Thursday, September 23, 2010

What's in a Name?

Tip of the Day: Book banning sucks. Check out this recent blog post from Sara Ockler: On Book Banning Zealots & Ostriches.

Quick, on a scale of 1 to 5, how important is the book title?

What was your guess? Me, I'm going to say 4, 4 1/2ish. I haven't thought too much about titles until recently. With my first two books I titled them at the beginning of the process and the names pretty much stayed the same. But I recently needed to give a new title to my book coming out next fall. You might remember it was called Pumpkin Princess. Ready for the new name...

JUST YOUR AVERAGE PRINCESS

I'm digging it. The book was called Pumpkin Princess for so long that it's a bit hard to switch to the new title in my head but I do think it's cute and more appealing.

I know people are always saying, "Don't judge a book by it's cover." But everyone SO does! In fact, I think your average bookstore browser judges books first on cover, then title, then jacket flap. In that order. The book can be AMAZING but no one will know if the cover is blech. Would you agree?

I participated in two author fair this past week and I can't tell you how many people stopped, looked at my poster, mouthed the words: My Fake Boyfriend is Better Than Yours, and then giggled. They then asked me what it was about or told me stories of their own fake boyfriends. I always liked the title but it was really neat to see so many people react to it.

So tell me, what do you think about titles? Super important or nah, doesn't matter?

Kristina, Miss See Me on the Shelves



6 comments:

Andrea Mack said...

I totally agree with what you say about book covers. Even if the back cover blurb is good, my teenager won't look at a book with a "bad cover". I have to struggle sometimes to convince her to give it a try.

BookChic said...

I don't really care that much about titles or covers. Yes, I do love awesome, pretty covers and great titles but it certainly won't turn me off. The average bookbuyer? Yeah, I can totally see that judgment happening.

There was one time I was ashamed (well, just a bit) of a book and it was a combination of bad title and cover was Girl Parts by John M. Cusick. I could barely read that book in public. I prayed that no one asked me what I was reading, lol. Luckily, no one did.

Lisa Schroeder said...

James - LOL on Girl Parts. :)

I have come to believe titles are very, VERY important. I am going to do my best from here on out not to have a bland title like FAR FROM YOU. It's not memorable, it's not special, and I've decided it's best if you can come up with a title that's both.

Kat~ : ) said...

I think the title is all-important. When I look for a book to read, I generally look for an author I want to read first, then at the titles in one of favorites isn't available. What the cover depicts is important, but if the title isn't catchy, it doesn't matter what the cover looks like. However, if the title is something that interests me and the cover depicts something I don't want to read about, the book is laid aside. Author first, title second, cover third.

DeenaML said...

Importance to me:
1) cover
2) title
3) blurb

These only apply if I haven't heard any other hype/reviews of the book; otherwise those reviews might superceded the list above.

Kat~ : ) said...

I thought about the blurb, and yes, it helps me make my decision. If the title is catchy, and the blurb is good, I will usually at least put the book in my cart as a 'maybe.' I usually want so many books when I'm shopping however, that I can't possibly buy them all, so I think the blurb usually gets the closest scrutiny when it comes to making a final choice.