How important is title?

Authors usually don't have control over the title. Be prepared (mentally) that the publisher may change it. Some publishers will hear an author out, but the publisher makes the final decision.


ETA: Just realized you asked about agents. I'd listen to the agent, and not go into the situation with a hard and fast rule.

Project nachonaco said:

How important is title? Right now my title for my baby is Project Hai-Zi, and I am strongly against changing it. It would be like changing my name from Sydney to Jacqueline.

That said, what happens if the agent loves the book and hates the title? (Which is an organization in the book)

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Eventual possibilities:

- you sign with an agent and he or she suggests changing the title. It may be a suggestion, it may be a requirement for the agent to shop the book. Either way, you'll make that decision when you get to it. My advice is that you listen to your agent - if they were knowledgeable enough for you to sign with them, then you should trust their judgment. So, discuss it and find out why and then you'll take it from there. If it is a deal breaker, you'll have a tough decision to make.

- you land a publisher and they decide to change the title - you may have input into the new title, but the publisher will (likely) have the power to decide. game over. And FYI, even well-established authors often lose the title battle with their publishers.

SO, those two eventualities aside, how important is the title to landing an agent or a publisher?

Well, it comes down to is it so good it acts as a positive, inspiring interest in the book, or so bad that it kills interest in the book, or is it pretty much irrelevant to the prospective agent or editor in not drawing a powerful reaction either way. The first scenario would be excellent, the second scenario a real downer, and the third scenario probably the most common event.

Editorial Anonymous recently did a blog post on titles:
http://editorialanonymous.blogspot.com/2009/11/shnookiedoodlepoo-and-diaper.html

And I've seen agents and other editors comment along the same lines - ie, often they think, "Interesting book, lousy title, but that can be fixed." But sometimes the title is so bad it actually hurts your chances of having the partial/full read, or so good that it moves the manuscript up in the to be read pile.

So...if you think or you are hearing from critiquers/beta readers that the title is bad. Consider changing it, so as not to fall into the defraying interest camp.

If you think/are hearing the title is merely eh, consider seeing if you can come up with a better one.

But unless the title is so bad as to defray interest, I'm not sure I'd spend tremendous time trying to come up with a new one, because the reality is it's quite likely it will change before being published.

And if you are so tied to it you are willing to have the book be unpublished, rather than change the title, the title better be in the contract with the publisher. And negotiating that may be a dealbreaker or cost you - so, discuss it with your agent, and...well, good luck.


~suki

Don't get too attached to the title. Publishers change them very often, and generally for sound commercial reasons. In the end, it's just a couple of words -- what really matters is the success of the other 80K words you wrote, right?

escritora said:

Authors usually don't have control over the title. Be prepared (mentally) that the publisher may change it. Some publishers will hear an author out, but the publisher makes the final decision.


ETA: Just realized you asked about agents. I'd listen to the agent, and not go into the situation with a hard and fast rule.

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This is news to me. Doesn't exactly send me reeling into massive fits of hysteria...but I did expect that I would be allowed to name my own work...

Title..needs to be eye-catching, or else th ebrowsers will never even look at it. There are too many books on the shelves to bother picking up every one.

I think title is EXTREMELY important. A lot of people think because it's subject to change, the author doesn't need to put any effort or thought into coming up with a title. I think the title you give your work is like the packaging on a product. It can make a customer (the agent) pass it by, or it can make them stop and stare, pick it up, and buy it.

That being said,

Project nachonaco said:

How important is title? Right now my title for my baby is Project Hai-Zi, and I am strongly against changing it. It would be like changing my name from Sydney to Jacqueline.

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This might be a dangerous attitude. If your goal is to be traditionally published, it will behoove you to get yourself used to the idea that any aspect of your baby, including the title, is subject to change on the advice of the professionals and experts. They have a vested interest in selling lots and lots and lots of copies of your book, and they know how to do it. Listen to what they say, and take their advice.

There was one famous writer who gave everything he wrote the title of another, very famous, book. No one minded, and the publisher always changed the title without comment.

Agents don't represent titles, and publishers don't buy titles. Both know a bad title can be changed. I don't think anyone really knows how important a title is, and some terribly bland titles have become instant bestsellers. At any rate, that's what the marketing department is for. If they think your title is marketable, it stays. If they think it isn't marketable, it goes.

Hollywood is another kettle of fish. There's the famous story of Hollywood buying movie rights to a book because they loved the title. Then they wrote a new story to go with the title. Then they changed the title. Go figure.

The title, much like the genre, is more about marketing than anything else. Experienced marketing people at the publisher that acquires your book will decide on the title. More power to them, I say. I hate trying to think up catchy titles for my work.

