them just right. You might spend 10 months of your life
writing circ. 80,000 words, but unless those half dozen words on the cover
are absolutely perfect, you could quite easily have
been wasting your time.
book titles are easy; just describe what your book is about and make darn sure
you have a key-word in there (something that people looking for your book might
type into google). So for instance, a book about finding happiness in this ever
increasingly busy world might be called How To Do Everything And Be
Happy. That would work.
wax.
Man. Not a bad title. But not particularly good either.
Unless you saw the cover it doesn’t really tell you what the story is going to
be about. Some have argued that even if you DID see the cover, you still wouldn’t
know what it was about!
The Girl. Terrible title! Awful! I mean okay, it’s quite
funny, a bit of alliteration can’t hurt – and the cover helped a bit – but
having previously published four self-help books, most people assumed it
was another self-help book! What was I thinking
choosing a title like that?
fictional offering. This time I’ve cracked it! This time I have a title which
is both funny, AND gives the reader a hint of what’s to come. And what’s more I
can’t really take any credit for it.
just come out of a long term relationship with… well, let’s call him Steve.
It had been an amicable split so it wasn’t uncommon for her to mention Steve
occasionally. I’d say something like, “I’ve made some fresh bread this
weekend,” and she’d say, “Oh, Steve used to do that.” Only bloody Steve
would have made the bread from flour that he’d milled himself. From a
stone that he dug out of the ground. Whilst building his house. Single
handedly.
said, “if you don’t shut up about Steve I’m going to put him in a novel and
then kill him off!” To which Val laughed and said, “what would you call the
book? My Girlfriend’s Perfect Ex-Boyfriend?”
“You can’t! Absolutely not!” But this was Friday. And you know how this works –
by the end of the weekend we had renamed Steve, morphed him into this
completely unbearable character called Sebastian.
down-on-his-luck school teacher called Adrian, and that his
girlfriend would be a sassy American PR executive called Paige. More
than that a plot was beginning to emerge that was just too fun not to
write!
Steve doesn’t recognise himself in it.
dearly like to be any of these things, though he’d trade them all to win the
heart of feisty Public Relations Executive, Paige.
after an unfortunate incident with a heavy piece of computer equipment. And
somebody’s foot.
months, she still seems to have one foot out of the door and hasn’t quite
committed to leaving a toothbrush in the bathroom.
ex-boyfriend, Sebastian. A man who in almost every way imaginable is better,
taller, wealthier, hairier, and infinitely more successful than Ade.
they get away for a few days? Some place romantic…
the room down the hall – he realises there’s serious possibility that he’s in
danger of losing his job, his mind, and the woman he loves…
hilarious romp about love, and the things people do to keep it from getting
away.