Help! Title help please

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Robinne Weiss

Robinne Weiss

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May 19, 2015
New Zealand
I'm struggling with the title to my latest novel. What do you think of the following options? The book is a lighthearted urban fantasy with a romantic subplot, set in small-town New Zealand.

1. Household Demons for the Busy Housewife
2. Demon Summoning for the Busy Housewife
3. A Guide to Demonic Summoning for the Busy Housewife
4. Housewives' Guide to Demonic Summoning

Feel free to suggest other alternatives along these lines.
 
Do you have a blurb or short synopsis?
I'm not compelled by any of the above (is it humour? witches?), so far, but maybe with a bit more info it might click.
 
They don't say urban fantasy, nor romance subplot to me. But i like the playful tone.

Reading them, I see housewives having a laugh as they sit in front of Crystal balls, chanting to summon demons then giggling when a spirit appears.
 
My fridge magnets say things like 'Dull women have immaculate houses'. So the housewife thing would probably also be uh uh for me, but...

Let Your Demons Do It For You

Dirt Demons Done Dirt Cheap. (Are you sure you have to give away the demon part in the title?

How to Summon a Dirt Devil (are those little vacuums called that in NZ?

Practical Demonology For the Busy Woman
Demonology for Desperate Housewives
The Immaculate Conception of a House Demon

Did you ever read "The Life and Loves of a SheDevil? ' Faye Weldon.
 
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Thanks everyone! Some good thoughts above. I was concerned about the word housewives, too ... but one of the 'characters' of the story is a book on summoning demons that causes trouble in the modern thread, and is used throughout a historic sub-thread by generations of women to address their personal problems. Might have to see if I can come up with a different wording though ... Maybe "Women's Guide to Demonic Summoning".

I also begin to think that I need to coin a new urban fantasy description--'cosy urban fantasy'--because I feel like every time I dip into the genre, that's the vibe of what I write. Something that technically is urban fantasy (modern day, with magic), but without the angst/dystopia/violence of the usual fare. I'm never sure quite how to market it, or if it should even be under the urban fantasy genre. *sigh* Someday I'll write something to market ...
 
Pamela Jo said:
My fridge magnets say things like 'Dull women have immaculate houses'. So the housewife thing would probably also be uh uh for me, but...

Let Your Demons Do It For You

Dirt Demons Done Dirt Cheap. (Are you sure you have to give away the demon part in the title?

How to Summon a Dirt Devil (are those little vacuums called that in NZ?

Practical Demonology For the Busy Woman
Demonology for Desperate Housewives
The Immaculate Conception of a House Demon

Did you ever read "The Life and Loves of a SheDevil? ' Faye Weldon.
Click to expand...

Oh, the women in this book don't use demons for cleaning ... more for revenge.
 
Barbara said:
They don't say urban fantasy, nor romance subplot to me. But i like the playful tone.

Reading them, I see housewives having a laugh as they sit in front of Crystal balls, chanting to summon demons then giggling when a spirit appears.
Click to expand...
You're not too far off on the women sitting around summoning demons--there's a 'gardening' group that dabbles in summoning among the witchcraft wielding women in the book.
 
I like 4, although I'd like it a tiny bit more if it was "summoning demons" instead of current order. There is small push back for "housewives" in the title, but I think this will simply sharpen your audience. I wouldn't pick up a book about housewives, simply because I've had zero connection to these types of stories (movies or books or shows) in the past. That's not a bad thing, at least for me. I'm not your target audience. There are plenty who would pick this book up because of the title.
 
How about, A Busy Mother's guide to Demonic Summoning?

Not even tabloid newspapers use the term "housewives" any more.
 
RG Worsey said:
How about, A Busy Mother's guide to Demonic Summoning?

Not even tabloid newspapers use the term "housewives" any more.
Click to expand...
They may not necessarily be mothers? I can't remember children in "Desperate Housewives" which was (I don't know if it still is) very popular.

What about "home" because would remove the gender thing too.

A Home Guide to Demonic Summoning
 
Hannah F said:
They may not necessarily be mothers? I can't remember children in "Desperate Housewives" which was (I don't know if it still is) very popular.

What about "home" because would remove the gender thing too.

