my erotic novel than what it currently has.
Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it), I'll have a chance later this year to rectify that particular problem.
Good to hear, Nancy. I think your 'Murder' titles work well, particularly the latest, 'Murder Casts a Spell'.
George, if you're going to another publisher it's always a good idea to change the title (though let readers know it was previously published under its original title, of course). I didn't do that for Spanish Eye, but would do it for any other title...
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