Titles for Contest Entries

"Bake Sale" was the poem's working title; it's about bake sales. I wanted to enter it in a contest, but knew a title such as "Bake Sale" was a liability. That's because contests are run by organizations that like to appear serious, having boards and grantors to answer to. They' re reluctant to announce that a trivial-sounding book or poem -- good or not -- has taken their prize. Therefore, at great psychic expense to myself (just kidding), I sought another title that might sound better in a list of winners, finally settling on the title "Homemade."

I retitled another poem, "Soda in Bottles," as "Delight."

I retitled "Aunt Emily" as "Pure as the Driven."

You see the kind of thing I'm getting at.

Titles Are A Bear -- Or Are They?

Ideally, a title (on anything) should be:

• unique
• memorable
• short (think Twilight, Sanctuary, Black Boy, Rebecca, Rent, Big Love, Lost, Little Women). A big marbly mouthful can work if it's fun to say, such as Pity the Bathtub Its Forced Embrace of the Human Form, or What Narcissism Means to Me.
  
• fun to say
• mellifluous
  
• intriguing
• appealing (that's the sunny version of "intriguing")
• a summary of the gist of the work
• accurate
• informative
• pleasing to the author
• indicating contents that many people in many walks of life could be interested in

The correct title often hides out in the manuscript. Scrutinize the work for a phrase of two or three or four words that might sum it up. I like to imagine that I'm naming a song or a CD.

Test potential titles by asking people, "Would you read a book (essay, poem) called....? or would you rather read one titled.... ?"

Google your title finalists. In 2003 there were 4 new books titled Guilty Pleasures. Titles are not copyrightable, so if you want to call your next book Gone With the Wind, no one can stop you, but sharing a title with other books has advantages and disadvantages.

Check amazon.com to see if there are any other books by that title.

The bigger the project, the more crucial it is to get the right title for it.