Thursday, June 10, 2010

The Next Top Title Blogfest

It's blogfest day! Today I'm taking part in The Next Top Title Blogfest hosted by Slushpile Slut. We're supposed to list 3-5 possible titles for our WIP without any background or logline. Then you (if you're so inclined - and I hope that you are!) can leave a comment to let me know what you think of the titles and which one you prefer. Slushpile Slut said if we had more than one WIP, we could post titles for both, so I did. :) Thanks for reading!

WIP #1 (paranormal romance - modern day)
2012
Killing Kessler
The Virus
Love Thy Enemy
Three Days in October

WIP #2 (epic fantasy)
Darkest Days
The Reluctant Prince
In the Seventeenth Year

Mark of Gideon
Prince of Hearts

Now I hope you'll head over to Slushpile Slut's blog to find the list of other participants and check out their titles as well.

Have a great Saturday everyone!

58 comments:

Jessica Bell said...

WIP1
I really like Three days in October. I makes me think something really important/urgent is going to happen. I like that because it already evokes tension without reading anything!

WIP2
Hmmm, none really jump out at me, but I'd probably go with Prince of Hearts becasue it makes me think there's some sort of twist on Alice in Wonderland's Queen of hearts.

Joanne said...

Hm, for the first, I like Three Days in October. It's a slice of life that feels like it'll affect the characters lives forever. I like The Seventeenth Year for your 2nd, probably for the same reason. So I guess I like "time" titles.

DL Hammons said...

WIP #1
Killing Kessler

WIP #2
In the Seventeenth Year

These are the most intriguing to me.

Christi Goddard said...

DL chose the same two I was going to, so ditto DL.

Susan Fields said...

Jessica - Thanks for your input! I just came up with both of those yesterday, and I do like them.

Joanne - I like "time" titles, too. Especially a short time frame, makes me think it's going to be an action-packed book.

DL and Christi - You picked the two actual titles I've been using. It's great to know they got your votes. :)

Sangu Mandanna said...

I love Three Days in October! It sets a sense of time and cost, to me, and says so much. I'm not sure about WIP2, I wasn't particularly grabbed by any of the titles.

Andrew Rosenberg said...

1 Kessler
The others sound cliche or meh
Enemy thy Love

2 What about
Darkest
17th Year
The Heart Prince
Prince Reluctant
Death of Prophecy

Christine Danek said...

WiP 1 Three Days in October
WiP 2 In the Seventeenth Year
Have a great day!

Renae said...

I liked Three Days in October. Like previously pointed out, it does make one think something big is going to happen.

The second WIP I think would be The Reluctant Prince.

Kris n' Kels said...

I like Three Days in October, but I also like Virus. Both would grab my interest.
I really like Darkest Days or Reluctant Prince. Prophecy of Death made me giggle, out loud. It kinda sounded like a joke. Or a cheesey sci-fi movie.

Susan Fields said...

Sangu - Thanks for your input - I obviously have some more work to do! :)

Iapetus - Good suggestions for #2 - thanks!

Christine - thank you, and you have a good day, too!

Renae - I like your choices - thank you!

Kris - Okay, I took that one off *hides head in shame*. Seriously, I came up with many of these yesterday at the pool, and now that I look at it, it is pretty darn cliche. Can't have any titles make people giggle out loud! :)

Bossy Betty said...

Killing Kessler and Reluctant Prince OR combine the two stories:

Killing Kessler, the Reluctant Prince.

Tess said...

I think Killing Kessler is such a great title. I struggle so much w/ titles...how come we can write a huge manuscript, but not a simple title? argh!

The name is Ashelynn said...

WIP 1 - Three Days in October. LOVE THAT.
WIP 2 - Darkest Days.

I sense a day theme...

Anonymous said...

Three Days in October is really good!

I'm afraid I wasn't captured by any of the others.

Aubrie said...

I like 2012 and The Reluctant Prince. :)

RaShelle Workman said...

Three Days in October is excellent for WIP1

and In the Seventeenth Year is good for WIP2

Both are quite catchy.

Melanie Sherman said...

