Do Titles Really Matter?

If you've been over to my blog any time during the last week, you'll know that I've been running a contest to retitle my first book before I start querying the bejesus out of it. The contest has, however, sparked a running debate amongst the Mavens as to whether the title of your book really makes a difference. After all, the argument goes, it's a rare book that makes it all the way to publication with the title the author originally chose. (Several of Lisa Kleypas's wallflower books were retitled prior to publication, so even NYT bestselling authors aren't immune to this phenomenon.)

Given this fact, why do I think it matters whether my books is titled Living in Sin (the original tile), A Scandalous Liaison (the current title), or something as yet to be determined (though there is a pretty clear front-runner)? It's not like what I pick is likely to stick, right?

Well, in a nutshell, the reason I decided it's important is because Leah Hultenshmidt (of Dorchester) and Elaine Spencer (of the knight Agency) convinced me. When you pitch your book to someone who's sitting right in front of you and her face falls a little bit when you say the title, you know it's probably not going to have a better effect on someone who's reading your query letter. When you're pitching your book to someone and you don't have the advantage of your own excited, pleading little face to help you, you definitely need a title (as well as a premise and hook) that make the agent/editor sit up and take notice. You need a title that says, "Read me! You must know more about me because I am special. I am unique!"

You also want a title that gives some the person reading your letter some idea of your book's genre (i.e., contemporary, paranormal, historical) and its tone (funny, sexy, dark). The more elements of your story you can hit on in those 1 to perhaps 8 words, the better.

So, what makes a title that does that? Well, if I knew the answer to that question with absolute certainty, I'd already have found the right title for my book a long time ago. But I will say that there do seem to be a few trends in titling right now that you can use to your advantage:

1. Titles that play on familiar phrases are very popular right now. In the workshop I attended, Leah mentioned Bethany True's Remember the Alimony and Stephanie Rowe's He Loves Me, He Loves Me Hot as two great examples of this. (I immediately thought of several great titles for books I'll never write including Cash and Marry, Death and Hexes, and Don't Mess with Hexes. Anyone out there who has a great idea to go with any of those, feel free to steal 'em.)
2. Conversely, you should avoid using a familiar phrase (e.g., a cliche) without twisting it in some clever way. A cliched title is a red light to the agent/editor that the story and writing may be ridden with cliches as well. If you write a fabulous hook/premise that shows how the cliched title is twisted in your story, then you may get away with it.
3. Longish titles and the name of the protagonist appearing in the title are currently in vogue. Think Julia Quinn's The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever (2007 RITA winner!) or Samantha James's The Secret Passion of Simon Blackwell or (ahem) any of the Harry Potter books. So don't be afraid to use a longer title and/or a name if it works for your story. (Lacey is hitting the market at exactly the right time with If You Asked the Devil to Dance. It's on the long side and is also unique. That gets attention.)
4. One word titles are also seem to be popular. Rachel Vincent's Stray and Megan Hart's Dirty are a couple of recent examples of this phenomenon. If you can capture your story's essence in a single word, don't be afraid to do so.
5. Above all, dare to be different! Not so different that no one reading your title would have the slightest idea what your story is about (Erica suggested Sex, Lies, and Algonquian Ecostructure as an alternative title for Trevor and the Tooth Fairy, but somehow, I doubt that'll happen :->), but different enought to stand out from the pack.

YOUR TURN: Do you feel that the title(s) you've chosen your book(s) are the right ones? Is there a book title you particularly love or particularly hate? Do you think I'm all wet when I say it matters? Tell all! (Oh, and go vote for your favorite title for my book on my blog if you feel like registering your opinion.)