A Home Guide to Demonic Summoning
Click to expand...
I like the Home Guide idea. Though to be fair all of the characters in the book who summon demons are women. And because of the historical thread that runs through the otherwise modern setting, many of them are, in fact, housewives. I am leaning away from the word housewives at this point, and trying to work in a little of the historical thread into the title--the summoning spells in the book were written in the 1600s, so a little non-standard spelling or word choice in the title, combined with a modern 'cosy mystery' style cover might just hit the right vibe. Totally different from what I was thinking at first, but this is why I've given myself plenty of time to consider this before I give a brief to the cover designer in January. I'm sure it will change again the more I play around with ideas and look at comp titles.
 
Robinne Weiss said:
I like the Home Guide idea. Though to be fair all of the characters in the book who summon demons are women. And because of the historical thread that runs through the otherwise modern setting, many of them are, in fact, housewives. I am leaning away from the word housewives at this point, and trying to work in a little of the historical thread into the title--the summoning spells in the book were written in the 1600s, so a little non-standard spelling or word choice in the title, combined with a modern 'cosy mystery' style cover might just hit the right vibe. Totally different from what I was thinking at first, but this is why I've given myself plenty of time to consider this before I give a brief to the cover designer in January. I'm sure it will change again the more I play around with ideas and look at comp titles.
Click to expand...
Are they posh?
A Lady's Guide to Demonic Summoning

Are they witches?
A Cunning Woman's Guide to Demonic Summoning
 
Hannah F said:
Are they posh?
A Lady's Guide to Demonic Summoning

Are they witches?
A Cunning Woman's Guide to Demonic Summoning
Click to expand...
I like those, particularly A Lady's Guide to Demonic Summoning.

Right now I'm rolling around:
Practical Summoning for the Moderne Witch
Demonic Summoning for the Moderne Witch
Demonic Summoning for the Sceptical Witch
(Might use the modern spelling of Moderne... I'm not overly fond of its older spelling when all the other words' spellings haven't changed since the 1600s)

...getting away from any mention of gender...
 
I like Practical Summoning for the [?] Witch.
The reason for the [?] is that the story is based on a found book, and vengeance is the reason for their summoning a demon, so I'm wondering if a more apt word here might bring more eyes to roost ...
something like: vengeful, spurned, burned, scorned, dismayed, downtrodden, denied, unforgiving (?), mocked, shunned (oooooh, I like that one), slighted, disparaged, etc.
 
What's your target readership? If you have "Lady" in the title, it will appeal to a wide readership and give off a cosy/gently quirky vibe. If you have "witch" in the title, it will attract a mixture of Millennials exploring their spiritual side, and 50-something alternative pagan feminist types. Putting "moderne" in there will give you a very small, but very keen slice of the readership pie.
 
CageSage said:
I like Practical Summoning for the [?] Witch.
The reason for the [?] is that the story is based on a found book, and vengeance is the reason for their summoning a demon, so I'm wondering if a more apt word here might bring more eyes to roost ...
something like: vengeful, spurned, burned, scorned, dismayed, downtrodden, denied, unforgiving (?), mocked, shunned (oooooh, I like that one), slighted, disparaged, etc.
Click to expand...
scorched?
 
Ooh! I love all your suggestions! There are too many options! All of them with their own strengths and weaknesses. How to choose?!

I've just changed the file name on my computer to: Demonic Summoning for the Modern Woman. I'm going to look at it for a few days and see what I think. Might give some variations to my beta readers and get their feedback, too.

Gonna end up spending more time coming up with a title than I did writing the damned book...
 
Josephine said:
I felt like 'housewives' was ironic? Again I'm not your target audience but I liked 1 and 2 (just to confuse matters further)
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I agree. If the intent is to nod to those cheesy domestic manuals from the fifties, then 2 is the best for me. It's punchy and feel like the "busy" underlines the irony of the "housewife" in a way that really sets off the playful contrast in title, which to me makes it very memorable. Or you could flip it, and maybe use "Demonology" or something to reduce the length.

The Modern Woman's Guide to Demonology?
A Domestic Guide to Demons and their Uses?
 
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AgentPete

The Manuscript Thief

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Serra K

Nothing to see here

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