Deciding a Title!

Dr-I-Know-All · Jul 24, 2014

I'm debating between a few titles for my novel, and I want to know which one you guys think is cooler. The kind of cool where you see the title, and you say, 'ooh', then pick up the book and read the summary.

Here are the ones I'm debating between:

On the Third Side of a Coin
Once You See It
A Simple Branch
Balancing

What do you think? The more opinions, the better!

C.bronco · Jul 24, 2014

Go with what you call it when talking to friends and family, but don't get overly attached. If it is picked uo, the publishing house might have other ideas.

Readable Joe · Jul 24, 2014

What happened to "Once You See It"?
I liked that one.

For some reason, I feel tired when I see an "adjective-noun" style of title.

Dr-I-Know-All · Jul 24, 2014

Readable Joe said:
What happened to "Once You See It"?
I liked that one.

For some reason, I feel tired when I see an "adjective-noun" style of title.

Sorry about that; I started playing with the words. Yeah, I'm getting a little sick of it too, but I think I blame Disney for it. I thought I'd put 'Balancing' on there just in case the general population didn't feel the same.

Brightdreamer · Jul 24, 2014

It's really hard to tell without being familiar with the book, or what mood you're trying to evoke in a potential reader. I can't see a common theme in these potential titles; each one might work for a different story, and none leaps off the screen as a must-buy hook. (Though, TBH, cover design and art also has a lot to do with why I pick up a book and read the summary, not just the title itself. Unless I walk in specifically looking for a given book, that is...)

And, as has been said, unless you self-publish, the title could be changed for marketing purposes once you sell.

RationalIdealist · Jul 24, 2014

On the Third Side of a Coin or Once You See It would intrigue me the most, but they conjure up slightly different stories in my mind, so my choice would also depend upon the cover image and the blurb.

ArtsyAmy · Jul 25, 2014

On the Third Side of a Coin is my favorite. It grabbed me. I might pick up a book with that title to learn more.

Marlys · Jul 25, 2014

Of those, the one I like best is Once You See It. The one I like least is On the Third Side of a Coin.

shibby · Jul 25, 2014

On the Third Side of a Coin - Doesn't do much for me, my first thought was there's only two sides to a coin.

I duno about the rest of them, depends on genre. None of them seem to have a clue as to what genre.

Shibby

Amanda Harper · Jul 25, 2014

Completely personal opinion:

On the Third Side of a Coin feels a bit vague to me for something with so many words. A Simple Branch doesn't evoke anything. Once You See It -- I'm not a fan of the second person, but I like this one best. Balancing is all right, if it were Balance I would choose it above the others.

EDIT: Maybe you should decide what kind of title you want, and what you want to say about the story? A short, one-word title doesn't reflect the same images or mood as a longer one. And all four of your titles make me think of a different story.

Jamesaritchie · Jul 25, 2014

I like On the Third Side of a Coin, but you might play with some changes.I think I like it better without the "On". Just The Third Side of a Coin sounds better to my ear.

StephanieZie · Jul 25, 2014

I vote for Once You See It. It's punchy.
On the third side of a coin is a bit long-winded and, IMO, doesn't have the punch I think you're going for.
A Simple Branch is kind of dull.
Balancing...I'm not a fan of gerunds as titles.

Once you see it has the added benefit of being sort of in the now, as "Once you see it, you will ________ (usually shit bricks)" is a meme. If your audience is YA, I think this one is a winner.

Ride the Pen · Jul 25, 2014

Honstly, I don't like any of those four titles, they are too generic (just boring, without any flavour).

"On the third side of the coin" and "Balancing" are basically no title, because the rhythm is off in both cases. The first one is too long-winded, and the second one is the opposite, too bulky - the -ing form alone as a title is not a good idea. A title needs a certain rhythm to it, like a melody. Frankly, those would be awful choices!

The better ones, which seem acceptable, are "Once you see it" and "A simple branch". Those two would at least sound like titles.

However, why go with the acceptable? A work's title is so immensely important for it, it's worth thinking about it for a long time!

Hope this helps somehow.

ThatWolfAgain · Jul 25, 2014

"Once You See It" is probably my favorite of the choices, but I'm not sure it's a title that would make me pick up the novel on title alone. To be fair, those sort of titles are hard to come by with me. Netz has been working on a query for the novel "The Fakelore Girl," which I would pick up on title alone because my brain immediately goes what the **** is Fakelore? "Once You See It" comes the closest to igniting that sort of curiosity, because the immediate question is what is "it?" But for me to pick it up and look further it would depend on genre considerations.

Dr-I-Know-All · Jul 25, 2014

Wow, I thought they were all pretty good. . . I have a lot to learn, apparently.

Brightdreamer · Jul 25, 2014

Dr-I-Know-All said:
Wow, I thought they were all pretty good. . . I have a lot to learn, apparently.

Don't be so tough on yourself. Titles are hard. You might try asking your beta readers if they have any suggestions, as they know the story you're trying to sell better than we random strangers do. You might also hit a bookstore or Amazon to scan titles of books in your genre, to get an idea of what grabs people.

