What Should I Title My Novel

Why do some books include "a novel" in the title?

Titles are not covered by copyright law, so it's not that. "A Novel" is useful for making it clear that a book with a nonfiction-like title is not, in fact, nonfiction. If I'm looking for a big summer read, I'm more likely to pick up Richard Ford's Canada: A Novel (to use a current example) than I would be if I saw a fat book simply titled Canada. This is an old practice, by the way — not a creation of modern marketing.

How do I find the right title for my novel?

Titles come in two forms - direct and where the hell did that title come from?Titles are important. Also, titles are not copyrightable, though they can be Serial Trademarked, and that can cost money. An example of this would be writing a book and calling it “Star Trek” or “Star Wars”. Those have serial trademarks and go ahead and just try to use the titles. However, go ahead and name your book “Gone With The Wind”, or “Romeo and Juliet”, or “Casablanca”, and there are more, but I think you get the point.In 1979 I completed my first novel entitled Scorched Earth. Today, I cannot tell you how many books have that title. Everyone who named their work that particular title would feel that they were being original. Problem is, there is not much that can be considered original, now. What can be seen as original, or fresh, would be the content. At least, this is the true as an individual authors point of view on a specific topic.George RR Martin wrote a series called Song of Ice and Fire, and Game of Thrones came out of his first installment. (So far as I recall). It was used from a reference made by Cersei in speaking with Ed Stark about the reason for attaining power, and how it is done.A Canadian Author, Margaret Laurence, wrote a book that was given the title by her Publisher, because she apparently did not have a title. The opening lines of her book went something like; “In the middle of the garden stood a stone angel.” (paraphrase) The book subsequently got a great title, STONE ANGEL, but the book had nothing to do with that angel, with stone, or anything else except that first line.Many writers get an inspiration of a line, an idea, or a character’s name, and they construct an entire story around this. Others rely on some remarkable word, phrase, or description which they wrote somewhere in the body of their work, as in The Stone Angel.There is one suggestion that refers back to the form of report writing, which is based on the Who, What, When, Where, Why and How questions that are answered as part of the report. Within one, or mix of several, can come the idea or a specific, towards a title.If you wish, you can go to Amazon and look me up: Walter D. Petrovic and check out my titles. I have novels, poetry, and nonfiction, and this may give you some idea as to forming titles around the idea or topic of your material.

Can I trademark the title of my fiction novel series?

You may trademark a phrase, including the title of a novel or series of novels, for a category of products, including books. A trademark is symbol, word, or words legally registered or established by use as representing a company or product.For example, “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone”, which is a title of a fantasy novel written by J.K. Rowling, is a registered trademark owned by Warner Bros. Entertainment in the United States for both motion picture films and clothing for men, women and children.“Harry Potter”, which is J.K. Rowling’s overarching fiction novel series, is registered trademark owned by Warner Bros. Entertainment in the United States for books and many other products, including movies toys, sporting goods, clothing, bed sheets, backpacks, tote bags, clocks, watches, jewelry, cookies, cookie jars, coffee mugs, and cocktail shakers.What you can’t do, however, is have copyright protection for the title of a novel or series. Copyright is the exclusive legal right, given to an originator or an assignee to print, publish, perform, film, or record, or to make derivative works of, literary, artistic, or musical material, and to authorize others to do the same.When you write a book, that work is protected by copyright. Someone else cannot publish, copy or make derivative works (such as a sequel or movie adaptation) of your work without your permission. However, someone else publishing a book that has the same title as yours, but different content, is not copyright infringement.

Does a prologue need a title in a novel?

That's totally up to you.But, think about when the prologue is taking place, or even where it's taking place. If you are using it to set up something which happened in the past, then you could head it as:Prologue - 14 Years Ago.or if it's set apart from the main story:Prologue - New Jersey, April.or if it's to set the scene of a new world or fantasy world.Prologue - The Land Of Sharmain Atol.or if it's to add some technical points:Prologue - The Real F567 DroneOr just:Prologue.It's completely up to you. Also, some people prefer not to use one, but to instead turn it into Chapter One. There's this idea that no-one actually reads prologues, but I certainly do!

When listing the title of each novel in my novel series, should I precede it with the title of the series plus a colon, or should I put the series title and book number in parentheses after the book title?

I solved part of that problem with the specific titles of my books. So when I list them it looks like this:THE XARA SMITH MYSTERIES by Bill McGrath:January Juggling The Jentons,February At Feldman’s On Fifth,March Of The Mustangs,April At The Antique Alley.May Might Mean Murder,June Jumping The Jaguar,July Jill’s Justice,August Avenging Arlene,September Surgeon Shamed,October Octagon Occult,November Naughty Nurse,December Deadly Dolls, andThe Xara Smith Wedding Album.All available on Amazon, Smashwords, and LULU.Thanks for asking.

Is it better to name your novel before or after writing it?

Naming a book before the it is written can set the tone for the story and, if you have a clear outline written up, can be helpful in adhering to the tone you want to present. Just bear in mind that if you title it before or during the writing process, you are opening yourself to the possibility of stunting your own book by placing a certain expectation on it. That expectation being that the content match the title.For instance, if you read the title "The Owl", you would expect to find in the book a certain emphasis on an owl of some sort. But suppose that as you write, the "owl" that was originally the focus of your book stopped working well as a theme/protagonist. Having poured all your effort into this one idea and having given it a name, you may feel obligated to continue in this vein despite it having outlived it's viability.Of course, you always have the option of changing the title to something that better suits your new direction, but nascent writers do have a tendency to get very attached to their work and will often write themselves into a rut through sheer stubbornness and pride.All of that was, of course, just to say that it depends entirely on your situation and mentality.