Titling a book

 

If you have never written a book, you have no idea how difficult finding titles can be. You want one that suits the book but also alerts its potential readers. It's not easy. The series name is to tell those readers that there is more if they so wish.

We have found some of my books worked for their titles from the start... but some not so much and we changed them. Something Amazon had allowed. Such a change had come when in December of 2021 we felt we needed something different for the Arizona historicals-- something that indicated they were more than romances. Ranch Boss came up with the idea, which led to shortening the titles also to something that didn't define the genre but did give a hint of the theme. We made the change in February of 2022 with no problems.  

What sounded like it should be interesting turned out not so much or readers, who saw nothing in them to convince them to try something maybe different. We stuck with it for a while; but come the end of 2022, we decided to shift back to a more romance oriented title but different than we had previously tried for this series (I know that sounds confusing. It was for me too). That was the beginning of trouble which taught me some new lessons-- none of which related to titles, subtitles or series names...

 First-- read the messages from Amazon when they come in. Neither of us had done that and they stated firmly that it was no longer possible to change titles or subtitles on books already out there. They would follow the guidelines for ISBN-- no changes after publishing. We had made the above change before the new rules. The new ones were now 'the' books. They refused to accept our desired changes-- though, they might've been sympathetic-- to a point!

I won't go into all the frustration that led to for us and them-- all of which could have been avoided if we we had just read that notice. It ended with us finally reading it and learning we had one option. It said, to change titles, pull the books, make changes and submit them to Amazon as new books. Because I made a further mistake, Amazon blocked the first book in the series. Guess they were tired of seeing our questions regarding what they had previously answered.

 Second lesson was something only I had to learn, as Ranch Boss already knew it, pay more attention to the meaning of subtitles. I saw it more connected to the series, but it's to the title-- as it says. A subtitle gives the reader a further clue as to what the book has for a dominant theme. He had done this for other books (after he'd taken some classes),
but I had missed the boat for what I understood. It's an important one.

 

What I have to do, and am in no hurry to do it, is sufficiently edit each of the books. I already came up with a better ending for the first one as one reviewer had earlier said it appeared to end too abruptly. In my writing it, I had thought all issues had been resolved, but it'll be easy to expand that ending in a way that might satisfy such critics who wanted something more.

 

 We can still notify previous buyers, in the blurb, that it's a returning title-- even though it's new.  Editing, for me, is actually fun as I always see how I can find better ways to say things. The books won't qualify as abridged as I don't want to substantially shorten them. So, what is a good word when they are reedited?  Maybe just that, as I've seen it done by other authors. I think the first of these will be out in two months *fingers crossed*, as we are in no hurry and then maybe one a month after that. 

 

The first one does have a new title in our minds-- but that could change. We have some ideas for the series name-- as we try to come up with titles we can live with forever. Lucky I was not working on the new book right now as my calendar is free :)

Is there a lesson beyond the books? I'd say-- pay more attention to rules. This is particularly true when we are bombarded by information, or is it? Also be aware of the meaning of words to use them properly-- again when we are bombarded by words... Everything doesn't have such immediate consequences but they can. All photos are from our Arizona home.

They don't quite fit-- or something?

by Rain Trueax 

Why books find acceptance-- or not-- is a mystery to writers-- most of us. I mean we love everything we put out-- most of us. That is not always the case with readers-- most of them. So, this is about my failed contemporary romances, the ones without the paranormal elements, the ones that are all full-length novels-- all with suspense in the plot. 

Only one of these contemporaries was submitted to a publishing house. In the '90s, when I had sent a query on Moon Dust, one editor liked it enough to request the manuscript. This is a big deal as most queries don't end up going that far. Back then, it required printing it off, double-spaced, putting it in a box and mailing it with hope... It was rejected, but I did get a handwritten note with it (again not all do this). The editor said good things about the writing and suggested if I softened the plot, I could resubmit it. I understood the editor's concerns, as the book, while a romance, is also about divorce, consequences of abuse, and the militia movement. How do you soften any of that? 

After my extensive research, I especially saw no way to soften the emotional consequences of childhood abuse.  Some think molestation is only about women, but statistics say 10% of men have been abused. It's underestimated for its impact, given men are supposed to enjoy sex. Abuse is not about sex but control. It is as bad for males as females. I didn't resubmit the book and waited to bring it out-- un-softened-- when indie publishing became an option. 

It turned out to get very few readers; so that editor was probably right that romance readers want their books softer. You know most romance readers have complicated lives and often demanding careers. It's easy to see why they don't want to face difficult issues in their reading for pleasure.

I get that, but writers have to stay true to their muse, to their vision. Each of my books always has elements that interest me about the cycles of life-- not always enjoyable ones. I think this is because those are the books I prefer to read. 

So below are my contemporaries and why they were written-- what interested me in their themes as well as the characters.