Writers know how important it is to grab readers’ attention as soon as possible. A catchy opening line, an intriguing back cover blurb, even a good title is important to make that very first awesome impression. Sometimes those 3 things alone are enough to make a sale. That along with a good cover of course. I’ve been known to buy a book based on these 4 things.
But, sometimes things don’t go according to plan. We choose a catchy title, appropriate for our story, we send our darling out into the world and then we find out there are half a dozen or more books with the same title and perhaps even a similar cover. Perhaps a bit more research should have been conducted before sending it off to print. Now our marketing job becomes even harder because we have to make sure potential buyers also remember our name, not just the name of our book, so they don’t buy the wrong story.
Well folks, here are some titles that went horribly wrong. Now don’t get me wrong, they are certainly memorable, but for all the wrong reasons. Take a look and see why choosing a good title is so very important:
Seriously, don’t these newspapers have editors? Or did they intentionally go to press with a catchy, albeit risque, title?
What say you readers? Have any funny headlines to share? Do you think the editors for the above publications deliberately chose a crazy title? How do you choose your book/blog titles?
Word of the Day: Integralismo
Fun fact about me: The title of my second soon-to-be-released book is very common but I’m not changing it. It’s perfect for my story.
Original post by Jansen Schmidt, April 2018. Photos courtesy Thought Catalog and Google Images.
Those headliners are great! *snicker* I always, always have trouble with the title, and it usually comes to me while I’m writing the story, never before. I like to throw the title somewhere in the book, too. One of my favorite authors often does that, and I loved it so much that I wanted to incorporate it in my own writing, too.
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I’ve been trying to do that as well with my titles. It’s like that “ah ha” moment when you read it in the text. Sometimes my titles come to me first, sometimes I choose a title and then change it as I’m writing for that very reason. The writing process is so interesting sometimes. When it works it’s awesome. When it’s not working so well, it sucks.
Thanks for visiting today. Have a great week. Here’s to more amazing titles!
Patricia
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All I can say is HA-HA, those titles/headlines are too funny. 🙂
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Makes you wonder if they did it on purpose or if someone slacked off on their job. At least it’s good for a snicker.
Thanks for visiting Sheila. I hope spring is headed your way soon. I know you’ve been getting lots of snow up there in the great white north.
Patricia
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