Have you ever been turned on to — or away from — a book because of its title? I thought about this as I read that the London-based book industry publication The Book Seller recently announced its 35th Diagram Prize competition for the Oddest Book Title of the Year. Philip Stone, coordinator of the Diagram Prize says, “There is a cliché that you can’t judge a book by its cover, but I think people do so, the cover and the title.” Over the years, this humorous promotional invention moved from a group of judges to popular voting. The results are entertaining; last year’s winner was Cooking with Poo. Turns out that’s a Thai cookbook by a chef whose nickname is Poo. Stone says an unusual title, especially for a novel, can help attract people to pick it up, read the synopsis, and make them more likely to buy it. Examples he gives include A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian (sold almost 1 million copies) and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (sold more than 2 million copies). Doesn’t it make you wonder what other book choices those nearly 3 million readers had!
Speaking of great books, did you enjoy reading Trimalchio in West Egg? Never heard of it? How about Among Ash-Heaps and Millionaires or Under the Red, White, and Blue or The High-Bouncing Lover? Those are all titles that were considered by F. Scott Fitzgerald before settling on The Great Gatsby, an iconic American classic. Fitzgerald was partial toward the obscure Trimalchio in West Egg, briefly referenced in the novel, but his editor, Maxwell Perkins, convinced Fitzgerald to go with The Great Gatsby. Would the novel have fared so well with Fitzgerald’s first choice?
George Orwell’s publisher convinced the author to change his futuristic novel’s title from The Last Man in Europe to the strikingly simple 1984. After Ayn Rand’s husband suggested she retitle The Strike because it gave away too much of the plot, her 1957 novel became Atlas Shrugged. The title of Joseph Heller’s satirical look at war bounced from Catch-11 (when the popular movie Ocean’s Eleven came out) to Catch-18 (until Leon Uris’ novel Mila 18 became a hit) and finally settled on Catch-22, a title that would not run the risk of confusing potential buyers. It’s hard to imagine these books by any other names.
Well-established writers have a bit of leeway with their book titles. Stephen King’s The Shawshank Redemption and Louise Erdrich’s The Master Butchers Singing Club come to mind. Lesser known authors should give as much attention to their titles as they do to their manuscripts. The book represents the author and it is the first impression an author makes on the desired reader. Being a title amongst many on a bookshelf in a store or on a website listing, competing for attention, is akin to speed dating. The ones that best anticipate needs and desires (of readers) are the ones taken out for a good time. Remember that, next time you write or read a book.