What a great opportunity to try out titles. Because you actually gave the genre, it put a whole new spin on this. If I wandered into the paranormal romance section, I'd be likely to pick up Killing Kessler because it sounds as though the road to romance would be fraught with controversy, or perhaps a fun fracas. It would make me pull it down from the shelf and read the back flap.

The epic fantasy—None of them jump out at me. It makes me want to wander into that section at B&N and see the titles. The Reluctant Prince and Prince of Hearts sound like cliché Harlequin titles to me. I think of the four, the Seventeenth year one. Maybe just Seventeenth Year or 17th Year. In the Middle of the 17th Year. The 18th Day of the 17th Year.

Anonymous said...

I adore THREE DAYS IN OCTOBER for the first one. And for the second, I prefer THE RELUCTANT PRINCE. :)

Old Kitty said...

Oooh! WIP 1: Love Thy Enemy (romance!)- it says romance and paranormal for me!

WIP 2: Darkest Days (epic fantasy) - it says doom on an epic scale!

:-)
Take care
x

Dawn Embers said...

Interesting sets of titles to choose from. And there are some good ones in there, in my humble opinion.

wip 1 - Killing Kessler has the nice double K sound when reading the title. Though I have to admit I like the Three Days in October one. It's different, doesn't give much away but not in the bad way. That and well, I'm pretty sure it'd be hard to go with 2012 in general with all the books out and movie, stuff like that. Plus it's almost 2012 already!

wip 2 - hmm...something about In the Seventeenth Year catches my attention, and I usually prefer very short titles. But that one sounds very interesting. Darkest Days sounds to me more dystopian or urban fantasy, instead of epic. And the prince ones, while I see the appeal for some they don't interest me to have that information in the title.

Roland D. Yeomans said...

Killing Kessler is a title that would have me picking up the book off the shelves. 3 DAYS IN OCTOBER reminds me too much of the JFK missile crisis.

Mark of Gideon is my favorite there. A bit of mystical blended with darkness. The others struck me as too generic. But that's just my flawed take on them.

Have a look at mine, why not? Roland

Writer Junkie said...

WIP1: Three Days in October - It makes me think fast paced with dire consequences.

WIp2: I like both, Darkest Days & In the Seventeenth Year. Though the 17th year makes me think YA (just my personal thought here).

Anonymous said...

Three Days in October would make me pick up the book and read the blurb, without a doubt.

Lisa Gail Green said...

Love Thy Enemy and Mark of Gideon!!

Unknown said...

I like yor page layout and photos as well.

Margo Berendsen said...

WIP #1 Killing Kessler

Like this one because it sort of evokes an emotion. Surprised so many people picked Three Days in October! Well I guess it would be my second choice.

WIP #2 (epic fantasy)
In the Seventeenth Year. Forgive me but I wasn't keen on any of these. Need something more evocative??? I struggle with titles too. Two of my titles I absolutely love, the third is - well, a working title because for 10 years now I haven't found it's true name yet.

Thinking about "Reluctant Prince" - tells you something about the story but I bet you could dig deeper. What else is striking about the character besides being a prince? what other character trait could you use that isn't off-putting like reluctant? Something more active, with more attitude?

Sharon K. Mayhew said...

Killing Kessler and In The Seventeenth Year are my picks! Thanks for the reminder, Susan..I ran off to a Kalidescope Factory today...

Olivia J. Herrell, writing as O.J. Barré said...

Killing Kessler grabbed me for #1. The Virus reminds me of The Stand.

For #2 I like In the Seventeenth Year and Mark of Gideon.

~That Rebel, Olivia

Dawn Simon said...

Ooh, this is fun!

WIP #1: KILLING KESSLER or THREE DAYS IN OCTOBER.

WIP #2: IN THE SEVENTEENTH YEAR or THE RELUCTANT PRINCE.

Good luck with your selection! You've come up with great ones. I'm not sure about my title yet, and I'm not ready to put my picks in a post. I think you're brave. :)

Susan Fields said...

Betty - Brilliant idea! Will take a massive rewrite, though... :)

Tess - I know, titles are so tough! That's why I was so excited to join this blogfest and get all this wonderful feedback!

Ashelynn - The Day titles do seem to be popular...something to keep in mind!

