Working Titles
How much thought have you given your title? Kurt Vonnegut gave tons of thought to his 1969 novel:
That is one long title. Fortunately the only thing that made it to the first edition cover was Slaughterhouse Five; or, The Children’s Crusade.
Here are some more working titles and what they came to be:
Working Title: First Impressions
Final Title: Pride and Prejudice
Working Title: Something That Happened
Final Title: Of Mice and Men
Working Title: All’s Well That Ends Well
Final Title: War and Peace
Working Titles: Fiesta, The Lost Generation, River to the Sea, Two Lie Together, The Old Leaven
Final Title: The Sun Also Rises
Working Title: Twilight
Final Title: The Sound and the Fury
Working Titles: Mag’s Diversions, The Copperfield Disclosures, The Copperfield Records, The Copperfield Survey of the World As It Rolled, Copperfield Complete
Final Title: David Copperfield
Working Title: Trimalchio in West Egg
Final Title: The Great Gatsby.
I guess what I’m trying to say is think long and hard about your title. Then re-think you title, refine it, distill it to it’s essence and then put it on your cover.
