Question: Title help

[Andy D]

I am ALL about begging the Colony for help this week!

So, as I polish up my YA sci-fi submission, I've a nagging feeling the current title, Everywhere There's Monsters, reads to 'young' (and I think this was pointed out elsewhere). So are any of these recent favourites any good, or do I need to go back to the dreaded brain-shredding title drawing board? The elevator pitch is 'Lord of the Flies in space':

The Outmost Sun
All Systems Down
Divided Space
Everywhere There's Monsters
Beyond Reach
Dark Matters

Loving your work as always, Andy

 

[BrianY]

Andy, I'm sorry but all of these sound like wonderful names for children's books.

BTW; some people will say that titles don't matter because most books aren't published with the titles that they're submitted with. This may be true - and was certainly true in my case - but the title of your pitch counts too.

 

[Rich.]

The elevator pitch is 'Lord of the Flies in space'

So – thinking on the hoof – the Lord of the Flies, apart from being that book's title, is the pig's head the bad kids worship. And it's also another name for Beelzebub, or simply the devil in Christian terms. Is there something similar in your story, something that represents evil both within the story and in our world? Would that be a path worth exploring?

 

[Andy D]

Andy, I'm sorry but all of these sound like wonderful names for children's books.

BTW; some people will say that titles don't matter because most books aren't published with the titles that they're submitted with. This may be true - and was certainly true in my case - but the title of your pitch counts too.

Thanks BYarvin, that's the kind of response I like!!!!! Although I still need to choose one...

So – thinking on the hoof – the Lord of the Flies, apart from being that book's title, is the pig's head the bad kids worship. And it's also another name for Beelzebub, or simply the devil in Christian terms. Is there something similar in your story, something that represents evil both within the story and in our world? Would that be a path worth exploring?

Thanks Rich, yes the fear of Aliens, culminating in time spent in a Black Hole or Abyss, generally represents all the children's paranoia - but all those titles seem taken by 80s films Black Abyss, could work I guess?

 

[Jonny]

Do they come through some kind of transition from kids to young adults in the story arc?

 

[Rich.]

yes the fear of Aliens, culminating in time spent in a Black Hole or Abyss, generally represents all the children's paranoia - but all those titles seem taken by 80s films Black Abyss, could work I guess?

Damn those 80s films! *shakes facehugger* 'Black Abyss' sounds oddly tautological, even though I don't think it strictly is.

Maybe something with 'xeno' in it? (But having said that, maybe that's too 80s too!)

 

[Rich.]

Picking up on the 'Monsters' thing, are there horror elements? Screams in the Abyss – or is that way off the mark?

 

[Dorm Ant]

I like Divided Space and Beyond Reach.

 

[Barbara]

Black Hole Anarchy

(Could be a grunge band)

I keep thinking.

 

[James Charles]

I am ALL about begging the Colony for help this week!

So, as I polish up my YA sci-fi submission, I've a nagging feeling the current title, Everywhere There's Monsters, reads to 'young' (and I think this was pointed out elsewhere). So are any of these recent favourites any good, or do I need to go back to the dreaded brain-shredding title drawing board? The elevator pitch is 'Lord of the Flies in space':

The Outmost Sun
All Systems Down
Divided Space
Everywhere There's Monsters
Beyond Reach
Dark Matters

Loving your work as always, Andy

I am also struggling with titles. Some like this, some like that. I like Dark Matters (Dark Matter/Dark Energy).

 

[Andy D]

Do they come through some kind of transition from kids to young adults in the story arc?

Sort of Johnny! Those that, um, survive…

Picking up on the 'Monsters' thing, are there horror elements? Screams in the Abyss – or is that way off the mark?

Yeah definitely some horror elements though more in the Super 8 / Amblin mode than full on The Thing…

 

[Brayati]

What is the book description/blurb, or maybe a short synopsis. I can't think of a title to fit 'Lord of the Flies in Space' for two reasons: LotF is too old, and in Space is too broad, so I want to know a bit about the story itself.

 

[RK Wallis]

Black Abyss' sounds oddly tautological

It sounds that way to me too...

What is the book description/blurb, or maybe a short synopsis.

I was going to ask the same

Great taste in Black Matter. Your jibing with Michelle Paver. @AgentPete would be proud

What are your comps (the ones that aren't more than 3-5 years old?) or comp authors? Lord of the Flies is one of my pitches, but it's not one I'll query with (just because I find naming authors more useful). Although, I watch an author on Youtube who got her first book deal with 'Jane Austen in space'. Not sure if she queried with that.

 

[Andy D]

Thanks all!

So Dark Matters would be favourite at the moment then? The Outmost Sun came from a Kipling poem - Dedication to Backroom Ballads - which I've had tacked to my fridge now for two years and kinda sums up one of the book's loose themes: the sense of the eternal both in science and faith, with Eden as a recurring image. Another title I had was Weaver's Beam (OT). This is what I have in the covering letter:

Its basic premise is Lord of The Flies in space: Two friends are sent on a mission to save humanity along with thirty other teenage astronauts - but will their friendship, let alone the crew, survive?

