What’s in a name…or book title? For Silhouette Nocturne Bites author Anna Hackett, finding the perfect title for her new story Wind Kissed, Fire Bound wasn’t a simple process. Find out why in this blog post by Anna — and share your thoughts on book titles for a chance to win one of her Nocturne Bites!
by Anna Hackett, author of Wind Kissed, Fire Bound (Silhouette Nocturne Bites)
I’m fascinated by book titles—ones that capture the imagination, ones that somehow sum up an entire story in just a few words, ones that roll off the tongue like a song and even the ones that seem to have nothing to do with the story.
I love how you can pick what kind of book you’re getting just by a few words on the cover. A good title sets the tone for a story, line or genre. In Romantic Suspense, everything is Silent, Deadly and Dangerous. In Historicals, Ladies, Rakes and Scandals abound. In Contemporaries, Girls are always Lucky or in Trouble. What about the paranormals we love? Well, they’re always Dark, Darkest, at Night and in Shadow. They have Thirst, Hunger, Pleasure and Desire often with Blood, the Moon or Fire. And they feature a sexy Vampire, Beast, Dragon or Demon.
Lots of authors admit that they’re hopeless at picking titles. Others spend hours agonizing over it before they even write one word. I always pick a title before I write my stories, and for me, the title needs to be a reflection of what I’m writing.
I was lucky with my first Nocturne Bites story, SAVAGE DRAGON – I got to keep the title I’d given it when I first started writing it. It was a title the hero (a hot-blooded dragon knight) was given by his people.
But like most authors, I didn’t get to keep the title of my second Nocturne Bites. I had called it Keeper of the Winds since my heroine, the cool and in control Livia Cavalli can control the wind and is the warden to some very evil bad guys, the Venti Tempesta. But my editor asked for a new title. Something sexier.
I quite like finding titles, so I got to work. I ran about a million suggestions past my wonderful husband, who was very helpful, but eventually got a glazed look in his eyes. I sent a bunch of suggestions off to my editor. Here’s the first batch:
Tempting the Wind
- Craving the Wind
- Burning the Wind
- Bound by the Wind
- Fire and Wind
- Caressed by Fire
No luck. My editor wanted something that reflected both the hero, sexy horse trainer, Rafe Donovan (who can control fire) and the heroine. The next round was tough. Most of my ideas were just plain awful! I came up with three that I thought were good enough to send off.
- Wind Kissed, Fire Bound
- Immortal Wind, Eternal Fire
- Burning Surrender
The winner was WIND KISSED, FIRE BOUND and it’s out now. It’s the first in my WindKeepers series and the second story, TAKEN BY THE SOUTH WIND is out next month. The stories are set in Italy and feature the Venti brothers, four men who control the cardinal winds.
So, have you ever bought a book simply because the title captured your attention? What are some of your favorite paranormal titles? And if you think you have a good title for my future WindKeepers Bites (I have the west, east and north winds to go) please share! Everyone who comments goes in the draw to win one of my Nocturne Bites (your pick!)
I do sometimes simply see a title and think ‘Okay I’m intrigued!’ and pick it up. The Night Angel trilogy by Brent Weeks was like that. I saw ‘The Way of Shadows’ and thought ‘NINJA SO THERE’ and picked it up. Ending up loving the series (which is less about ninjas and more about assassins and once-Gods and such).
Katie MacAlister’s Dark Ones books also caught my attention because they tend to be funny plays on well known sayings.
I’ve always liked ‘Song of the Wind’ for some reason, though I have a feeling I read something called that long ago and that’s why…
There have been lots of books I have been attracted to initially by the title ( The Curious Incident of the Dog in Nightime springs to mind as one of the most bizarre examples).
As far as titles go may I suggest Deep The West Wind Blows, Song/Cry of The East Wind and Shadow Of The North Wind or variations thereupon.
All the best for your series.
Kate
X
The Devil to Pay by Michele Hauf. It fit the story to a T.
Hi Lexie –
Ooh, I love the sound of “The Way of Shadows” no wonder it caught your attention.
And “Song of the Wind” is a great title! Thanks.
Hi Kate–
Thanks for stopping by. Yes, there are certainly some catchy, bizarre titles out there (that are quite a mouthful). I love your Wind title suggestions – thanks so much!
Howdy Lou–
A fellow Hauf fan. The Devil to Pay does fit the story perfectly. And I love her titles this month too – Moon Kissed and After the Kiss.
A book title will grab me sometimes and I will buy it without reading anything about it. How about Harvest the Wind? I like Michele Hauf’s The Devil To Pay. Can’t wait to read your book.
Hi Anna,
I love your titles, and like you, I like to have them picked before I start writing. It’s nice to have something concrete to write by!
Titles I love include Michele Hauf’s (“Kiss Me Deadly” is another cool one), and I really like Stephanie Draven’s, “Wild, Tethered, Bound”
Gena Showalter has some good ones, too.
Another great post! E x
Sometimes, I just stumble onto the best books because of titles. “Another One Bites the Dust” by Jennifer Rardin, for example. Considering it as a title for one of my WIP, I googled it wondering if it was taken. Lo and behold, it was, but I discovered one of my fav urban fantasy writers this way. Admittedly, I bought Savage Dragon for the same reason: strong title, strong response.
Hi Linda –
A good title will make me pick a book up (or click on it if it’s on the virutal shelf). Harvest the Wind has a nice ring to it – thanks. And glad you’re looking forward to reading Wind Kissed!
Hey Emily –
Glad you like my titles (-: I loved Stephanie’s title Wild, Tethered, Bound too – so catchy and cool.
