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The Steve Laube Agency

The Steve Laube Agency

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Home » Pitching » Page 5

Pitching

En-TITLE-ment: Finding the Perfect Title (Part One)

By Karen Ballon August 17, 2011
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One of the most difficult—and important—things we did when I worked in the publishing house was come up with titles for our authors’ novels. Sometimes it was a breeze, either because the author’s title was spot-on or because the story lent itself organically to a certain title. But more often than not, it was a long process of back-and-forth with the author, marketing, and sales. So how can you, the author, develop a title that works well? Give the following tips a try.

1. Tone. Be sure your title reflects the tone of your story accurately. A whimsical title on a book that is dark and tense will leave the reader feeling suckered or betrayed. Avoid disconnects, so that when the reader is drawn by the title, what they find on the back cover and in the content will only make that draw even stronger. Be sure the title creates a sense of whimsy, tension, danger, romance, mystery, fantasy, the future…whatever best reflects the tone of your story.

Okay, so ready for a challenge? Based on the titles below…

Name That Tone!

The Boneman’s Daughters

Redeeming Love

The Shunning

The Riddlemaster of Hed

A Vase of Mistaken Identity

Without a Trace

Three Weddings & a Giggle

2. Genre. This goes hand in hand with tone. While it’s important to reflect the tone of your book, you also need to be sure the title fits the genre you’re writing. For example, many contemporary novels have a strong thread of romance in them, but you don’t want to put a title that focuses too much on the romance element. Those who read romances have specific expectations, some of which won’t be met by a contemporary novel. The beauty of genre, though, is that we often mix genres. Cozy mysteries, for example, mix mystery with a bit of a whimsical tone. Romantic adventure–self-evident. So you can use that interplay in titles. One caveat: you can offset the genre focus with the cover art. For example, a title like The Longing Heart could be romance, could be contemporary. How the designer treats the cover will clarify genres for the reader.

Name that Genre!

Kidnapped

Sister Chicks Down Under

Deadly Pursuit

The Twelfth Prophecy, A.D. Chronicles

Part two coming next week!

 

 

 

 

 

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Category: Get Published, Karen, Marketing, Trends, Writing CraftTag: Book Business, Craft, Karen, Pitching, Titles, Writing Craft

Writing that Sings

By Karen Ballon June 10, 2011
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As I've started the work of being an agent and building a client list, I've had a number of folks in different venues ask me what I'm interested in representing. So thought I'd address that here.

First and foremost, you need to know that I'm looking for books that share God's truth. I want to work with authors whose books will change lives. Who bring the depth and wealth of their own spiritual …

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Category: Agency, KarenTag: Agents, Karen, Marketing, Pitching, Proposals, Trends

Incoming Proposals

By Steve Laubeon January 6, 2010
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To your left is an actual picture of the pile of proposals our office has received since December 1, 2009. About 30 days worth of incoming mail...during a slow time of the year. The stack of books next to the pile include books sent for review (consideration) and recent publications that I want to look at.

That does not include the myriad of email submissions we get (many simply ignoring our …

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Category: Book Proposals, Get PublishedTag: Get Published, Pitching, Proposals, Rejection
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