But remember your first reader- your agent. If they get a book with a really boring title, they'll presuambly look at it but it isn't as exciting as one with an intriguing title. Your title may well get changed in publishing but if you come up with something really banal, it looks amateurish.

are you finished with the book itself yet?

if not, then don't worry about the title.

if you ARE, then don't get your knickers in a bunch over the title.

just get it out there and start working on your next one.

Project nachonaco said:

How important is title? Right now my title for my baby is Project Hai-Zi, and I am strongly against changing it. It would be like changing my name from Sydney to Jacqueline.

That said, what happens if the agent loves the book and hates the title? (Which is an organization in the book)

Click to expand...

If I were an agent, I'd probably change the title. Is it pronounced 'Hi-zee'? Sounds a bit like 'Hi Z(pronounced in the American way)' or 'Hi-sies!' (like 'oopsies' or 'bidey bye')

My agent hates my title. I don't care much, but I'm stumped as to what we're going to call this thing.

Maryn had a few good suggestions that I like. I hope he likes one. I'd love to put her in my acknowledgments. She's so cool.

Lady Ice said:

But remember your first reader- your agent. If they get a book with a really boring title, they'll presuambly look at it but it isn't as exciting as one with an intriguing title. Your title may well get changed in publishing but if you come up with something really banal, it looks amateurish.

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I'd say ninety percent of the titles in slush piles would qualify as banal. So are most of the titles bestselling novels start life with. And many of the solush manuscripts with wonderful tiles have the worst writing.

I honestly don't think many agents pay any attention at all to titles. Certianly few slush agents do. If you do, you'll read a lot of manuscripts you shouldn't be reading, and passing on ones that are great.

Intriguing titles have nothing to do with intriguing manuscripts.

To be honest, I kind of look forward to the idea of not having to pick my own. I've got one I'd probably fight on, but otherwise I'm open to just about anything.

I think it's just good to be aware that there's a good chance that it'll be changed. If what you have is really the perfect title, then it'll stick. My line of thinking is that the people giving advice have much more knowledge and experience than I do. I probably wouldn't want it changed to something I hated, but if someone tells me, "The book will sell better if we call it (whatever)" I'd listen.

Jamesaritchie said:

I'd say ninety percent of the titles in slush piles would qualify as banal. So are most of the titles bestselling novels start life with. And many of the solush manuscripts with wonderful tiles have the worst writing.

I honestly don't think many agents pay any attention at all to titles. Certianly few slush agents do. If you do, you'll read a lot of manuscripts you shouldn't be reading, and passing on ones that are great.

Intriguing titles have nothing to do with intriguing manuscripts.

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A clever title which has some relevance to the book does make it more interesting. The title is the first impression you get of the book and of the writer. You can soon tell if a writer's faking their clever title or if they are generally intellectual/creative. And it proves that they've thought about it, even if it turns out that the title isn't appropriate.

I like this topic. I feel better knowing that my WIP titled "book"( for know) at least is ok. It's also good to know that agents and publishers chime in on the title. They know more about marketing. I only know about what I like to pick up to read.

I think it would be a mistake not to think about how to title your story. Yes, agents or editors might be interested in changing it - but it's worth thinking about *why* they might want to change it. A title sets expectations, so it has to reflect what the story is about in some way that is both interesting and representative of the genre in which the book will be sold. A title will contain key words that have lots of resonance, and that resonance has to match the book content and the genre. Any book with the word "blood" in it will skew expectations toward murder mystery, thriller, or vampires. If that's not the right expectation, then the title must be changed. I think it's useful to think for your own purposes about what expectations are set up by your title... who knows? It may make others less likely to change it.

Here's a rather interesting/ironic title story. A friend of mine had a great title for her book, and in fact she hooked her agent with it. The agent explicitly said it was the title that sold her on the story from the very beginning. Then the editor was okay with it but the book buyers said they wanted something different. So the title got changed - but only in the US. The original title was retained in the UK.

Personally, I'm hoping that my own title gets kept, because I picked it for reasons of puzzle-like fit with other aspects of the book. My agent didn't object to it at all, and I don't think it has any hot-button words that would make it a bad fit with genre etc. We'll just have to see how it goes.

But I guess my summary is that, just because people tell you your title may get changed, doesn't mean you shouldn't care about it and spend time trying to get it right.

My next book (coming in July! Preorder now!) was originally titled No Star Undimmed. The publisher changed it to Lincoln's Sword.

So what?

The rules for titles are:

1. Easy to spell.
2. Not embarrassing to say aloud.