Name Game
I just got an email from my editor telling me that the publishing house wants me to come up with a new title for my book. The marketing department thinks BROKEN WINGS is a little too "expected."
My first reaction, of course, was sheer panic. From the moment I first came up with the idea for my novel, i've thought of it as BROKEN WINGS. Asking me to rename it is like asking me to rename my own child.
But I know they're right. I've done Google searches on "Broken Wings" and come up with a number of books that are polar opposites of mine. Like this. And this. I'd rather have a title that no one has seen before, something uniquely my own.
Plus, I know other authors have gone through the new-title thing. My friend and colleague Holly Cupala ending up changing the name of her first novel from THE LIGHT THAT NEVER GOES OUT to the infinitely more evocative TELL ME A SECRET. And as if one title-changing event wasn't enough, her upcoming novel has gone from STREET CREED (which I actually think is pretty cool) to DON'T BREATHE A WORD.
I know I'll come up with a new title for my book and that, in time, I'll come to love it. But for now, it's still my baby. I reserve the right, for a little while longer, to think of my novel as BROKEN WINGS.
My first reaction, of course, was sheer panic. From the moment I first came up with the idea for my novel, i've thought of it as BROKEN WINGS. Asking me to rename it is like asking me to rename my own child.
But I know they're right. I've done Google searches on "Broken Wings" and come up with a number of books that are polar opposites of mine. Like this. And this. I'd rather have a title that no one has seen before, something uniquely my own.
Plus, I know other authors have gone through the new-title thing. My friend and colleague Holly Cupala ending up changing the name of her first novel from THE LIGHT THAT NEVER GOES OUT to the infinitely more evocative TELL ME A SECRET. And as if one title-changing event wasn't enough, her upcoming novel has gone from STREET CREED (which I actually think is pretty cool) to DON'T BREATHE A WORD.
I know I'll come up with a new title for my book and that, in time, I'll come to love it. But for now, it's still my baby. I reserve the right, for a little while longer, to think of my novel as BROKEN WINGS.