Thursday, March 10, 2011

Title-ology

Oh, the title! So important, so utterly, utterly difficult!

I'm working on a new title for "The Novel Previously Known as Idylwilde". And let me tell ya, it's a miserable process. I need something catchy, meaningful, but not too meaning-full of itself. Sigh....

I checked out this great little article on AbsoluteWrite. This one is too. They didn't help.

For the record, TNPKAI is Southern lit fiction. (I will post my new query for it once it's decent).


Here's what I've got so far (Paired with the first reasonable Google Image that came up):

"Left of Unsaid"




"Orange Lake"




"Swamp Girls"



"In the Kingdom of Memory"



"Down to Clay"



...and then there's the tried and true "Idylwilde" which a New-York-Centric agent once remarked sounded "like an airport" but evidently is a fishing fly company:




According to the sort of bizarre Lulu Titlescorer, each of these has a "10.2% of being a best seller" (Not sure how this thing works, and honestly, who has the time to figure it out?")

I have a hunch the titlescorer has nothing on you guys. What do you think?

14 comments:

Elena Solodow said...

I like "Left of Unsaid" the best.

Mary Mary said...

I'd go for "In the Kingdom of Memory," just because it feels a bit mysterious as to where they story will be leading the reader. Titles can be hard. I had about three or four of them before I finally settled on one that brought out a really important scene in my second novel. Best of luck!

Laurel Garver said...

I agree with Elena. "Left of Unsaid" is intriguing.

Idylwilde makes me think historical, fantasy or maybe steampunk. It's the alternate spellings in it, I think, that make it sound not of this time period.

I did a post on titles you might find helpful: http://laurelgarver.blogspot.com/2010/09/tempting-titles.html

Alicia Gregoire said...

I hate titling. As far as the title scorer goes I'm not sure how it works either.

Pam Harris said...

Titling is the absolute worse--but Left of Unsaid has a really cool ring to it. :)

ed burke said...

Perri, I'm really glad Idylwilde is resurfacing!

Perri said...

Thanks, everyone. I was leaning towards "Left of Unsaid" too, or possibly "In the Kingdom of Memory."

Thanks Ed! I was ready to re-revise!

Samantha Sotto said...

My vote goes to "Left of Unsaid." It's intriguing and unique. :)

maryw said...

I hate to be contrary, but I really like Orange Lake. Made me stop and think. Made me wonder. Reminded me of Greasy Lake.

A lot depends on who you're trying to appeal to. Left of Unsaid, etc., are probably better for the Oprah-ish crowd.

But don't listen to me. I recently googled my title and discovered a vast array of porn sites.

Unknown said...

Swamp Girls all the way. I love titling. That Lulu thing gave Distillation a 63.7 % chance of becoming a best seller. AWESOME> I am going to tweet or blog that or something.

Unknown said...

I will also add that Orange Lake is good too - but I also liked Idylwilde.

And @ Mary W. my writing name - when googled - comes up to a porn star. Yikes. I look nothing like her.

Perri said...

Hmmmmmm.....

At least I can be sure "Down to Clay" is out :)

That's pretty funny about your title, Mary (and your name, Ariel)

Laurel Garver said...

Hi Perri. Glad my old post on titles was helpful (and that you got the WCW reference--you rock!)
I have an award for you on my blog today. Come & get it! :-)

Perri said...

Thanks so much Laurel! this is probably the first time in my life I have been described as "Stylish" :)