Deciding on a title for your book seems simple, even easy, but in fact, it can be complex and hard. The word itself, “title,” seems to come from a Latin word, titulus, meaning label. The word can also mean many other things, including a regal title such as “The Duke of…..”
Then there is a changing history of title styles. Consider this 1849 title: The Personal History, Adventures, Experience and Observation of David Copperfield the Younger of Blunderstone Rookery (Which He Never Meant to be Published on any Account).
Today, we think of that book, by Charles Dickens, simply as David Copperfield. But the fashion in Victorian England was for much longer titles. That surely has changed. My 2022 book was simply titled Loyalty. Currently, I’m writing a book that has the working title of Slap!
“Working title” is a useful phrase insofar as titles of books can and do change. Speaking for myself, I like to give a title to a book as soon as I begin composing it. Sometimes, even before. That gives it a handy way to reference it in my mind as I work.
Not long ago I submitted an untitled idea to an editor. In the ensuring correspondence she gave the idea a title. I wonder if it will stick.
The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle had the working title The Seahawk, the name of the ship on which the adventure takes place.
The working title for Crispin: The Cross of Lead, my Newbery book, was No Name.
Nothing but the Truth was first called Discovery, the legal term for the evidence in a legal case.
My newest book, The Road From Nowhere, had the working title Chasing Rocks.
When I wrote Poppy, I first used the name Pip for both the main mouse character and as the title of the book. In the process of writing it I read the book to a class of fifth graders. At the end of one reading one of the boys in class came up to me, holding a book in his hand.
“Is this where you got the idea for your book?” he asked me and showed me a book which was titled, Pip: The Story of a Mouse.
As a result, I changed the name of my mouse to “Poppy.” So it stands.
Robert Louis Stevenson published a serial novel titled The Sea Cook. When he published the whole book. his editor suggested it would be better if it were called Treasure Island.
Indeed, usually the title is worked out by the author in collaboration with the editor. Moreover, the editor has consulted with the marketing department to get their input. In 1984, I was working on a book, and the editor and I couldn’t agree on a title. When we ran out of time, it was the editor who chose the title, The Devil’s Race. That seems like a strong title, but in fact it has nothing to do with the content of the novel.
Sometimes one chooses a title only to discover that has been used before, or even many times. Titles can’t be copyrighted, which explains why that can happen. Still, I (and the publisher) would rather not use a previously published title.
I once published a book titled Shadrach’s Crossing, Shadrach being a Biblical allusion. When it was reissued, the publisher wanted something more accessible to my readers. In the later edition, it became Smuggler’s Island.
Many of my books are translated into non-English languages. Generally I have no idea if they have translated my title or changed it. I happen to do know that the German edition of The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle was titled (in German, Salz im Haar) Salt in Her Hair.
There are good titles and weaker ones. The Secret School is precisely what the story is about. Wolf Rider proved a weak title insofar as it references one moment in the book, usually not noticed. The Button War is precisely what the story is about, but perhaps not such an enticing title for young readers.
For that is precisely what a good title should do, entice the reader to read the book. It’s a summary, an evocation, even a tease, as to what the book is about.
We don’t usually think about it this way, but the title constitutes the first words you read in a book.
What’s your favorite title?
3 thoughts on “The Title”
How many of your titles have you chosen and how many have been chosen by the editor?
It is always a joint decision.
Except for when you said the editor choose the title for the 1984 Race one-your suggestion- St. Anthonys Wilderness was vetoed.