What's In A Name

How do you choose a title for your work? I'll admit, I'm weak when it comes to choosing titles. My blog titles especially.

I had a short, on-line conversation in one of the blogs I follow. I mentioned that I dislike the use of puns as titles of cozy mysteries. Personally, I dislike puns at any time. The woman with whom I had this conversation pointed out that it is usually the publisher that chooses these titles, because they're catchy and the readers like them. (I don't, but I guess I'm in the minority.)

I also read an article from the British magazine, The Guardian, that discussed the fact that British books often have their titles changed for publication in the US, again, by the publisher. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, originally Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, is probably the best known contemporary example. The US publisher was afraid American readers would think "philosopher" meant the Ancient Greeks, like Plato. I'm not sure I would have thought "wizards," but I doubt I would have thought Plato.

There are other examples, too, such as Agatha Christie's Murder in Three Acts, which became Three Act Tragedy, and Martha Conway's Floating Theatre, which became The Underground River. In the first example, I find the original title more melodic, and I alludes to acting a play, whereas "tragedy" can mean a play, or something else. In the second instance, The Floating Theatre implies acting, whereas The Underground River provides a truer picture of what the book is about: the Underground Railroad.

I tend to read series more often than stand alone novels, and cozy mystery puns aside, I do like when a series' titles have something in common. With C.S. Harris's Sebastian St. Cyr mysteries, the titles all begin with When or Why or Where or What: What Angels Fear, Why Mermaids Sing, When Serpents Sleep, and so on. Charles Finch's series about Charles Lennox don't have a commonality among titles, but all of the covers have three of something: three pairs of spectacles, three sailors' knots, three keys.

Another recent trend has been "The Girl" titles: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsen, The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins, and Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. These books are unrelated to each other, but either the authors or (more likely) the publishers are cashing in on a money-maker.

And then there are titles that borrow from another work, which I will choose to do for my genre mystery series, if the publisher doesn't override me. Titles in this category would include Hemingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls, referencing a John Donne poem; Atlas Shrugged, by Ayn Rand, referencing an ancient Greek myth; and Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, referencing a line from Shakespeare.

The best titles of all, though, are the ones that have become engrained in our consciousness, almost living on there own outside of the work they represent. Catcher in the Rye, Anna Kerenina, Catch 22, and Brave New World. Those are classics, but even contemporary works fit in this category: Tuesdays with Morrie, The Joy Luck Club, and Fight Club.

Authors put time, effort, blood, sweat, and tears into their works. Publishers and marketing professionals come along and create titles. How much does a book's title influence whether or not you'll read it?