Help Me If You Can I'm Feeling Down... With Titles!

megan_d · Jan 19, 2008

So after remaining nameless since I tapped out the first word, last night a possible title for my WIP came to mind. Trouble is, I don't know if it fits the book or not. Could you lovely lads and lasses share with me your thoughts about this title, and what kind of book you woud be expecting if these three words were stamped across the cover?:

The Iron Bubble

(And yeah, I know the publishers will probably change it, but for some reason that doesn't stop me from obsessing over it...)

Willowmound · Jan 19, 2008

It made me smirk at the funny image it created in my mind.

Is that the reaction you were looking for?

L M Ashton · Jan 19, 2008

I'm a science fiction/fantasy gal, so naturally, it conjurs up images in that realm...

Perhaps it would work better if you told us what the book was about and why you gave it that title?

Bufty · Jan 19, 2008

I wouldn't have a clue by the words alone - the two images are so far apart, and I bet that's why you are so obsessed with it.

Someone caught in a genteel trap, perhaps, but that still means nothing.

HeronW · Jan 19, 2008

Sounds sinister, giving the illusion of freedom but binding whomever within. (sort of like 'iron fist in a velvet glove' mode).

What impression do you want to give? What's your genre? What's the goal? What's the MC's name/breed/wish?

FennelGiraffe · Jan 19, 2008

Among the associations (both literal and metaphorical) that come to mind:
- The old iron lungs that they used to put polio patients in
- The Boy in the Plastic Bubble
- Charlie Stross's Iron Sunrise
- The economic sense of the word "bubble", involving speculation in iron futures.
- A hard SF novel set on a super-high density world, where iron really is light enough to float (relative to everything else there).
- A fantasy playing with the "cold iron destroys magic" trope
- A thriller set in a smelter where contaminants in the ore are causing bubbles of toxic gases to form in the molten iron
- A family whose wealth came from the iron industry, focusing on their son or daughter who feels confined by their expectations

donroc · Jan 19, 2008

A painful bathtub fart?

Joycecwilliams · Jan 19, 2008

megan_d said:
So after remaining nameless since I tapped out the first word, last night a possible title for my WIP came to mind. Trouble is, I don't know if it fits the book or not. Could you lovely lads and lasses share with me your thoughts about this title, and what kind of book you woud be expecting if these three words were stamped across the cover?:

The Iron Bubble

(And yeah, I know the publishers will probably change it, but for some reason that doesn't stop me from obsessing over it...)

I thought of someone who looks fragile but in reality is strong, unbreakable.

WendyNYC · Jan 19, 2008

Joycecwilliams said:
I thought of someone who looks fragile but in reality is strong, unbreakable.

I had the opposite reaction -- someone who appears strong to the outside world, but is breakable nonetheless.

KTC · Jan 19, 2008

I want to know. It's alluring.

The Scip · Jan 19, 2008

The title would certainly make me want to find out what the book is about, so...

...what's it about!?!

Chase · Jan 19, 2008

Oxymorons always intrigue me. I'd at least read the first page. You need a working title, so keep it till somthing better hits you. If nothing does, then it;s a perfect fit.

StoryG27 · Jan 19, 2008

I love contradictions. The title itself would catch my attention, that's for sure.

SageFury · Jan 19, 2008

Tough as iron but as fragile as a bubble, =)

Its hard to say it works without reading the story but it is inventive =)

Dawnstorm · Jan 19, 2008

Iron Bubble? Huh? Picks book off shelf. Leafs through.

DWSTXS · Jan 19, 2008

Iron Bubble.......hmmmm..........it makes me think of other unfathomables, like 'Concrete Clouds'

Finni · Jan 19, 2008

The feeling I get from the title is cold and distant. I wouldn't care enough to pick the book up and read through it. The title makes me think its going to be an action driven plot. Maybe about war or some future robots killing humans.

I'm more of a character driven plot girl.

a_sharp · Jan 19, 2008

Reminds me of the old joke about the joke that flopped: "Well, that went over like a lead balloon."

How you going to "get over" that connotation?

Strongbear · Jan 19, 2008

It sounds like Hubba Bubba brought out a new and very tough brand.

Scrawler · Jan 19, 2008

I think of... one of those "Cinderella carriages" they use for weddings.

AllisterGrim · Jan 19, 2008

For some reason my first thought is a bathysphere.

megan_d · Jan 19, 2008

Thanks for the input guys, very enlightening!

For those who asked, my WIP is an urban fantasy. To put it very briefly, an big Company rules the city, and my MC gets a job there. MC has some nifty powers, but then MC breaks the Company's rules. As a punishment, the Company seperates MC from his powers. They do this by isolating them inside of him. The MC describes this feeling as an Iron Bubble in his chest on several occassions.

Man, I hate condensing my WIP down to just a few sentences like that. I am going to hate the query process!

Albedo of Zero · Jan 19, 2008

megan_d said:
As a punishment, the Company seperates MC from his powers. They do this by isolating them inside of him. The MC describes this feeling as an Iron Bubble in his chest on several occassions.

ooo, very cool!

Willowmound · Jan 20, 2008

megan_d said:
Man, I hate condensing my WIP down to just a few sentences like that. I am going to hate the query process!

I think you did rather well. Obviously not knowing the full story...

juneafternoon · Jan 20, 2008

If I saw that in a bookstore or wherever, I'd probably pick it up and thumb through it--I like interesting titles.

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