Bryan - I clearly have more work to do! Thanks for stopping by and giving me your input. :)

Susan Fields said...

Aubrie - I was telling my kids about my titles today, and my son pointed out that we just watched the movie 2012 last weekend. How did I not remember that? And the funny thing is, it is kind of an end-of-the-world story, but I wrote it and picked 2012 before I knew about any end-of-the-world predictions. I probably really need to think about changing the year. :)

RaShelle - Thank you for your input! Three Days in October just came to me last week, but In the Seventeenth Year is the title I've been using for quite a while now, I like it, too. :)

Melanie - Yes, I think this blogfest is such a great way to try out new titles, and I really enjoyed reading others' entries, too. I didn't have the genres on there at first, but I saw someone else put the genres on theirs, and it really did help as I was considering the titles.

Sandy - Thank you! Three Days in October seems very popular. It's a new one I just came up with with, but I'm really liking it, too.

Susan Fields said...

Old Kitty - Thanks for your input! Love Thy Enemy is a new one I came up with, but it does sum the story up quite well. :)

Dawn - Thank you for your great explanations of what you liked and why - that really helps! And can you believe I didn't even make the "2012" connection until my son mentioned today that we just saw that movie last weekend. Yeah...that probably wouldn't work too well right now, though this is sort of an end-of-the-world type of story, but I didn't intend for it to have any connection to any Mayan prophecies.

Susan Fields said...

Roland - I hadn't thought of the JFK missile crisis - that's definitely something to think about. Thanks for stopping by, and I loved your titles!

Suzie - I do like the way "Three Days in October" sounds fast paced, and it is! Almost the entire book takes place in three days, with a clock counting down the hours.

Donna - That's a great compliment! Thanks so much. :)

Lisa Gail - Great choices, I like those, too!

Susan Fields said...

Dean - Thank you! I've thought about changing the colors, but someone once referred to me as "she of the green-and-pink blog" and I thought that was pretty cool, so I decided to keep it.

Margo - Great thoughts on Reluctant Prince! I think I'm going to do a follow-up post to the blogfest, and I'll definitely include that.

Sharon - I saw that you had your post up. I hope the kaleidoscope factory was fun!

Susan Fields said...

Olivia - You're right, The Virus does remind me of The Stand. I hadn't thought of that. Hmmm...definitely good company to be in (even though the stories are nothing alike.) :)

Dawn - Either brave or just reckless! Some of these probably should have never seen the light of day (like the one I removed after someone said it made them laugh out loud - oops!) But I wanted feedback, so I do appreciate every honest opinion! Thanks for letting me know your choices!

Al said...

#1 = Love Thy Enemy

#2 = Darkest Days

Hard choices though

Susan Fields said...

Al - thanks for stopping by and casting your votes! I loved the photos on your blog today - just beautiful!

Jackee said...

I definitely like Killing Kessler and The Reluctant Prince the best. They grab you more than the others. What a cool Blogfest! I really need to start participating.

Thanks for sharing!

Susan Fields said...

Jackee - I did really enjoy this blogfest, and I got some really useful feedback, too. Thanks for casting your votes!

Katie said...

Oooo I really like "Love Thy Enemy." Built in conflict!

Kris n' Kels said...

that wasn't supposed to sound mean or critical... I like cheesey :) lol.

<3 Kelsey Leigh

Linda Bob Grifins Korbetis Hall said...

I wish to be in the game..
could not judge...
Happy Sunday!

Talli Roland said...

I like 'Love Thy Enemy'. 'Three Days in October' is also good but perhaps a bit generic?

Hope you're having a great weekend, Susan!

Theresa Milstein said...

WIP #!: Killing Kessler - Love Thy Enemy - Tie

WIP #2: is trickier. They're all interesting. Okay, I have to pick one. Hmm... Darkest Days.

Nicole Murray said...

WIP #1 (paranormal romance - modern day)

Killing Kessler. Makes you want to know who and why. And it rolls off the tongue.

But 'Three Days in October' does give a book the big event ticking time bomb feel.

WIP #2 (epic fantasy)

In the Seventeenth Year. Again, leads to believe something big is occurring in the book. And 17 is a odd number. Raises questions.

