So much!
That's why I'm rethinking my title.
It's just not gripping me by the throat these days.
And if it doesn't grip me, will it really grip a casual reader as they peruse the bookshelf?
No -- the question is, will it grip an editor -- will it grip an agent? Will the title Green Corn and Porch Music provoke anybody to look beyond the title and read the first line? Page? Chapter?
I'm thinking . . . no.
I don't say this lightly. It will be hard for me to let it go. Not because I'm married to it or think it's perfect. Simply because it's become habit to refer to my book by this title.
And there is one person in my writing group who sings the praises of this title. But I think that's because it describes two parts of my character's life. Not because it's the kind of title that you'll never forget.
Every time I walk into a bookstore, I stop in front of the bestsellers and study the covers, saying the titles in my heads over and over. They are GOOD. Really clever. I'd love to interview the author or agent or editor or whoever it was that came up with each one. This is just not my thing! In fact, truth be told, I'd love to submit my novel with a blank where the title goes and say, "You all are the pros -- you tell me what will sell this novel."
Don't think I'm an extra trusting person -- it's just that I've scratched my head over this, and studied award-winning titles, best-seller titles, even bad titles, and still come up with nothing.
That is, until the other day, when I was listening to a song by Fleet Foxes. They had a line that almost got by me, and it would have, had they not repeated it...and I thought, "Hmmm. Now that's thought provoking as a title, especially with my story." I twisted the words around a bit and now I'm ruminating...
Maybe I've got something.
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