tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6771775388110854391.post1225828938442532352..comments2024-01-29T06:21:11.353+00:00Comments on Sarah Duncan's Blog: How to Find the Perfect Title 1Sarah Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12530089356370140344noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6771775388110854391.post-10863209084347744912010-05-29T16:36:46.863+01:002010-05-29T16:36:46.863+01:00Finding a new title for a book with an already goo...Finding a new title for a book with an already good title sounds like a new form of writer torture. My sympathies!Sarah Duncanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12530089356370140344noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6771775388110854391.post-19020727323004626592010-05-28T21:52:43.379+01:002010-05-28T21:52:43.379+01:00As someone with a book called, "What's in...As someone with a book called, "What's in a Name?" I can totally sympathize with the horrendous (for me) task of thinking up titles. All advice is appreciated! Thanks for this post.<br /><br />And when I got rights back to one book that had a good title and then had to find another "perfect" title for the new publisher, I thought I would go crazy.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01205248313580844773noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6771775388110854391.post-37253712239877278622010-05-28T08:36:22.774+01:002010-05-28T08:36:22.774+01:00Well the novel before NGD was called Adultery for ...Well the novel before NGD was called Adultery for Beginners so, um...yes, the sexual connotation was there, and that didn't have a problem abroad, countries did their local variations and I think the only country that did something away from adultery was Norway (where it was Loves Me, Loves Me Not - just like the recent RNA short story collection). But perhaps Nice Girls Do translates too strongly? It's romance, not porn!Sarah Duncanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12530089356370140344noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6771775388110854391.post-710875155452721202010-05-28T08:07:42.559+01:002010-05-28T08:07:42.559+01:00If you translated Nice Girls Do literally into Spa...If you translated Nice Girls Do literally into Spanish it would have a sexual connotation and I don't know if you intended that with your title. Maybe it's the same for Holland and Germany.<br />The same goes for films, it isn't the translator changing the titles, it's the marketing department.Sarah Callejohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00170538674915115980noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6771775388110854391.post-86040461697201230822010-05-27T23:46:32.670+01:002010-05-27T23:46:32.670+01:00Interesting - I wonder if it kept the same name in...Interesting - I wonder if it kept the same name in other countries. Maybe we're more sensitive/PC about domestic violence? <br /><br />Some of my books have had different names abroad, usually something related to the original title but sometimes not - Nice Girls Do was Under Blue Skies in Holland and Germany, and I couldn't work out why.Sarah Duncanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12530089356370140344noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6771775388110854391.post-953054828980302472010-05-27T22:53:42.214+01:002010-05-27T22:53:42.214+01:00Actually, in Spain it was translated as "Men ...Actually, in Spain it was translated as "Men who don't love women" and it still made it to the bestseller lists.<br />I found theses posts very useful and I think we could apply these ideas to pen names too.Sarah Callejohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00170538674915115980noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6771775388110854391.post-12309375141806454592010-05-11T15:05:47.119+01:002010-05-11T15:05:47.119+01:00Yes, I'd heard that was the original title whi...Yes, I'd heard that was the original title which I reckon was a no no on several counts, not least because it sounds like non-fiction.Sarah Duncanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12530089356370140344noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6771775388110854391.post-39751595705186336442010-05-11T11:10:05.636+01:002010-05-11T11:10:05.636+01:00The literal English translation of the original ti...The literal English translation of the original title of "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" would have been "Men Who Hate Women" - which would perhaps not have taken it into the bestseller lists.Dave Morrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14468228790874490693noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6771775388110854391.post-58363589000985222552010-05-11T10:26:44.715+01:002010-05-11T10:26:44.715+01:00If your agent and editors are happy with your titl...If your agent and editors are happy with your titles then you should be too. I find that when 'the' title comes along it's immediately obvious - there's an a-ha! moment. But sometimes it takes a lot of brain-ache to get there.Sarah Duncanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12530089356370140344noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6771775388110854391.post-25090224472423403792010-05-11T09:13:13.032+01:002010-05-11T09:13:13.032+01:00For me, as an old paper sub editor, finding the ri...For me, as an old paper sub editor, finding the right title, the one that gives me a buzz, is fundamental to my pleasure in writing. I have come late to being published, and am very happy to listen to my agent on this subject. I just do hope that I am allowed to continue pleasing myself on the subject of titles but feel I may be forced at some point to be less allusive.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08536884736928320856noreply@blogger.com