What To Do When You Have No Title

I just recently agreed upon a title with my publisher. I had another title that I liked, but I knew it would end up getting changed later. My publisher told me she prefers titles that are a direct line from the book, so I read through my MS and wrote down every beautiful phrase I found. Then I looked at that list and chose the phrase I felt represented the story best.

In the future, I will work on a list of possible titles as I go so that I can have them available when it's ready to publish.

My current novel didn't have a title until about a year ago and it's two years in the making. Just thought about the main theme and came up with it. Titles are very hard for me.

Some good tips here: How to Title Your Book by agent Rachelle Gardner.

I just call it the same thing I refer to it when trying to explain it to friends and family.

This Damn Thing

caw

Out of the three story titles in my signature I only came up with one on my own (the flash fiction title). The other two came about when I was whining over in the SF/F Cantina* about not being able to come up with titles to save my life and some super nice people offered to help. I expect those titles will change as my stories become more fully developed, but until then, at least the files on my computer are more distinctive and I won't keep clicking the wrong one by mistake.


*name of the Cantina is subject to change frequently and often and at the whim of whomever changes it

C.bronco said:

I just call it the same thing I refer to it when trying to explain it to friends and family.

Click to expand...

If I did that, all my WIPs would be titled, "That Story I've Been Working On. You Know, the One with the Thing." Lol!

My WIP is "Regency Romance" despite the fact that I've now decided to utterly restructure the romance so that it's so late in the book it's not a "romance" anymore and my alternate Napoleonic War Britain has no Regency.

As for a real title? No freaking clue. It's just sitting there with a working title.

I should read more Georgian poetry.

Been searching for this thread...I'm in the beginning stages of query letter writing, and it's occurred to me that ASHES--though it may be thematically, and contextually perfect--is a very popular title for everything out there. Ashes this, Ashes that--so annoying. So I'm trying to come up with a name.

I've got a list that I hope no one minds that I post in here. If you see one that just randomly sounds interesting, please let me know. I won't trouble you with story details. I just wanna know which titles pique interests.

Fire's Song
Fire Song

Song of Fire
Song of Flames
Song of Ashes

Voice of Flames
Voice of Fire

Fire's Cry
A Cry of Flames

Fire of Creation
Flames of Creation

Fire of the Magi

Fire's Ashes
Fire and Ashes
......
...........
Unpublishable
Annoying Book Without A Name
Too Good for a Name


Sensing a theme, anyone (not a title option, but at this point could be)?