We have, by this stage, a complete book telling the story of Charlie Harrison, Sally and dark events in that strange seaside town. We had a working title from the outside too, Charlie and the Mermaid.
It’s not going to work. If I were writing a young adult story, or some fantasy piece, then perhaps it would be fine. But we have here something very different, much darker and more intense. It needs a title that reflects the tone of the story.
As I write this book I will have noted down possibilities along the way. Usually I will have as many as twenty in there when it comes to completion. The first thing I will do is whittle them down to five or six favourites, then head off to Amazon to see if anyone else has used them recently. There are a lot of books in this world, and a good many share the same title. Ideally yours will be unique, but it doesn’t have to be. If an unknown book used the same title a few years ago you’re fine to take it on again. Just don’t pick The Godfather or any other obvious and well-known title.
Very long titles occasionally work – Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, for example. Single-word ones – Epiphany, Solstice – can be striking, but will usually have been used elsewhere so you’ll need to check for any recent competitors. Titles that play off other books – The Vermeer Code – are best avoided unless you are trying to make a very direct point or taking the mickey. Titles that contain foreign names are probably worth skipping too (people still mispronounce and misunderstand Semana Santa even though it’s simply the Spanish for ‘holy week’).
You’ll have noticed I’ve just told you what makes a bad title, not what constitutes a good one. Let me be honest: I don’t know, and nor do many of us really. My working title for this story would probably be The Mermaid’s Kiss. It’s relevant to the narrative, it’s evocative and it gives a flavour of the book.
But here’s the good news: while a great title for your unpublished book is wonderful if you can find it, you really don’t have to have one. Agents and editors will be looking at the quality of the manuscript, not the words that will one day appear on the front cover. A bad book with a great title will go in the bin. A promising book with a hopeless title will simply make an agent or editor think, ‘I like this one – and we’ll sort out the title later.’
So don’t worry about it. In fact you might win yourself a bit of respect if, in your covering letter, you say you’re not sure whether the title works or not, and will happily accept better suggestions.