As described with excruciating honesty in The New Author, I've made many beginner's mistakes. Peril was originally titled The Rise and Fall of Ger Mayes, in honour of a BBC TV comedy series from the 1970s. Not the greatest choice of title for the global village of digital publishing. Ger's name is common in Ireland and is pronounced 'Jer' but does that work around the world? Too late now. Ger Mayes is established with thousands of copies out there, a ton of reviews on Amazon and Goodreads, and Ger reappears in Getting Out of Dodge: Peril 2. I'm going to let Ger enjoy his small infamy in perpetuity.
But this post isn't about Peril and Ger. It's about another mistake I've made. My fiction tends to be first person narrator, (picaresque) crime, set in small-town Ireland. I have another series of novels which differ to this and the first title is The Crucible Part 1. Unlike my other books, I get a lot of returns for The Crucible. Really rapid returns. It is a controversial novel, dealing with a conspiracy of AIDS in Africa and Evangelical Christianity in the USA and Europe. I figured that the returns were from irate purchasers who disagreed with the book's storyline attack on religious fundamentalism, corporate greed and corrupt politics. The reviews on Goodreads and Amazon for The Crucible Part 1 are good and I was expecting some scorching one star reviews from those who returned, but no. Any negative reviews were related to the complexity of the conspiracy.
Then, during a recent e-publishing workshop I was running in darkest Tipperary, it came to me. One of those "Aha! I'm an idiot" moments. The quick returns were from dissatisfied customers who thought they had purchased the famous play The Crucible by Arthur Miller. I was flattering myself to think my novel was provoking an extreme reaction from readers; it was just a dumb choice of title. To top that, I had named my Crucible main character Thomas Thistlethwaite - an unpronounceable surname even for Brits. The name was chosen in memory of an early girlfriend (Thistlethwaite, not Thomas!) So now it's time to re-title my novel and rename the MC.
Ezra Barany makes some interesting comments about book titles and search keywords in his post here but I'm also looking to solicit direct reader and fellow author feedback on some alternatives below.
Here's a US reader review of the novel to give the flavour of it:
Ruby Barnes' latest novel is as revealing and surprising as his last. Expecting a military/covert thriller a la Tom Clancy, from my initial skim-over, I was struck by just how insidiously the author has led me into a deep, very moving and highly skeptical look at the effects of post-colonial "colonialism" in the name of aid in Africa. Mr. Barnes has suggested a collusion of terrifying proportion, acting completely outside the realm of governmental intervention. This is a book to make you think, then think again. But don't assume it's not a rousing journey. There are few storytellers as gifted as this author. His story carries you at high-speed. His subject and characters are gripping, fully fleshed and researched with a scholar's thoroughness. I would highly recommend it to readers of Clancy or Le Carre, political science fans, and all those whose views of European and American intervention in Africa, the cradle of human life, need revision.
Titles I have in mind to replace The Crucible are Into Africa (the main story is Europe recolonising Africa) or Koobi Fora (a Kenyan village thought to be the origin of Homo Sapiens and the setting of the novel climax). What do you think? Do you have an alternative suggestion?
Names I have in mind for the MC (British assassin turns good guy) instead of Thomas Thistlethwaite are Thomas Wolfe or Thomas Blackwood or Thomas Jakeman. Am I too hung up on Thomas and which of those surnames appeal? Alternative suggestions also welcome.
Please share your thoughts with a comment below. I'll be sending a paperback copy of the revised book to a randomly selected winner.
Oh, not to forget a free e-copy of the novel if you sign up to Ruby's News.
I favour Koobi Fora and Thomas Blackwood. Just my opinion of course.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Karl. Good to hear you like Koobi Fora. I don't trust myself too much with titles these days!
DeleteI haven't read The Crucible but I have to say Koobi Fora is rather original!
ReplyDeleteAs for Ger Mayes, Ger is a popular shortening of Geraint here in Wales and we use the G sound rather than the J but as you say Mayes is so well established now, and I always think short names are easy and memorable whatever your Mother tongue!
(Loving the Peril sequel, I'm at 80% and although I want to race through it, I don't want to finish it)
Thanks, Jan. Shall I tell you whose head is in the bag?
DeleteSome people buy my mystery The Gatsby Game expecting to get Fitzgerald, so I feel your pain. Getting your book mixed up with a classic can make for confusion and a lot of returns. It's a tough decision to re-title a book. Does it mean you'll lose your reviews? That would be painful.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure anybody knows what kind of title works and what doesn't. (Cover designers sure hate the long ones, though)
But I love Koobi Fora. It's short, easy to remember, and unique. I agree with Karl on Blackwood, too. (I came over from Tom W's FB group.) Good luck with the re-publishing.
Thanks for stopping by, Anne. No, I think the book will keep the reviews as long as I go about it carefully. The paperback will new a new ISBN though.
DeleteTitles, subtitles, taglines, I agree it's difficult to know what will work and what won't.
I quite like Thomas Wolfe and Into Africa which has the ring of Out Of Africa about it, if you gets my drift! :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Pam. Yes, those are my favourites but Koobi Fora is getting a few votes ;-) I'll be faced with the usual quandary - I've asked the question of the audience but will I go with their response?
DeleteI know exactly how you feel. My first title Feast of the Antlion is causing me grief! Firstly a vast number of people have no idea what an antlion is, so pronounce it wrong, look puzzled and walk away! There is also the danger that it will be shelved in libraries in the insect section.
ReplyDeleteMy second book was going to be called Suffocating. A suffocating relationship and a suffocating genetic disease creating family rifts. That was voted out at the last minute because it sounded like a grim story, instead I chose Breathless. Whether it works well remains to be seen. Kindle version has been launched to coincide with Cystic Fibrosis Awareness week with a £1 per copy going to the CFtrust. amazon.co.uk/dp/B00DFOT5VI.
Not sure I could handle changing the name of either now that they are out.
Thanks, Caro. Yes, those titles that make perfect sense to us for a lot of reasons, reasons which need explanation to the reader. "But if they would just read the book, they'd understand!"
DeleteAll the best with Breathless http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00DFOT5VI
I have the same issue (bad title) in my first ever book published. But I am worried about losing the reviews and also confusing readers who have already supported the book in its original title and cover. What to do?
ReplyDeleteThat said: Koobi Fora is so unique!
Thanks, Prue. Title changes probably do have to be made early in the game, I guess, but you could use the original title as a prominent sub-title or tagline (which is my plan for The Crucible Part 1).
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