Writers please help me - I can't think of a good title!

[Kathyis6incheshigh]

OK so I have been working like a maniac and have nearly finished my second draft. Several friends have read my first three chapters and the alterations I need to make as a result of that are manageable.

But my title is utter shit.

I have surfed the net, trawled through dictionaries of quotations and read relevant poetry, come up with something reasonable only to find it had already been used a million times before.

My question is: would I be stupid to try to get an agent if I don't have an eye-catching title? Or wouldn't it matter given that all the how-to-write books say that publishers often change titles anyway?

And does anyone have any good tips on how to think of one?

PMSL @ Marooned on Coconut Island! There are coconuts on the island. And damn all else

Copracobana?

Soryy, too many manilow songs

Oceanspace sounds great for teens, very modern. I am an AVID reader and peruser of fiction in bookshops and know that if I saw a book called Oceanspace (esp if it has a non-specific jacket that doesn't give any clues (not that it requires a Mills and Boon type picture, but not a futuristic black/blue cover either) I wouldn't fancy as I too would assume has a fantasy theme (and I personally dislike fantasy eg Iain Banks etc) whereas I love "could be real" like Nicci French and Ian McEwan.

However I totally think if your intended market is teens then this title hits the mark. "Ocean" as it sounds American and glamorous (as opposed to "sea" ) and "space" with its mental connections of the galaxy etc. Oceanspace conjures to my mind complete middle of nowhere - like the film Castaway - just mile and miles of, er, ocean. Put that with marooned plot and it sounds fab! Good luck.

PS Also I think trying to think of a very descriptive title is old-fashioned. ie using the words marooned, island, coconut etc. It's too obvious and if your target market is specifically teens, may seem babyish.

However I DO like Wrecked, as the word has double meaning in teenspeak and I would imagine quite a few would pick it up based on that title alone!! . The one-word title is very powerful too (think "Jaws").

Message withdrawn

Plus (I just can't stop now, you've really got me thinking!) The Shipwreck, your provisional title, sounds too old or young for your market. Something my dad would read, or alternatively, a six-year-old. I visualise a brown and orange, sun-set cover with an old Clipper with its ripped sails drunkenly flapping in the breeze... it just doesn't sound cool enough for the teen market. Whereas having a booked called Wrecked or Oceanspace sticking out of your bag would look quite cool. Teens can be sheep and half the appeal is the kudos it brings them, in the same way as writing the name of cool bands on your school bag etc. The Shipwreck wouldn't cut the mustard for that (I don't think) but it is some years since I was a teen I remember it all very very clearly tho....

Why not ask the mums of teens on Mumsnet to go ask their teens which they prefer between The Shipwreck, Wrecked and Oceanspace (and WHY)? A sort of mini-poll.

oceanspace_lost at sea

Sparklepop, this is fantastic, really really helpful - will post more in a few mins.

check out a thesaurus...

it's hard to know what to call it without a summary.

'wrecked' sounds like one of those misery books on the shelf at asda. i think also it's hard to imagine a title when there are other books/movies about the sea that are sooo disinctive...

40,000 leagues under the sea
Kidnapped
Pirates of the Carribean

but if your characters reference to one of these historic titles that would be cool, and then give the title of the bok something from a line in one of those.

that's how bands do it!

what about a reference to an earlier book on a similar theme
e.g. The lord of the bugs

or what about reference to a realty tv show

"I'm not a celebrity get me out of here"
or
"not the real holiday show"

Punchy one-word title advice sounds good.

How about NOWHERE ?

or BLUE ?

I personally think it's a mistake to copy or echo too closely from another work or cult book/TV show/film etc. I would see that in a bookshop and think either "Lazy! Couldn't be arsed to think of an original title then", OR "Copycat! Is the rest of the book a rip-off like the title?"

Original works deserve a fresh original title. Plus if Kathy is creating (hopefully) her own NEW cult must-have then having connections to someone else's work will date it pretty fast. Teens are always hungry for cool and new.

Although I see what Casbie is saying about Wrecked, I still think that the fact that word also means getting hammered in teenspeak could win it extra readers (which is what ultimately it's all about). The cover design says a lot, not just the title. Wrecked could be presented in a tired, picture-of-a-wreck-on-the-front way OR it could be funky and bright with an abstract silver and electric blue design to represent the light on water etc (or whatever, just something appealing to teens).

