Question about choosing titles

If the title's been used by at least twenty other books, it may be worthwhile to spend some time coming up with a more original one. "Fits perfectly" is beside the point. If that many other authors have latched onto it, said title sounds rather generic.

If I do a title search and the title comes up, I choose another. That's just me.

Seconding Jon M. If your title has been used for so many other books, then it may be wise to change it, regardless of whether or not you're entitled to use it. A title that's so common it fits 20 other stories can't be as meaningful to your specific story as you seem to think.

I agree with the other posters.

I'm not sure what genre you're writing in, as perhaps it might matter more or less depending, but I don't ever want to have a title that someone else has used.

I don't know, but something about working really hard on a one-of-a-kind novel makes me want to create just as a unique title.

P.S. Pretty lame for the "bestselling author" to be starting fights about it though, especially since the title seems to have been used by many.

You might want to find another title, unless the books that share it aren't that well-known. Like another poster said, the title might be a little generic if so many other authors have used it. People do choose books to read based in part on the title.

This is my opinion; I can be totally wrong, but if you already had a title picked out for this book and have gotten this far, why change it? You do what makes you happy. You wrote this treasure for your happiness, not this best seller....

This whole debacle seems just childish, to me.

Best seller is quite foolish because 19 people before him/her had this title picked previously! The difference between 20 and 19 is 1, or in this case, absolute silliness. Why is 20 the threshold, the point of no return? If it was original enough to not cause such vitriol in the 20th instance, then why is the 21st instance so horrific? Is he/she afraid of the number 21? Is this numerical boundary so absolute that it requires bullying you for daring to breach this seemingly unholy number.

I don't know if picking that title is a writing sin, but if it is, best seller is just as guilty as you are, and should be casting no stones.

I don't even think it's that big of a deal...I think "City of Bones" has been used on several well-selling books, previously. I heard of no tears from Cassandra Clare's predecessors.

If anything, keep the name, because if this best seller continues to act so childish, it might get your title circulating a bit. Heck, I want to buy your book now just to spite this guy.

Scuse the rant, but when people act this way, it boils my blood.

I would have looked for another title, not because I think you owe it to other authors but because it it more difficult to market your book. In this digital age, titles are one of the few opportunities authors have to communicate to potential readers (for example, in an Amazon search list). Even if someone specifically searches for your book by title, you've made it hard to find.

For the future, I would def use an unused title. I been struggling with the same problem for a while now. I got a few bopping around my head that I love, but they all have been used. It kills me because I love the title of one in particular.