How often do you get to keep the original title?

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Friendly Frog

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When book titles get mentioned it is often pointed out that you shouldn't get too attached to the title you picked for your story or book because the publisher may decide on another.

I got curious just how often that happens. I couldn't find an older thread on it so I figured I could just ask. Does it happen only occasionally? Nearly always? And if the title does get changed, do you like the new one?

I'd like to hear people's experiences with this.
 

Terie

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Four of the five books I've published/co-authored kept their original titles.

And the fifth is an anomoly. The working title was always totally lame and no one thought that would be the published title. I never did think of one that grabbed me, and neither did my editor. In the end we each compiled a list of possible titles, then narrowed it down to three that we both liked. He said, 'These are all fine; we'll go with whichever one of them you choose.'

So I rang my best friend ostensibly to bounce the list off her and get her thoughts. Little did she know that the book was going to be dedicated to her and that I was going to go with whichever of the three she liked best.

Hence, SpringFire. :D
 
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I've only had to change the title of one of my books and that was because the publisher already had a similarly-titled novel on its list.

I started writing By the Book, then changed the title to The Devil You Know, and when my editor told me I'd have to change it, I just went back to the original title.

So I guess you could say I haven't really needed to change any of my books' titles -- they all have the working titles I started with.

As for the question of liking the new title if/when it gets changed, it's not the case that the publisher changes it for me. When that happens, they ask you to come up with a list of alternates, so of course you would only suggest options you like. Yes, you might have to change your book's title in rare instances, but the publisher doesn't carelessly thrust any old suggestion on you without any thought to the book itself.
 

ChaosTitan

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All four books of my first series kept their original titles. The first title of my second series was changed because marketing didn't like the original. I spent several days brainstorming with my editor, and we ended up going with a slightly altered version of the original (removing one word made all the difference).

Try to think of your title the way a casual book browser might. For me, something different and punchy will catch my eye before the title I've seen on ten books already.
 

Jamesaritchie

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Only one of my titles has been changed, and it was a mistake. I told the editor the title she wanted wouldn't fly with readers, and it didn't.

A good title that fits the book usually stays. I come up with the title before I write the book, and use the title as a guide. This means my titles generally fit very well, so they don't get changed.

Part of it, too, I think, is having a knack for coming up with titles that fit the book, and that sound good, sound intriguing.

Wanted to add that much of it depends on the publisher. The marketing department often has final say with a large publisher, and if the folks there don't think a title will sell, it probably gets changed. Either you come up with an alternative they think will sell, or they'll do it for you.
 
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Cyia

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I thought my title was getting changed, as marketing wanted something a little different, but after brainstorming ideas, they decided they liked it best after all.

A big part of it is making sure the title doesn't sound, mimic, or flat out double another current title in the same genre. At the moment, YA is flooded with titles containing "dark", so the marketing department won't use anymore dark titles for a while. They don't want newer titles to get lost in the flood of old ones.

There was a big book coming out with "shatter" in the title, so they didn't want a title using that word for now.

Nothing too abstract or confusing, like titles in Latin. (I think two of the ones I submitted were"Locus" and "Aeterno", which while they fit, might not be clear enough to remember.)

There's also branding to consider if the book is a series. Can you spin something off the first title that still feels like it's part of the same package? Series titles usually fit together to form a whole.
 

Ken

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As for the question of liking the new title if/when it gets changed, it's not the case that the publisher changes it for me. When that happens, they ask you to come up with a list of alternates, so of course you would only suggest options you like. Yes, you might have to change your book's title in rare instances, but the publisher doesn't carelessly thrust any old suggestion on you without any thought to the book itself.

... that's pretty accommodating. I'd be perfectly fine with that, even if it meant giving up a title I was attached to.
 

Amarie

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My first of my middle grade books got changed. It was originally Escape from Camp David, but marketing decided kids wouldn't know what Camp David was, so that got nixed. My second title didn't get changed
 

Friendly Frog

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Oh, so you even get to provide alternatives if the publisher doesn't like the first title. That's nice. I didn't even think of that.
 

Irysangel

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I've turned in 8 books at this point and I've kept one original title, and one is still up in the air.
 

thothguard51

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If you self publish, you can keep anything you want. But if you sell your book to a publisher, they get to make the decision on title, editing and even cover art. Its their money...
 

The Lonely One

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I've never had someone ask for a title change for a short story, but that's a bit different. Everything I've written on the short side has been accepted more or less as-is, which I think is standard with zines. I have no experience with book titles.
 

Phaeal

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I either come up with a good title right away (sometimes before the story!), or I struggle with it endlessly. In the second case, I'd be glad for all the help I could get.
 

Richard White

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4 of 5 so far.

My one got changed because it was the same name as a Star Trek: Voyager episode. Since my story was set in ST: Next Gen, there was likely to be confusion.

And, I sorta liked "Redshift" better anyway.
 

IceCreamEmpress

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I'm 0 for 3 to date. And I would probably be lower left to my own devices; I have done work-for-hire gigs where I would never in a million years have selected the title the packagers had picked before I came on board.

All the titles that were changed were great, and fit the book well; they were all changed after input from the marketing folks, not from the editorial side. (The irony is that when I worked on the other side of the desk in publishing I was considered to be great at coming up with titles.)

I think I'm unusual here, and probably most people have at least 60% to 75% of their titles kept.
 

ghost

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First book had a terrible title so I wasn't surprised when we changed it.

Second book I just let them pick it out because it was the second in the series and they wanted something similar. We spent a few months on that one. Three editors, two agents, and me= a lot of brainstorming and some really awful titles. haha

Third one so far is my title.
 

Irysangel

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I think I'm unusual here, and probably most people have at least 60% to 75% of their titles kept.

I'm starting to think it has more to do with the editor/house than anything. One of my editors has very specific ideas as to what my titles should be and no book gets a title without a 20+ long list going to marketing for them to discuss. I've only kept one. Ever. And I think maybe it was because marketing was out to lunch or something. ;)

My other editor hasn't had a problem with my titles. We've had to change them because they're too similar to other books coming out on the same day, but that's about it.
 

Tasmin21

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My titles are always just working titles (something to label the file with), so I expect most of them to be changed.

Book 1 - title was changed
Book 2 & 3 - started out as just "Book 2" & "Book 3" and my editor (and lots of AWers) helped me determine final titles after the book was done.
 
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