How about "Island" rather than "The Island"? It sounds as though it would fit with yuor chpater title style? (or has someone already suggested it, in which case )

would go with FMV and try to find a quote from the book that you can use. I like it when you come across the title like that just within the text.

also, it could be the crux of the story is the title.. so

Hunt for Red October

etc

if your aiming at teenage kids, then maybe it should be something more savvy, more amy winehouse style.

Heat

Sweet Desert Island

Beached

Lost Isle

Isolation

Salt Water Blues

[thanks Roget!]

"Beached" is darn good.
Well, I think so, but then I'm not Kathy!

Would "Sunstroke" fit?
Or one describing how long they are on the island, e.g. "27 Days" or something?

my favourite book title ever:

drum roll

my best fiend

now whoever came up with that, was a genius!!

I really like Casbie's "Isolation" and I also think "Beached" would be ok if a little girly. Can't see a Darryl-from-Coronation-St type reading Beached but can see him reading Wrecked, Oceanspace or Isolation.

Not only do you have to consider the appeal to the teen market, but the subdivisions within that market ie if your book is aimed at male, female or both and younger teens or older teens. If both male/female then you should consider picking a title that won't isolate one or the other as most boys will not be seen dead with anything that could be considered even remotely girly. In fact they wouldn't even be seen picking up a book with a remotely girly title.

Choosing a neutral title will maximise sales opportunities. It's less likely to be dismissed at point of sale on a subconscious assumption the reader makes about whether they are they are the intended market. Given all the competition and the bedazzling array of titles and jackets you only have approximately one second (or as long as someone takes to glance at your book) to grab some interest. It is possible a potential customer could think "not for me, too old/young/girly/one for the guys" within a split second, literally. Your agent will I'm sure advise you on all of this anyway
Anyway.... back to what I do best... where's that duster....

I LOVED that My Best Fiend too, Casbie! I bet you also know The Bogwoppit...

PS - My favourite title was a little known one also around at the time of My Best Fiend and The Bogwoppit, called...

drum roll again....

"Mum, You're Fired!"

My sister and I would often cheekily read it following an argument or telling off from our own mum. In full view of her.

Gosh, all these posts - thanks so much guys!
Have been getting on with it and pondering.

There are some really good suggestions here and some brilliant explanations of why some work and others don't.

I think SparklePop is spot on about why The Shipwreck isn't good, and others might work better. At this stage I'm trying to catch the attention of an agent so something teens will think cool does make me look more clued up - The Shipwreck would make it look as if I wasn't really aware of what was going on in publishing for the age group. I wrote it 100% for me and didn't try to be cool - I have tried to make it good and well-written rather than to make it cool - but packaging it as cool seems well worth doing. (Not that it's not cool )

I like 'wrecked' more than 'beached', though beached is deffo good, because bearing in mind what people have said about using words from within the text, the characters do talk about being 'wrecked' but don't talk about being 'beached.' Also, although it is not a major theme, alcohol may have just been slightly involved in the wreck happening. Plus there are wrecked relationships as a result of it.

The only thing that does make me wince a bit with 'wrecked' is it sounds a bit like I'm trying to be all Melvin Burgessy and writing about drugs etc when frankly it is more Swallows and Amazons than Junk. (though cool Swallows and Amazons, obviously).

What I like about Oceanspace is that it kind of adds something to the atmosphere, the sense of the hugeness of the Pacific. Space, distance, is a theme even before the wreck happens and after they are off the island.
The north American associations of 'ocean' are good because one of the families is American. It's from a Robert Service poem called The Three Voices - 'The waves tell of ocean spaces,
Of hearts that are wild and brave,
Of populous city places,
Of desolate shores they lave,
Of men who sally in quest of gold,
To sink in an ocean grave'
One of the characters quotes the odd poem from time to time and this sounds like her taste, too!
But I am worried about the 'sounds like fantasy' aspect of it.

PMSL @ Witchandchips' suggestions

target market - yes, girls and boys. Male narrator, lots of action and adventure for the boys, strong female characters and a soupcon of romance for the girls. Not that I'm stereotyping or anything.

LOL at the Darryl-from-Coronation-Street test!