On Writing: Title, Summary, Augh

AKA you wrote it, now what do you call it? And how do you sum it up – whether for a book blurb or a fic-posting site?

…Yeah, no, I’m not good at this. I face Title and Summary boxes with a look of stunned, deer-in-headlights, “Now what?” I spent all this time and effort coming up with an Idea and getting it down in words, and you expect me to sum it up?

Alas, we must. I mean, you can’t title a book “Every Neat Fictional Trope Slammed into a Firecracker of a Story!”

…Well, you could, but fitting it on your cover is going to be a bear and a half.

Which is a good place to start if you’re absolutely stuck on a title. What would look good on the front cover?

Hopefully this narrows down the horde of possibilities to something more manageable. Three to five words is usually good; if you’re using a one-word title like Dracula, you’re going to need a really good back cover blurb. If you’re using a subtitle, people usually think nonfiction. Things like that.

Puns, now. People have widely differing opinions on those. I personally consider a punny title one of the factors that will make me stop and read the cover blurb, and maybe the sample. I like puns. That said, if you have a punny title you’re implying there will be wry humor in the book as well. This fits for cozy mysteries, lighter fantasy and SF, and any other work where the characters can see some humor in their own situation. It’s not the vibe you want if you’re doing Deadly Serious stuff. The Wheel of Time? Serious. Eric Flint’s Pyramid Schemes? Not so much.

Also, puns generally don’t translate well, as anyone who’s written in an anime or foreign drama fandom can attest. This may or may not be important to you, but if you are trying to market internationally… well, it’s something to think about.

Proverbs may translate a bit better. I’ve been known to snag a saying or two as a title inspirations. Combine the right saying with a good cover, and you can strongly hint at the conflict of the story before your readers even read the blurb.

Or the summary. The two are not the same thing! A summary should give a general idea of the whole story. A blurb, in contrast, should only cover maybe the first third of the book, up to the first Major Conflict. Blurbs need to be short! Just enough to hook your reader in for more.

Remember, you don’t need to get them right the first time. Just like your story, it’s okay to do multiple drafts of your title, blurb, and so on.

Though do try to have the title final before you publish. It’s so much simpler that way…..