Good luck!

J.S.F. · Jul 25, 2014

None of them really grabbed my attention except for the 'Coin' one. I'd have to go with J. Ritchie's suggestion. It's short, to the point, and evokes the idea of the meeting of two diametrically opposed viewpoints (in my mind, if to no one else's). JMO...

Velvet27 · Jul 25, 2014

Dr-I-Know-All said:
I'm debating between a few titles for my novel, and I want to know which one you guys think is cooler. The kind of cool where you see the title, and you say, 'ooh', then pick up the book and read the summary.

Here are the ones I'm debating between:

On the Third Side of a Coin
Once You See It
A Simple Branch
Balancing

What do you think? The more opinions, the better!

Is the novel written or are you about to start it?

Is there a theme that stands out in the book that you could hook into with a word/s that hint at it?

Dr-I-Know-All · Jul 25, 2014

Velvet27 said:
Is the novel written or are you about to start it?

Is there a theme that stands out in the book that you could hook into with a word/s that hint at it?

My book is already written, but is in the process of major revision on my part. The theme of the book is the idea the wars are often portrayed as two-sided, but there's always a third side. Just like a coin, the two sides are the ones that get all the attention, but the third side is where it has to balance if both sides want to be seen.

I like the coin one for that reason.

In my mind, I liked the title Once You See It, because it's also all about that viewpoint. Once people see the third side of a coin, they'll never say it's just two sided. There'll be three from that point on. Same thing happens with my romantic leads.

So I like 'Once You See It'.

I believe that third side can be found using a person who, for all metaphorical purposes, is an olive branch. The third side concept and the olive branch concept are the same.

So I like 'The Simple Branch'.

'Balancing' was just a play on the first one.

Does this explain it decently?

Marlys · Jul 25, 2014

Dr-I-Know-All said:
My book is already written, but is in the process of major revision on my part. The theme of the book is the idea the wars are often portrayed as two-sided, but there's always a third side. Just like a coin, the two sides are the ones that get all the attention, but the third side is where it has to balance if both sides want to be seen.

I like the coin one for that reason.

In my mind, I liked the title Once You See It, because it's also all about that viewpoint. Once people see the third side of a coin, they'll never say it's just two sided. There'll be three from that point on. Same thing happens with my romantic leads.

So I like 'Once You See It'.

I believe that third side can be found using a person who, for all metaphorical purposes, is an olive branch. The third side concept and the olive branch concept are the same.

So I like 'The Simple Branch'.

'Balancing' was just a play on the first one.

Does this explain it decently?

That "third side" of the coin has a name: the edge. Calling it something else makes it appear that you couldn't think of the proper word for it, so I like that title even less now.

Is the book primarily about the war or the romance?

Dr-I-Know-All · Jul 25, 2014

Marlys said:
That "third side" of the coin has a name: the edge. Calling it something else makes it appear that you couldn't think of the proper word for it, so I like that title even less now.

Is the book primarily about the war or the romance?

The Romance.

I didn't think that 'the edge' was official, so I took the liberty of looking at it from a different perspective.

Velvet27 · Jul 25, 2014

Dr-I-Know-All said:
My book is already written, but is in the process of major revision on my part. The theme of the book is the idea the wars are often portrayed as two-sided, but there's always a third side. Just like a coin, the two sides are the ones that get all the attention, but the third side is where it has to balance if both sides want to be seen.

Dr-I-Know-All said:
The Romance.

War isn't straight forward and can often have more than two sides, so I'm not sure if that analogy really works. Unless you're simplifying it to the perception of good and evil?

If it's a historical romance then it definitely needs to reflect the sense of that in the title. Long titles seem to be in vogue in that genre at the moment. (How to Lose a Duke in Ten Days, Sapphires are an Earl's Best Friend etc.)

If it's more of a saga or general fiction, then you can get away with probably a more generic title as you've listed.

None of the ones you mentioned particularly stand out to me, but if there is one there that reflects back strongly to you then go with that.

As a reader I always like to be able to work out why an author picked a title. I actually do get cross if it's a nonsensical title or something that doesn't relate back to the book in a way that makes sense to me.

ScienceFictionMommy · Jul 25, 2014

"On the Third Side of a Coin" is the only one that stood out for me

Deciding a Title!

Dr-I-Know-All

C.bronco

I have plans...

Readable Joe

Dr-I-Know-All

Brightdreamer

Just Another Lazy Perfectionist

RationalIdealist

ArtsyAmy

Marlys

Resist. Love. Go outside.

shibby

Amanda Harper

Lurking fish.

Jamesaritchie

StephanieZie

Trust me, I'm a doctor

Ride the Pen

ThatWolfAgain

Dr-I-Know-All

Brightdreamer

Just Another Lazy Perfectionist

J.S.F.

Red fish, blue fish...

Velvet27

Dr-I-Know-All

Marlys

Resist. Love. Go outside.

Dr-I-Know-All

Velvet27

ScienceFictionMommy