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  • Help Me Title My Novella

    OK hooligans, I need your help.

    Should I title my new novella (which I am taking wobbly steps toward self-publishing), after the villain or the heroine?

    The monster is a constant background threat but only reveals himself in his demonic form near the the end of the story. He is The Corpse-eater.

    My heroine's identity is completely tied up in belonging to the superior samurai class, despite the fact that it's being dismantled by the Meiji Restoration, as well as being an intensely respectful and loyal child to her dying father. She is the Samurai Daughter.

    The Corpse-eater is intriguing, but I'm afraid it makes the novella sound like straight-up horror, when it's more like horror mixed with history and a big dose of girl-power.

    Samurai Daughter might attract anime fans but I'm not sure if it's too boring.I can provide any other information you guys want.

    Help.
    https://www.facebook.com/authorpatriciacorrell/

  • #2
    Could you use both?

    Samurai Daughter vs Corpse Eater?

    Fight of the Samurai Daughter?

    Samurai Daughter Shōri?
    Skilled programmers aren't cheap. Cheap programmers aren't skilled.

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    • #3
      The Samrai Daughter; Rise of the Corpse-Eater?
      Customers should always be served . . . to the nearest great white.

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      • #4
        Can you find a line of dialogue in the story that best sums up the overall theme? I'm a title drop whore so it's where I get most of my titles for longer works.
        Don't waste time trying to convince someone that the sky is blue.

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        • #5
          Quoth Kristev View Post
          The Samrai Daughter; Rise of the Corpse-Eater?
          +1

          You could do a Samurai Daughter series.
          Life is too short to not eat popcorn.
          Save the Ales!
          Toys for Tots at Rooster's Cafe

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          • #6
            Unfortunately I have no plans to make it a series. And SD vs. CE just sounds...video gamey. I've written pulp before but this isn't that!

            Can you find a line of dialogue in the story that best sums up the overall theme?
            This is usually what I try to do, with varying success, but I am coming up short this time for some reason.

            I'm just shit at titles and fighting scenes.
            https://www.facebook.com/authorpatriciacorrell/

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            • #7
              Let's Fighting Love?



              I'm kidding...

              How about "Sore wa kanojo o odokasu" (It Threatens Her)?
              Skilled programmers aren't cheap. Cheap programmers aren't skilled.

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              • #8
                How about:

                The Corpse-Eater Awaits His Next Dinner.
                "I don't have to be petty. The Universe does that for me."

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                • #9
                  Kiki-Vs-Dalmer?
                  AkaiKitsune
                  Sarcasm dear, sarcasm. I’m well aware that dealing with civilians in any capacity will skin your faith in humanity alive, then pickle anything that remains so as to watch it shrivel up into an immortal husk thus reminding you of how dead inside you now are.

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                  • #10
                    This Book is All True and Other Lies by AnaKhouri
                    Knowledge is power. Power corrupts. Study hard. Be evil.

                    "I never said I wasn't a horrible person."--Me, almost daily

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                    • #11
                      Thanks for the help...(?)

                      I'm going with The Corpse-Eater. I feel that's an intriguing title that might pique people's interest. This is sort of an experiment in KDP so we'll see how it goes. I hope to have it available next week.
                      https://www.facebook.com/authorpatriciacorrell/

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                      • #12
                        Quoth AnaKhouri View Post
                        Thanks for the help...(?)

                        I'm going with The Corpse-Eater. I feel that's an intriguing title that might pique people's interest. This is sort of an experiment in KDP so we'll see how it goes. I hope to have it available next week.
                        Run a quick search on your title, if you haven't already. There may possibly be a number of other books already published with that title. If there are, especially any in your genre, maybe add a sub-title to help differentiate yours.

                        Question- how many rounds of editing have you put the book through? By editing, I mean getting other people's eyes on it, combing through and looking for errors and stylistic weirdities. Boyfriend is on his 9th or 10th novel by this point, and we've kind of worked out a system where each book goes through 4 or 5 rounds of editing plus beta readers, and we STILL have errors in every freakin' one.

                        The reason I ask is that poor editing is the number one reason I'll put a book down, especially with indie authors. I've tried a couple where the story was fantastic... but the editing was non existent and the errors were so bad I couldn't focus on the story.
                        You're only delaying the inevitable, you run at your own expense. The repo man gets paid to chase you. ~Argabarga

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                        • #13
                          Thank you for the advice! While this is my first foray into self-publishing, I've been published traditionally so I'm well aware of the horrors of typos (one small press anthology published my story WITH THE TITLE SPELLED WRONG...they never sent me a galley...yeah, never again with them)! At this point my novella has been read by about six other people and I'm going to give it a last thorough read-through tomorrow. I'm a stickler, like you nothing disgusts me more than simply-found typos. I am being really hard on myself this time because I am used to having at least one editor go over it first.

                          I work at a bookstore and actually tried the title in Ingram and nada. Amazon sells a series called The Corpse Eater Saga but each book is titled individually so I think it'll be OK.

                          My name is very similar to Patricia Cornwall so I'm always hoping people will glance at it, think I'm her, buy the book and then get a shock when they realize it's not mystery
                          Last edited by AnaKhouri; 02-25-2018, 01:26 AM.
                          https://www.facebook.com/authorpatriciacorrell/

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                          • #14
                            Quoth AnaKhouri View Post
                            My name is very similar to Patricia Cornwall so I'm always hoping people will glance at it, think I'm her, buy the book and then get a shock when they realize it's not mystery
                            As someone who shelves books in a bookstore (and helps separate them by section), I glare in your direction. We have enough trouble with John vs. Michael Connelly (among others).

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                            • #15
                              Quoth AnaKhouri View Post
                              ... My name is very similar to Patricia Cornwall so I'm always hoping people will glance at it, think I'm her, buy the book and then get a shock when they realize it's not mystery
                              Oh, it's a mystery all right... "How the hell did *this* get in my book bag?"
                              I am not an a**hole. I am a hemorrhoid. I irritate a**holes!
                              Procrastination: Forward planning to insure there is something to do tomorrow.
                              Derails threads faster than a pocket nuke.

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