Hi Hetal –
I’m thrilled to hear you bought Savage Dragon and because of the title! Thanks for letting me know. Great to hear you discovered some great authors from great titles.
Gracious. It’s brave of you to share your title evolutions. I’m terrible at coming up with titles, and struggle with this often.
Hi Stephanie -
You struggle with titles, huh? Wild, Tethered, Bound is one of my fav titles! And there are certainly some titles I wouldn’t share with anyone (-:
Hey Anna! It was great to meet you at conference a few weeks ago!
I love all the dark/shadow/night/blood etc. paranormal titles
you know what you’re getting. Wind Kissed, Fire Bound is a great title. Kind of tells its own little story.
BTW, you so need to get some numbers up if you’re gonna claim the ‘I suck at titles’ crown
For my first book, I went through forty-five (count ‘em and weep!) before we came up with something agreeable 
Hey Erica–
Thanks for stopping by! It was great to meet you last month too. Glad you like the title for WKFB. 45!! You take the crown — but you ended up with some awesome titles — doesn’t get much better than Shadowfae and Shadowglass!
Actually it’s always the cover art that gets me first and then the title. I’m afraid to say that I’m much more motivated to look at a book when its cover is appealing. In saying that I a quite like short titles such as Resurrection and
Blackout. I’m not sure why. Powerful titles are also a lure such as your own Savage Dragon Anna. Strong and compelling. Good luck with nailing down the next title in the series! =)
Howdy Rach –
You’re right, a great cover and title is a powerful combo, and I like a good one word title too. Glad you liked Savage Dragon! And thanks for the luck, I submitted the next one as The West Wind’s Embrace…but who knows if it’ll stick.
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Hi Anna!
I have to agree that titles are important, they link the story. If a couple of words/word doesn’t catch a reader’s attention, I imagine there’s much less chance a they’ll bother reading the book =(
BTW – I do love your titles!
Hi Mel–
Thanks for stopping by and glad to hear you like my titles (right back at you, btw!)
Hi Anna
Have not read any of your work YET! Wind Kissed, Fire Bound sounds awesome. I never thought about what an author goes through when coming up with a Title. I would be locked me my bathroom sucking my thumb. I love when a series of books has the same theme running with them. I guess that way half the title is already there. I like Kresley Coles Imortals after Dark titles, JR Wards Brothers Lover books , and Gena Showalters Lords with the word Darkest running with the titles. I hope that makes sense. I wish I had some clever new title to throw out there . I’m sorry, but I do plan on heading over to Amazon to put you in my wish list.
Is Savage Dragon and Wind Kissed, Fire Bound only e-reads?
Hi Anna,
I always like series where you can tell that they belong together because of their naming convention. Stories like Gena Showalter’s Lord of the Underworld series that all start with Darkest. Although those can be quite annoying too when you go to the store and can’t remember which one you wanted to buy… lol Boy, have I bought the wrong book on one occasion too many.
Happy Writing!
Rachel
Hi Jenn–
Thanks for stopping by. I like Kresley Cole’s titles too – they just roll off the tongue. And I love all of Gena’s titles too. Yep, Savage Dragon and Wind Kissed, Fire Bound are eReads (they’re short stories). You can download them to your computer from eHarlequin or to a Kindle at Amazon. And every few months Harlequin groups them into 6 in a book and put them in print (none of mine yet!)
Hi Rachel–
I love when a series has connected titles (my WindKeepers are all going to have Wind in the title…I hope) and I love Gena’s LotU series and their titles. LOL I understand getting confused by the titles – I did the same thing with JD Robb’s In Death books.
I go two ways about titles. I either want them to be really straightforward so I know what I’m getting (I think Savage Dragon would fit that category. On TV, think Ghost Hunters. It’s like, duh, it’s about ghost hunters) or just a so unexpected and intriguing juxtaposition that you have to stop, pick it up, and see what it’s about. (Wind Kissed, Fire Bound — wow, that one really sings to me.)
As far as suggestions for you other ‘wind’ books, since you’ve kind of got a rhythm established with the (Active, evocative verb) by the (direction) Wind pattern, I think I’d stick with that. (Not that I write book titles, but one of my jobs in writing cover lines for magazines, sort of the same thing. Especially now that the marketing guys insist on calling them “sell lines.” [insert eye roll])
How about something along the lines of:
Raked by the West Wind
Driven by the North Wind
Kissed by the East Wind
(shrug)
plasticsanta
Bonjour Rachel,
A title that came to my mind immediately (i just made it up as i read your post) is:
Bound by Fire.
It’s concise; but, perhaps the title had already been used.
I’ll use it for my first book. My unpublished first romance submitted to Harlequin about 25 years ago was titled: Sagebrush Fires.
It seems “fire” has a way with the ladies!
All the best with your writing career.
May
Bonjour Rachel,
Since you’re theme is “winds” why don’t you incorporate Greek mythology into each title? Also depends on in which order the books are written i guess. A title i like is: Dazzled by Night Winds.
West wind title: Captured by Fire, Released by Passion.
North wind title: Untempered Night Winds.
East wind title: High Winds of Passion.
May
Hi Lynn–
I’m so pleased to hear you liked the titles for both Savage Dragon and Wind Kissed, Fire Bound! I love your title suggestions (Kissed by the East Wind is great!) and the idea of keeping the same rhythm. Thanks again.
Hi May–
Wow, more great wind titles! Thanks. I like the idea of incorporating mythology, and my WindKeeper stories are actually based on Roman mythology and have that woven in. I agree with you on fire…we all like a bit of fire in our romance. Thanks for stopping by.
Thanks to everyone who commented! The contest has now closed, Anna chosen the winners, and their names will be posted shortly!
~Amy, Harlequin Digital