Q: Why so little info on the WIP's? This is more about how a title sounds to a perspective reader than the story its self? What a fun way to pick a title!

Clara said...

Killing Klesser and the reluctant prince. I just love the prince one because princes are usually very secure and save the day. A reluctant prince is just a fab idea for me! =D

Bridge Marie said...

I'd go with Three Days in October, it makes me wonder what happens that makes the three days important.

For the second I'd go with Reluctant Prince... except there's a novel called The Reluctant Queen... Haha, I guess Prince of Hearts, then.

Lydia Kang said...

For #1 I like Three Days of October and #2, Mark of Gideon. It was hard to choose though. I like a bunch of them!

Unknown said...

I like Killing Kessler, that one jumped out at me straight away. I'm not so sure with the second one...hmm...I think Mark of Gideon (except maybe THE Mark of Gideon, unless Mark is the MC's name?).

Thanx for popping by my blog, too! ; )

Diane J. said...

Paranormal Romance: Killing Kessler (this is too funny because I went to school with a guy who's last name was Kessler - he drove me nuts, LOL)

Epic Fantasy: In the Seventeenth Year. That one really tweaks my curiousness. What happens in his/her seventeenth year?

Jean Michelle Miernik said...

Hmmm, these are good! My favorites are:

1. Three Days in October

2. Mark of Gideon or Prince of Hearts

angelarene said...

Hey Susan!! Thx for participating...hope it helps in some way. Seems like everyone has such a diverse taste in titles...I like Love Thy Enemy because it's a simple command that evokes conflict...and seeing the title Mark of Gideon would make me an instant reader, wouldn't even have to read the jacket flap for that one...would just grab it and go!!!

Susan Fields said...

Katie - I just thought up Love Thy Enemy, but it really does sum up the book pretty well. Thanks for stopping by and casting your vote!

Kris & Kels - No worries, I appreciate your honest opinion!

Jingle - Happy Sunday to you, too!

Talli - Thanks for your feedback! My weekend was pretty good (almost over now). I hope yours was, too. :)

Susan Fields said...

Theresa - Yes, I'm getting the feeling there are not standouts for wip 2. I'm going to tally the votes tonight and see if there's a clear cut winner. Thanks for casting your vote!

Nicole - You raise an interesting question. Angela (Slushpile Slut) had us give the titles only, because that's what appears in the Subject line of our email queries, and that's what people see when they look through a shelf of books. It makes a lot of sense, because that is the first (and maybe only) thing people will see.

Clara - I think you'd like my book then, because I have three reluctant princes - but one is definitely more reluctant than the others. :)

Bridge Marie - I've never heard of the Reluctant Queen. Sounds like a great book. :)

Susan Fields said...

Lydia - Thank you! I really appreciate your input.

Tessa - The Mark of Gideon is a thing (a birthmark, actually), so The Mark of Gideon would definitely work. Thanks for stopping by and casting your votes!

Diane - I went to high school with a guy whose last name was Kessler, too. He was actually my date to the Christmas prom one year, though we didn't date other than that and I promise I never wanted to kill him! I just thought that name sounded good with "Killing." :)

Genie - Thanks so much for stopping by and giving me your opinion! Hasn't this been a fun and helpful blogfest? I've really enjoyed it.

Angela - Thank you so much for hosting the blogfest! It's been really fun (both to post and to read others' posts) and helpful. I'm so glad you like Mark of Gideon! That was my original title, so I'm somewhat partial to it. :)

Elizabeth Mueller said...

WIP1: I like Three Days in October. That gives it a romantic feeling, a dash of awe and lure. Killing Kessler sounds like a Thriller or Mystery.

WIP2: Prince of Hearts or The Seventeenth Year. It sounds like it could be a romance in some way.

Great titles!! :)

Susan Fields said...

Elizabeth - Thanks for your input!

WIP 1 is a paranormal romance/thriller. See why I'm so confused? :)

WIP2 has just a dash of romance, much less that WIP1, so Prince of Hearts is probably misleading. I thought of that one because the mc finally allows himself to care about someone else, but it does suggest romance.