Titles are so important in grabbing the attention of your reader. A title can make or break a book. Loved the titles of the last two books I just read. Love on a Dime by Virginia Smith and Praying for Rayne by Elizabeth Goddard. Are those not delightful sounding? What images do they bring to your mind?
Love on a Dime has the heroine writing dime novels–the original novella of the late 1800s. The plot focuses on her dilemma—being discovered by her high society peers as a writer of romance novels. The title drew me to the book. I wanted to know what a dime had to do with love. I learned a lot about wealthy New York society of the time period and their skewed perception of right and wrong.
Praying for Rayne wasn’t what I thought the title implied. Although prayer is an intricate part of the book it is not about a sinner named Rayne who needed to be saved. I found this contemporary novel about a fountain designer fascinating. However, my subconscious mind was searching for the origin of the title Praying for Rayne. As the book is coming to its conclusion our heroine tells her true love that she was born during a drought. The day she arrived so did the rain in answer to the farming community’s prayers. How clever is that? Love the connection, enjoyed the prayer challenges and personal battles of the lead characters.
Notice that the titles are short and to the point, grabbing your attention without giving anything away. As a writer we need to spend as much time working out our title as we would on outlines and character development.