WOW! Women On Writing Blog: book titles

Friday Speak Out!: A Rose By Any Other Name . . .

Friday, October 24, 2025

by Reyna Marder Gentin

As authors, we put a lot of thought and energy into what the covers of our books say about what’s inside, because of course, readers do judge. Is it more unfair to choose to read or pass on a book based just on its title? We know that titles matter too; they’re the introduction your novel presents to the world. “Hi, there! I’m …”

Choosing a title for your novel is very personal. Finding something that’s both meaningful to you and captures the imagination of potential readers is no easy task. Just like your child has to live with the name you choose, you’ll have to live with the title you pick. And, depending on the route you go, you’ll have to explain your intent in choosing the name of your book going forward.

There’re many ways to pick a title for a novel. Here are four suggestions of how to think about your options if you’re struggling.

1. Play it straight. Call your book after the main character or the location where the action takes place. Examples aren’t necessary, but here goes: James, Jane Eyre, Oliver Twist, Tom Lake, Gilead. The advantage here is simplicity–no explanations necessary.

2. Play it straight, but with a wink. Annabel Monaghan’s It’s a Love Story is, of course, a love story. And the potential reader will understand that the novel will follow the conventions of a rom com. But there’s a sly smile lurking just below the surface of the title that promises more. The same is true of Karen Dukess’s Welcome to Murder Week. The title points to genre–a cozy mystery–but leaves open the possibility that the novel could go in a different direction. Titles that intrigue, but don’t mislead, can draw in your potential reader.

3. Pick a line of dialogue for the title that sets a tone. There’s an intimacy for the reader to being let in on a conversation, almost like eavesdropping, and it’s a satisfying experience when she eventually reaches that line and understands its import. Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout or Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane are good examples.

4. Jump on a trend, but make it your own. Just like the tropes you find in different genres, there are formulas for titles that become popular. In recent Women’s Fiction, for example, there are these: Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman, Florence Adler Swims Forever, by Rachel Beanland, Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk by Kathleen Rooney. For my new novel, I chose Jessica Harmon Has Stepped Away. The title has the advantage of the familiarity of the composition, coupled with the open questions: what or who exactly is Jessica Harmon stepping away from?

Whether you’re an author who picks a title before you’ve written a word of the novel, or one who waits until your book is complete, crafting the name the world will encounter can be a challenge. I hope these thoughts will be helpful.

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photo by Stephen Friedgood

REYNA MARDER GENTIN grew up on Long Island and attended Yale College and Yale Law School. A former criminal defense attorney, she is the author of two prior legal romances, Unreasonable Doubts and Both Are True, as well as a middle grade novel, My Name Is Layla. Reyna’s personal essays and short stories have been published widely in print and online, and she is currently working on a collection of linked short stories entitled Open Twenty-Four Hours. Reyna lives with her family in Westchester County, New York. Learn more at Reynamardergentin.com

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Would you like to participate in Friday "Speak Out!"? Email your short posts (under 500 words) about women and writing to: marcia[at]wow-womenonwriting[dot]com for consideration. We look forward to hearing from you!

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Leave a Comment book titles, choosing a book title, Friday Speak Out!, Reyna Marder Gentin

Are You Delivering?

Tuesday, December 12, 2017

While scrolling through my pile-up of emails last week, I screeched to a stop at a YA title. I don’t recall the writer, but this self-pubbed author had done the first right thing. She’d grabbed my attention immediately with an intriguing title. Yay!

In fact, she’d done several right things, from a marketing standpoint. She’d gotten her new and intriguing title out there in the right places, and, I noticed, she’d already garnered quite a few reviews.

Which is great from my standpoint. When I don’t know an author’s work, I’ll read a couple of reviews. And my favorite place to skim reviews is Goodreads. I feel like I get a fairly balanced bunch of reviews and the reviewers tend to be savvy readers. So when I saw a similar criticism showing up in several reviews, I passed on this YA novel.

The book had a great title, and it had a compelling blurb. But the book itself wasn’t what was promised in the title and the blurb. Time and time again, reviewers complained about expecting a story on a certain topic only to find that the book wasn’t really about this topic at all.

Unfortunately, this author had done one big wrong thing: she hadn’t delivered on what she’d promised.

It’s possible that the author made an innocent mistake; perhaps she didn’t really understand what her book was about. But it doesn’t matter. The bottom line is that she pulled the old bait-and-switch on her target audience. And in doing so, her readers felt duped, and she hurt her marketing strategy. And that was a shame, because she managed to get her book into the hands of an impressive number of readers.

You’re probably thinking that this doesn’t happen very often so you don’t need to worry about your book not delivering. But take it from someone who’s received way more than one critique along those lines. It’s pretty common. In fact, I’m avoiding a revision right now because I know that it requires a major rewrite. I didn’t write a story about what I promised in the title and first chapter.

So how to make sure that you are delivering on what you’ve promised? First, make sure you know what your story or novel is about. If you can sum it up in one good sentence, then you’re off to a decent start.

Next, read your story with that sentence in mind. When or if the story veers too far off the rails from where it began, it’s probably time to stop and get things back on track.

And last, get feedback, either from your critique group, beta readers, or a professional editor. If you hear, “I thought this book/story was going to be about…” then prepare to take notes. You haven’t delivered on your promise.

And please, do this work before you put your book out there. Revisions may not be fun, but they can fix a whole lot of problems. On the other hand, if you’re facing a whole slew of bad reviews? There’s no easy fix when you don’t deliver the goods.

Cathy C. Hall is a kidlit author and humor writer and she will get to that rewrite right after she finishes revising her latest middle grade novel. (She does finish stuff, honest, and you can find out what if you check out Cathy here! Um, check out her blog. Her blog!)