Are you good at writing captions for pictures? Or maybe headlines for newspaper stories? Then could be you’re an ace at coming up with book titles. If so, we can maybe brainstorm on titles now and again. I’ve written posts about coming up with titles for my books several times. Here’s the link to one of them, “Let’s Talk Titles”, in case you want to check it out.
Book titles are important. They are sometimes the first thing that catches a readers eye, especially if the cover shows the title to best advantage. I’ve had some good titles. Some of them I’ve come up with. Others a titling committee at the publishing company have brainstormed and come up with great ideas for titles. Sometimes I’ve liked a title right away. Other times, we’ve gone back to the drawing board and tried to find a title that suits the story, the publishers and me.
I’ve had thirty-five books published. So that’s a lot of titles. What are some of my favorites that I titled and the titles stuck? I did title many of my young adult books. A favorite title among those would be A Kindred Spirit because of how that title fit the story so well. I just checked that book on line to make sure I hadn’t forgotten the exact title. A fun review there, written several years ago, was from someone who had read the book when she was young, kept it through the years, and then her daughter found it and read it too. Both liked the story.
Another title of one of my young adult books I came up with and really liked was A Look of Eagles. That story was about a girl who worked with horses and that phrase, a look of eagles, describes the special something that horsemen can see in a horse’s eyes or the way he stands or moves that lets them know this horse is going to run and be a winner.
If I’m thinking about more recent books, I suppose I would have to say Orchard of Hope was a favorite title I’ve come up with since I did want that book to be about hope for the future. As far as titles that the publishers brainstormed for me, I like These Healing Hills. We went back and forth with that one for a while. They weren’t thrilled with my suggested title, which I admit I have forgotten, and I wasn’t thrilled with their first suggestions which I have also forgotten. But These Healing Hills nicely fits the story even though it can tongue-tie you in a minute if you try to say it five times in a row. 🙂
Is there one of my titles I regret the publishing company nixed? Actually there is. I really, really liked my title of my 1855 Louisville book that was about the election riots with one of the causes the inflammatory editorials the newspapers printed. My character was the daughter of an editor and she had ink in her blood even though, at that time, genteel women weren’t expected to be reporters or write anything other than the occasional flowery poem. I titled the book Words of Fire. The publishers said that wouldn’t work. They suggested a title I couldn’t accept. After I said that title was totally wrong for the story, they suggested Words Spoken True. I still liked my title better, but I bowed to their experience in marketing that was much greater than mine. If they said my title wouldn’t work, then the title didn’t work. Even so, I really liked that title. I had actually rewritten that story three or four times and changed the title several times. If I remember correctly, my first title was Whispers of Love. A writer has to remember that very few things are written in stone.
Book Giveaway
Now to my new giveaway. Thanks to all of you who shared how you shake the winter drearies last week. You have your name in my drawing hat to have a chance to win your choice of one of my books and a grab bag book by a different Christian author. But you aren’t limited to one entry. Leave a comment on this new post and any other new post before the deadline for entries of midnight EST, February 10, 2018 and you’ll get your name thrown in the hat again. To make it fun let’s play the “Caption Game.” Take a look at the picture at the top of this post and come up with the perfect caption (family friendly, please). If you just want to enter without playing the game, you can do that too. Any comment will work for that entry. As always you must be at least 18 years old to enter. No purchases or sign-ups are necessary to enter. It’s all for fun. I’ll see if I can come up with a caption too and share it on the next post along with a new photo.
So fire up your imagination. I know it will be fun to read your captions. As always, thanks for reading!
Comments 56
“Liberace Times Two”
How cute are they!!!
My favorite thing to say to my toddler grandson when he starts in on the piano is “Gently, Gently” Sometimes it works…..
Must be disappointing to have a title that you think is the best for the hours of labor and love you’ve put into writing the book only to have your suggestion shot down. 😟
Have a beautiful day!
Author
That’s cute, Karen. Thank you for joining in with my caption game fun. I’ll have to hunt up a new picture for Wednesday. I know what you mean about saying “gently.” I think I might have said “don’t bang. on it.” LOL
I’ve generally been happy with the titles we have agreed upon for my books. Sometimes I wasn’t all that happy with the titles I came up with and so knew that a better one was out there. I think that was definitely true with These Healing Hills. I usually just have a working title and then after I’ve written the book or at least part of the book, I try to come up with something better.
Can’t think of a caption right off but love some of the other suggestions! Such a cute picture.
Oh wait, I think you hit the wrong note, it goes like this!
Making “grand” music!
It looks to me like the closest boy has a frowny face. “Hey! I I’m the oldest. I should go first!”
You’re getting it now!
We are the Piano Men!!!
“Listen…..I think Grandma’s dog is singing with our music”.
Mozart started like this!
My first look and my first response: “One and a Two”
Double the trouble…double the fun 🎹🎼
“What cha’all wanna hear?”
Titles are not my forte, but the picture is so cute, I decided to try.
Have a blessed day.
Author
MH – Those boys can decorate or un-decorate something in hurry. Fun caption.
Becky – I like yours. That’s what we’re supposed to do when we sing at church – make that joyful noise. Trust me, these boys know how to do the noise part. 🙂
Lois – Love it. A famous piano duo for sure.
Author
Love the chopsticks captions, Margaret and Paula. That is the first song a lot of kids learn to play.
We play so good together, we are going to be famous
“A Joyful Noice!”
“Isn’t the piano prettier with our decorations?”
Suggested captions for the little guys at the piano:
“A little rubato there… ah-h, so nice!”
“Ah-one, ah-two, ah-three, now go!”
“Ready? Gotta’ get it right this time.”
“Such intense concentration.”
Thanks for inviting us to share the fun of captioning this story-telling photo. Maybe the next challenge should be just that: tell the story of these little guys, their serious focus at so young an age, and what the ensuing years brought them.
Author
You’re pretty good with story prompts, Jolene. Every picture, well at least a lot of pictures, tell a story, don’t they? And our imaginations can do some add ons. Liked your captions. Thanks for joining in with the fun.
You be Jerry Lee and I’ll be Elton John😀
Author
Not sure I’d want the boys to follow either of those paths, Kathi, but your caption made me laugh. Good one.
On my count: One, two three, chopsticks!
“Hey, do you know ‘Chopsticks’?”