Something interesting happened this morning and I thought I'd relate it here. I've been calling my second book "The Preacher's Daughter" as it fits the story so well and seemed a good working title after The Frontiersman's Daughter. This morning I heard from another author who has a book out entitled The Preacher's Daughter and another upcoming one entitled The Preacher's Wife. I was a bit embarrassed to hear that my own publisher has already put out yet another The Preacher's Daughter by Beverly Lewis, the bestselling suthor of Amish fiction.
Anyway, Cheryl St. John wrote and told me of her book by that name (it has a beautiful cover) and invited me to be a guest on one of her writing blogs. This particular blog also has a terrific title: http://petticoatsandpistols.com. Unfortunately, my book is set in the colonial period and isn't a western or I'd love to! I enjoyed looking at her sites. She's a very prolific, popular author and probably doesn't need the extra exposure but she was so gracious I wanted to mention her here. Thanks, Cheryl!
All this just goes to show that the publishing world is actually very small and good titles can be hard to come by. And so now you know I am green as corn about all this. An editor once told me to "enjoy the learning process" in the world of publishing. I guess this is all a part of it. So back to imagining a fitting but original title for book 2. I haven't done a google search yet but can almost bet there's not a book out there called The Scrivener's Daughter. So I might be safe with book 3! Nothing dull about the publishing world:)
Oh, Laura, no need to be embarrassed. Just think that you won't be getting all of Beverly Lewis's google alerts like I do! LOL And my publisher never cares if a title has been used before--even within their own company; they're not copyrighted after all. I can't wait to see the alerts I get for The Preacher's Wife! My working title was Song of the Mountain, and my critique partners still call it that just to make me happy.
ReplyDeleteThere's no shame in being in the learning process, either. When I sold my first book, there was no internet or email (I know, difficult to imagine, isn't it?) and I think I reinvented the wheel a hundred times withouot networking or people to ask questions of. I appreciate this day of instant communication and information - perhaps a little too much.
Thanks for ALL of your kind words. I do think your books fit our site, however, and will pursue you for a guest spot until I turn blue. Well, okay, that's blowing my persistance out of proportion...but not by much.
Smooches!
Cheryl,
ReplyDeleteI just love you and I've never even met you!! Makes me want to write a western!! I would be honored to take you up on your offer to be a guest on your site and will plan on that - maybe we should wait till the book comes out next summer? I'm not sure how these things are done. I do know my publisher has several westerns coming out - the gal that signed about the same time I did has a novel called "No Place For A Lady" due to be released soon and the cover is very well done. I think her pen name is Maggie Brendan.
You did teach me one more thing I didn't know - that you can use google to alert you to reviews and other things that pop up about your work, etc. I'm sure my brother is groaning at the moment as he's the one who supplies all the pics with my posts and tells me how to navigate in cyberspace as I am just not there yet. Somedays I long for my old Royal typewriter!
I love your working title - Song of the Mountain. When I went to Amazon to order one of your books, more than one reviewer said your work is beautifully written. To me, that is the highest compliment I can think of. I hope folks will say that about my work as that is how I feel when I write - the writing experience, for me, is a beautiful thing.
Bless you buckets, Cheryl! I'm going to be keeping up with you gals on petticoats and pistols!!You've made my day:)
Laura,
ReplyDeleteThe title of my WIP, KINDRED, has been used already as well. Octavia Butler wrote a well known time travel/slavery/kinship & race issue book, which is where I got my "working title." After 4+ years, I've never come up with a more fitting title for _my_ KINDRED.
Title's aren't copyrightable (if that's a word!), as I'm sure you know. But there is still the issue of confusion when the books come out close together, or have similar subjects (like mine and Butler's).
Finding the right title is almost as hard as writing the book!
Hi Lori,
ReplyDeletePersonally I love Kindred - even more than Trouble the Water. But I know publishers change titles often. The Frontiersman's Daughter was once Dogwood Winter (my working title)but I like the change and feel it is the essence of the story. This book was at one point almost as big as Kindred and I had to slash and burn like crazy! It actually made me feel ill at first, no kidding, but I knew, like you, that it was for the good of the story. I tossed out several favorite scenes and in the end the book had almost a staccato type feel - so short and abrupt I was afraid all the beauty had been lost. There has to be a balance of our writing style (literary, for lack of a better word) and what the market wants. Thanks for stopping by. I'll be thinking of you:)