What's in a name?

Coming up with a title is simple right? Wait long enough and the perfect title will land in your lap, right? But that if it doesn’t? Read on to see why I had to change my original title and how I settled on a new one.

Without A World always had a name, just not that one

From the very beginning, Without A World had a name; it was called A Place Between. All of my drafts are labeled APB. That title made sense because Miranda, the main character, is caught between two worlds, and for a portion of the book, is suspended between them both. About a year ago, when I thought I had a final draft ready (I’ve done so much revision since then!), I finally decided to google the title to see if it was available.

Google it before you fall in love

A word on this. As far as I know, authors can use any title you’d like, even if it has already been used. This may not be a wise approach, however, because if another work is using your name and it is well known (or they put money behind their SEO), then your book will not rank on the first page of google, and as my sister says, bodies are buried on Google’s second page.

In my case, a documentary from 2007 lands most of the first page spots, and there appeared to be no room. I could have fought for space, but it’s a crowded field. Instead, I decided to find a new title.

Just pick a new title… right?

Well, that turned out to be quite a challenge. My sister and my editor dove in to help, and we created a shared document with no less than 100 possible titles. There were actually more titles if I count the ones that only made it to texts. I would pick a title, sit on it for a week, and then hate it. This happened over and over for weeks. I finally decided on my top 5 and put together a poll to ask for opinions. I did not get many responses (maybe 15?), but the responses did point to a clear favorite. Readers liked Without A World. It works for me, and it still speaks to Miranda being between two worlds without a home. You can read more about the title search and see the runners-up here.

Without A World doesn’t rank on the first page of google without my name included, but maybe it will one day. Perhaps I could have stuck with my original title (which I still love), but the first page is not already full of someone else’s project with my exact title, so that has to count for something.

I can say this, I’ve already picked the name for the sequel and I really don’t want to change it…

Until next time-

Kristen