It’s ironic: as authors, we labor to put just the right touch in our titles, to make them grab the reader’s interest and capture the spirit of the books.
Then, more often than not, the editors change them.
Sometimes, it’s frustrating. Other times, we’re wowed by the editor’s wisdom. Mostly, we accept that she knows her business and that she’s got a tough job, balancing the marketing department’s instructions, the reader’s expectations and the need to avoid duplicating titles on other books.
It’s an interesting process, regardless of the final result. My current release, The Doctor’s Little Secret, actually bears my original title. Although it launches three books that feature police officers – in this book, the heroine – I’m known for a recent series (Downhome Doctors) about physicians. Since my latest hero is a pediatrician, I chose to put that element up front.
Plus, readers seem to love stories about “secret” babies. In this case, the hero gets a chance to reclaim the five-year-old daughter he’s always regretted giving up for adoption, so I wanted to include that angle. She’s the “little secret.”
On the other hand, my May release, Daddy Protector, was renamed. It turned out that another author recently used my first title (The Daddy Next Door), so that was the luck of the draw.
Over the course of selling more than 75 novels, I’ve wrestled with this business a lot. One editor had been looking for a book to dub A Warm December, and handed it to me (which was fine). I still would have preferred my first choice, Prince of Rogues, over its replacement, Million-Dollar Mommy, but I yielded to wiser heads. That story of a prince and the woman he hired to bear his child is still one of my favorites.
Rather to my surprise, Harlequin retained my title Daddy Warlock on a story about a man struggling with his inner wizard. Other favorite titles that I originated are The Bride Wore Gym Shoes and Excuse Me? Whose Baby? Among my top picks that editors created are Assignment: Groom! and Diagnosis: Expecting Boss’s Baby.
Funniest story: One book in a special series started out with the Harlequin-created title The Royally Knocked-Up Princess, which I found hilarious. However, the slang expression "knocked up" didn’t mean the same thing in other English-speaking countries, so it got switched to The Improperly Pregnant Princess.
Not nearly as much fun, at least to Americans. But once again, the editors knew best!
Thursday, February 15, 2007
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3 comments:
With the number of books being published every year, has it happened where an editor might say that this title hasn't been used in ten years. We should be ok. Do you try to get a title that reflects the story?
To answer your last question first, I always try to get a title that reflects the story. Occasionally, however, an editor has pushed for one she believes is more saleable although it seems a bit farfetched to me. I usually agree, since she's the boss.
As for the first question, absolutely. Titles can't be copyrighted, and are often re-used. For instance, this April, I have a Gothic romantic suspense called Touch Me in the Dark being published as an e-book by Triskelion Books. There are at least two other books by that title but they're both from the 1990s. By the way, it's a fun mystery with a ghost and lots of spooky stuff!
Ah, A Warm December. That was the title of a 70's movie with Sidney Poiter, one of the few romances he filmed. I wonder if your editor saw it and decided to put that title on a story that had a happy ending, since the romance in the movie was the bittersweet type.
Bettye Griffin
www.bettyegriffin.com
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