Winnie the Pooh at his finest (Disney)
The title of your book is very important and it gets more difficult in a series. Do you pick a theme? Do you mention the title of the next book at the end of the previous book? Well, it does help proving you have more up your sleeve. So, you need to have an idea of the title if you want to go that route. I’m looking at the Legends of Windemere titles and wanting some feedback. These are going to be out of context, but I’m going for the sound of them. Please let me know what you think:
- Beginning of a Hero
- Prodigy of Rainbow Tower
- Allure of the Gypsies
- Family of the Tri-Rune
- The Compass Key
- Curse of the Dark Wind
- Sleeper of the Wildwood Fugue
- Merchant of Nevra Coil
- The Mercenary Prince
- Clan of the Ice Tiger
- Heart of Fire, Heart of Steel
- The Spirit Well
- Ritual of the Lost Lamb
- Path of the Traitors
- The Age of Heroes
The second issue is that I’m going to be doing a theme week. Kayla Matt, the artist who did the Beginning of a Hero drawings, has done more drawings. This time of the female characters, so I wanted to do a ‘Women of Windemere’ theme. Each day I will post one set of pictures and make a post that relates to this them. The problem is that I’ve already done interviews with the characters, which have fallen flat lately. I’ve also done poems. I don’t need to go character or Windemere specific. I’m just looking for ideas on what I can do for this type of theme. Maybe I’ve already expended it?
Legends of Windemere 
I love those titles. Heart of Fire, Heart of Steel does sound like it could be a romance book though. But if it is clearly part of a series, it might not.
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Romance does have something to do with that one. 🙂
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Then it would be a perfect title!
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That was the one I was iffy on too, so good to hear it.
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They are all very catchy. Allure of the Gypsies sound mysterious…
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Looking forward to releasing that one this year.
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You have Gypsies in Windemere? Technically, Gypsy is a specific nationality, it would be rather like having Germans or French in an otherwise invented world. Granted, you can probably get away with using “Gypsy” as a generic term for “nomadic people”–it’s not an ethnic group that has a lot of supporters.
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That’s what they get used for in a lot of fantasy/fiction words. In Windemere, the gypsies are a nomadic culture with their own rules and structure.
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Fair enough.
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Charles, because you are my best friend I feel I should tell you that cooking with oooh is a bad idea.
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Pooh
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Cooking with oooh?
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Cooking with yooooou
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I’m not that edible.
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You have a few gems in that list but nix the hard to pronounce or awkward ones – they do not have enough punch
Sleeper of the Wildwood Fugue
Merchant of Nevra Coil
Family of the Tri-Rune
Prodigy of Rainbow Tower
this one reminds me of an existing trilogy
The Compass Key
One of these
Allure of the Gypsies
Curse of the Dark Wind
The Mercenary Prince
Clan of the Ice Tiger
Heart of Fire, Heart of Steel
Path of the Traitors
The Age of Heroes
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I’m not really sure which ones you like and which ones you don’t. The first two are already published.
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sorry that was a typo,, I do know that much,,I like everything under one of these
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So, the first four you don’t like. Technically 3 since Prodigy is already published.
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that WAS a typo because I was ruling it out…I do like your first two titles but also not compass one
oh.. you like the ones I don/t, right?
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I was iffy on Heart of Fire, Heart of Steel and The Age of Heroes. The others all have big focus on the plot. The Compass Key storyline is a rough one because it moves through a lot. The compass key is the target of everyone.
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I do like the Compass Key; it is just that the Golden Compass flashed through my mind
BUT since this is #3 and
since it is so important,
readers will not even think of that connection but latch on to its significance in the story
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I can see the connection now. Maybe it will help me. It’s the 5th book, so I should be fine.
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definetely your titles are strong, intriguing, hint at what is between the book covers,..perfect for a fantasy world
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Thanks.
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Loving the title choice Charles.
On a side note, spelling is also very important. Cooking with Pooh vs. Cooking with Poo. Second one doesn’t sound as cute or appetizing.
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Definitely. One typo can change everything.
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#4 bothers me as does the repetition in #11.
#7 and #8 don’t grab my interest. Since these are in the middle of the pack, it’s right at the point where readers might get weary (the writing, action, intrigue, etc. might prevent this – I’m just thinking philosophically without any regard to content or talent). So if these two titles grab renewed interest, it might help. But that’s jmho.
Most of the other titles seem very good (without knowing any more about the books). Good luck with your series. 🙂
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Thanks. I’ll see what I can do on those. Fantasy has the rough title issue of needing to be connected to the plot without giving it away. Typically focusing on a central mystery or plot line of the book.
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Sleeper of the Wildwood Fugue
does it for me, it sounds intriguing it is hard not to sound like someone else’s story good luck.
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Thanks. I’m noticing the variety of opinions here. Guess a flaw in my plan is that everyone has different tastes. It’s fun to see though.
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That is why you must choose who are your tribe members are and go with the flow, those people who will follow you to the end of the world. Your most faithful readers of your books.
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Cooking with Pooh, brilliant. Personally I like short punchy titles. For me they provide just enough mystery and intrigue to entice me to look further into a title. Out of your list I did enjoy these titles:
The Compass Key – could see this as a series
Curse of the Dark Wind
The Mercenary Prince
Heart of Fire, Heart of Steel
The Spirit Well
The Age of Heroes
I could even picture Heart of Fire as a title and Heart of Steel as a title.
Good luck.
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Thanks. 🙂
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I think they are all great, Charles. The Compass Key did point my mind towards “The Golden Compass.” The Age of Heroes is perfect for the last title!
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Thanks. Wondering how widespread the popularity of The Golden Compass is since the movie didn’t do too well.
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I think it was pretty popular, but your books are very different from it 🙂
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