I’m not that great at figuring out titles. It seems that with every project, I agonize for days to find the perfect title, only to settle for something that sounds reasonably good.
Worlds Away from Home is no exception. Even though it was better than the previous title (Hero in Exile), I never really felt wowed by it.
So now that I’m midway through the third draft, I figure it’s time to fix this problem. For those of you who’ve read it, I’m hoping you can help me out with suggestions; and for those of you who can’t, maybe you can tell me which ones sound cool and which ones sound lame.
Here are some of my ideas so far:
Dome and Desert, Sand and Stars
Through Sand and Stars
Beyond a Thousand Suns
Beyond the Caves of Babylon
I don’t really know, though. I’d like to throw in a reference to the Temple of a Thousand Suns, but there’s already a famous book with the “thousand suns” phrase. I really like the phrases “dome and desert” and “sand and stars,” but when I throw them together it doesn’t really seem to get across Jalil and Mira’s storylines. Then again, I don’t know if any title could.
Anyhow, if you have any ideas, please toss them my way.
Why not A Romance of Sand and Stars? That kind of works for their plotline a bit, and for the most part it is a book about their relationship.
Then again, that means you wrote a romance novel. Ewwww! 🙂
“After the Thousand Suns”
“Temple, Desert, Stars”
Something about a Nomad or Nomads?
Dome and Desert & Sand and Stars actually sound like they would be really good as separate titles for books in a series. That might be something to think about if you’re thinking about writing a sequel to WAFM (like you’re doing with Bringing Stella Home).
I still think you should have just “Sand and Stars” as an option. Stop trying to make it longer!
From the ones listed, Beyond a Thousand Sunss my favorite. The last title is interesting, but from the draft I read, there isn’t really that much focus on the “babylon” thing.
Heh, that’s right Jakeson. Ewwww!
That’s a good point, Stephen. Trouble is, both of those titles would go really well with this book…how to choose?
Sand and Stars is okay, but I still feel like it’s missing something just by itself. Maybe Desert Sand and Stars of Destiny or Desert Sand and Destined Stars. Alternately, I could just go with The Temple of a Thousand Suns, although in some small way that feels like settling for something good but not great.
Or maybe Children of a Thousand Suns, hmmm…
Whatever you choose, remember that super long titles don’t work well in a digital age with the graphic design of small covers.
I suck at titles, but I second Charlie’s motion for “Sand & Stars” or something simpler like that.
Laura is my new BFF.
I still like “White Guy in the Desert”
You could mix up the two and do “Desert Stars” which I think also has that kind of romantic-ish feel. I actually like “Dome and Desert” by itself, too.
Well, if you took my advice and split it into two books, you could use both “Dome and Desert” and “Sand and Stars” separately.