Choosing Your Book Title

The importance of carefully choosing the title for your book or what I could have done better!   

By Jan Romes

First of all, before you read further, I want to make clear with this article that what I’m about share isn’t to sell my book. It’s to confess I made a huge error when I titled it and hopefully through my experience it will keep you from making a similar mistake. Charred Snake for Two is a romance, a love story. What had I been thinking by selecting such a name? Clearly, my brain was muddied with the premise that strange, off-beat titles would make my story unique, memorable, and would entice readers to check out the blurb and tempt them to read Alexandra and Carson’s journey to happily ever after.  

Anchored in front of my computer for countless hours, I created two characters who wanted to heal from their previous relationships by taking part in a radical self-help, self-esteem program that would put them on a secluded island for seven days. They were to team-up to survive, which in turn would help renew trust in the opposite sex, and prompt them to grow mentally stronger through candid conversation, while taking on nature at the same time. Danger. Survival. Romance. It was all there. Because of the rugged concept for the story, I thought an equally rugged title would fit. Key word – thought. As it turns out, I didn’t think things through. While a snake does make an appearance in the story, it’s not central to what takes place between Alexandra and Carson. It doesn’t cause conflict, add depth, or propel the story forward.  

After publishing Charred Snake for Two, someone on Twitter said it was an excellent title. Their comment propped me up. Again, I thought I’d done well. I sold some copies of the book, both in e-book and paperback, then interest flat-lined. I asked a few close friends for their thoughts on the story. They gave me high praise (as friends do). One friend, however, gave it to me straight. She said the title was off-putting. After I let that bitter truth sink in, I polled folks on Facebook. The comments were split 50/50. Half thought the title was fine, the other half was in favor of it being changed. Since I was in the middle of writing my next book, I let the title ride to see what might happen. It didn’t detonate completely, but it didn’t gather steam either. (Side note: this is not a current work of heart. I published it in 2017) 

At the beginning of this year, I reflected on my career and took a good look at where I started and where I am now, and asked myself the hard questions:  What did I need to ramp up? What did I need to tone down? What big changes should I make? What simple changes should occur? What was working? What wasn’t? Charred Snake for Two took center stage in the big change category. It had been lying in wait for me to do something.  

I could blame time constraints for not fixing my blatant mistake, but there might’ve been a touch of ego in there too that stopped me from addressing the issue. It’s never easy admitting when we mess up. I’m here to (finally) say this was not just a glitch on my part. I botched, blundered, and misfired. I could have crafted a better name if I’d taken the time to brainstorm, if I’d been proactive and queried my family and friends ahead of the publishing date, if I’d realized Alexandra and Carson’s story is worthy of a better title.

Do yourself a solid and give ample thought to what your readers’ first impressions of your book will be. You want to stir the interest of your target audience. If my target audience loved snakes, they probably would’ve snapped up my book in an instant. Given that I limited my target audience with the title, it’s no wonder it wasn’t well-received. 

I could’ve said all of this in one paragraph, but I felt the need to drive home the importance of not finding yourself in a similar predicament. 

My fix:  I came up with a much better title and am considering new cover art as well. I’m combing through the entire story to ensure it truly conveys romance and love, and very little emphasis on the creature they encountered while on that secluded island. In fairness to those who’ve already taken a chance on the book, I’ll note on the first page that it was previously titled Charred Snake for Two so they don’t assume it’s a new story.

Writers make errors. We do. It could be an editing mistake, too much narrative and not enough dialogue, head-hopping between characters, improper grammar, oversimplifying characters, or lack of real conflict. I’m sure there are more, but you get the idea. We should identify those issues before they become after-the-fact problems, if we don’t however, they can easily be fixed. The title? Possibly not an easy fix. I will soon find out. If it turns out that I’m stuck with the title, then so be it. It will be a lesson I learned the hard way.

Sometimes we get so close to our work that we aren’t the best judge when it comes to certain things (especially titles). Bottom line:  Rally support and bounce ideas off those you trust. Accept constructive criticism. Acknowledge what went wrong and take the proper steps to fix it.  Equally important: Don’t let mistakes cripple your creativity.  

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Category: How To and Tips