It’s a fast-paced adventure in the vein of classic Amblin movies, and comes in at around 78,000 words, touching on themes of the environment, diversity, science and faith. Perfect to sit alongside The Hunger Games or Chaos Walking or Maggot Moon.

I'm a TV journalist and came up with the idea driving to a story one day. I was thinking about how long it would take to get to another habitable planet given the distances - suddenly sending children into space made sense!

I jumped to Lord of The Flies as an inspiration, but I wanted to make Piggy’s character the central focus. And so, Brian was born - a normal on a crew of clones, bullied yet resourceful and kind; his confident best friend, Chris, undergoing his own transformation.

I want X to thrill and entertain, as well as open up new avenues for its readers. Its overall thesis, if you like, is the power of stories, taking Eden as its touchstone.

So, there you go

 

[Brayati]

After reading the intro letter, I don't get a feel for any of the offered titles.
How about:

Eternal Eden
Dark Eden
New Eden
Outmost Eden

etc.

 

[Hannah F]

Dark Matter firmly taken by Michelle Paver plus there are a few other Dark Matters books.

I like The Outmost Sun

Or

Faraway Eden
Untouchable Eden
Mission Eden
The Eternal Journey of a Non-Clone.
The New Life of Brian (no, sorry. Scratch that one. Just having fun.)

 

[Brayati]

Dark Matter firmly taken by Michelle Paver plus there are a few other Dark Matters books.

I like The Outmost Sun

Or

Faraway Eden
Untouchable Eden
Mission Eden
The Eternal Journey of a Non-Clone.
The New Life of Brian (no, sorry. Scratch that one. Just having fun.)

Love the Eternal Journey of a Non-Clone

 

[RK Wallis]

Hmmm, I'm with @Hannah F, I like The Outmost Sun too. There's just an interesting ring to it. Or resonance?

 

[Andy D]

Yes, I like The Outmost Sun too - it just sounds classy (obviously because I didn't write it!) Thanks for all the other suggestions though!

 

[Andy D]

What about:

The Void

?

 

[Emily]

What about:

The Void

?

No. Its like a bad 1970s B-movie with handmade costumes and awful acting. It deserves better than that!!!!!

Also like The Outmost Sun.

And I like Divided Space, its nicely nuanced, and much could be read into it. They FEEL more complete.

 

[Barbara]

Weaver's Beam

I read this as Beavers Dream.

I need glasses.

Re Outmost Sun. I'm tripping over outmost.

 

[Andy D]

No. Its like a bad 1970s B-movie with handmade costumes and awful acting. It deserves better than that!!!!!

Also like The Outmost Sun.

And I like Divided Space, its nicely nuanced, and much could be read into it. They FEEL more complete.

But I LOVE those films

I read this as Beavers Dream.

Come on Babs, you're better than that

 

[Emily]

But I LOVE those films

Yes, yes, we know.

And that's why we're here to save you from yourself

 

[Barbara]

Come on Babs, you're better than that

My eyesight is rubbish.

I had visions of little critters, asleep in their river dams. Pillows and blankets. Slippers. Bed pans. Little dream bubbles, emanating from their little furry heads, showing little twigs and logs.

 

[Dorm Ant]

I like The Outmost Sun, too. Thought at first that this was the title of a famous Kipling poem, though it's just some of the words in the first line.

 

[Andy D]

No. Its like a bad 1970s B-movie with handmade costumes and awful acting. It deserves better than that!!!!!

Also like The Outmost Sun.

And I like Divided Space, its nicely nuanced, and much could be read into it. They FEEL more complete.

Yep, I think it’s between these two. And I’m beginning to think Divided Space just feels more YA?

 

[Hannah F]

My eyesight is rubbish.

I had visions of little critters, asleep in their river dams. Pillows and blankets. Slippers. Bed pans. Little dream bubbles, emanating from their little furry heads, showing little twigs and logs.

Oh, that kind of beaver.

 

[Peyton Stafford]

Damn those 80s films! *shakes facehugger* 'Black Abyss' sounds oddly tautological, even though I don't think it strictly is.

Maybe something with 'xeno' in it? (But having said that, maybe that's too 80s too!)

The eighties were a long time ago for people now in their teens and twenties. I run into this living memory issue too...

Title idea: The Head of the Pig

 

[Rachael Burnett]

What about:

The Void

?

I wonder if you've considered No Place, as in the meaning of Thomas Moore's Utopia (I think you mentioned Eden earlier). Also, no place is kinda space as a whole and space could be a Utopia or its opposite depending on the humans or other beings present. The idea of rejection of a utopia also hints at Candide where one person's utopia is another person's hell or in the case of Candide, boredom.