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Deanna Raybourn | HOW A BOOK GETS TITLED
February 11, 2010
One of the questions I am most often asked by readers is how I come up with
titles for my books. The short answer is that I don’t! Sometimes the book seems
to title itself. A single phrase, usually a snippet of a quote from a poem or
play, will settle down on the title page and I cannot bring myself to think of
it as anything else. My March 2010 release, The
Dead Travel Fast, was one such book. I had the idea for the novel some five
years ago, and started researching it and compiling notes. It is the story of a
Victorian novelist who leaves the security of her Edinburgh home for the grim
castles of Transylvania and meets up with an aristocrat who may or may not be a
vampire, and as part of my research, I read Dracula. I knew as soon as I
came across this passage what the title of my book had to be: As he spoke, he
smiled, and the lamplight fell on a hard-looking mouth, with very red lips and
sharp-looking teeth, as white as ivory. One of my companions whispered to the
other...‘Denn die Todten relten schnell.’ (‘For the dead travel fast.’) Bram Stoker himself
borrowed the quote from the German poet Gottfried August Bürger-creator of the
Baron Munchausen stories. No doubt Stoker too used it for
its shadowy Gothic connotations, reviving interest in this eerie 18th-century
murder ballad that was once translated by Dante Gabriel Rossetti. The books in the Lady Julia Grey series were also dictated by
quotations-the first, Silent
in the Grave, from a Psalm that proved an indispensable clue in sleuthing
out a murderer. The next two books in the series followed the same pattern, the
location of a body lending inspiration to the title. The fourth, Dark Road to
Darjeeling (Oct.2010), was an entirely different story. This one was chosen
by my publisher, both as a nod to the exotic Himalayan setting and as break from
the "Silent" titles so as not to confuse readers. And while I loved the "Silent"
titles, I am very happy to be leading readers down a few "Dark Roads"! Deanna Raybourn
DeannaRaybourn.com
Comments
7 comments posted.
Re: Deanna Raybourn | HOW A BOOK GETS TITLED
Titles can be so important and
there are some titles that
make me think, How did they
come up with that? Sometimes
in a good way, sometimes not.
But I think they are important
because they can often be
reflective of what's inside -
and can determine whether or
not someone buys the book.
(Margay Roberge 8:13am February 11, 2010)
I have to admit, I never thought about how an author came up with a title. I suppose I just assumed the author always knew what it was. Now I know the book "tells" the author what it's name is. Wow. That's interesting.
(Patsy Hagen 12:42pm February 11, 2010)
I never realized how much work is put into chosing the title or how important the cover art is. I enjoyed this behind the scenes look. Thank you.
(Rosemary Krejsa 3:10pm February 11, 2010)
The title of a book is the second thing a buyer notices after the picture on the oover (if there is a picture). I think it would be great fun to be able to think up titles for books, but it would necessitate having to read the stories first if one wasn't the author. That would be time-consuming if it required reading a huge number of books.
(Gladys Paradowski 9:09pm February 11, 2010)
I had always imagined the title to come first.
(Mary Preston 11:28pm February 11, 2010)
I have read several authors who say their publisher may change the title of the book at whim. I would be a 'little' upset if I worked to find a title that I thought was appropriate and then the publisher changed it,
(Karin Tillotson 6:20am February 12, 2010)
I guess you're lucky that your titles were accepted as you submitted them. I always think the "quote" kind of title is the best. It gives the book a more literary appeal. You definitely have chosen very good and memorable ones.
(Sigrun Schulz 8:24pm February 12, 2010)
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