Questions tagged [titles]

For questions about problems you encounter while working on the title of your literary work, such as legal questions about the copyright, style questions about capitalizing words in the title, process questions about finding a title that fits your work or questions about the influence of a publisher on the title of your work.

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How to rephrase and simplify a title? Need help with sentence structure

I have the following title: Why drinking from a glass bottle is better than drinking from a glass cup at work? I meant to say that there are lots of benefits to drinking from a glass bottle such ...
code_legend's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
83 views

Is it OK to name stories after songs?

I've been writing a story for a while, initially and continuing to be inspired by the song "People Are Strange" by The Doors. For a majority of that time, I've called the story People Are ...
ThisKobold's user avatar
0 votes
3 answers
115 views

Is there a style convention for how to "format" a book title in plain text (no formatting)?

Typically book titles are ideally italicized or otherwise underlined. For example: In his book Some Book Title, John Doe describes... Is there any style convention for what to do if you are limited ...
Matt's user avatar
  • 101
2 votes
1 answer
462 views

Are book and movie titles italicized when mentioned in dialogue?

Just to be clear: I understand the rules on punctuating all manner of titles in writing. I want to know do these rules apply when used in dialogue.
athornburgh's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
682 views

Should the Table of Contents be title case?

I did read Which words in a title should be capitalized? Now I'm asking myself when creating the "Table of Contents" for a book should I apply there the same rules for capitalization in the ...
Alexander Schranz's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
432 views

Is copying a book title considered plagiarism? [duplicate]

I'd like to know if choosing an already existing book title is a type of plagiarism?
Nour Fourti's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
103 views

Does the title of a work have to be in the same person as the work?

In a recent work I wrote, the body of it is, as in most of what I write, in the third person. However, my title is in first person, using the word “we.” Is this is an acceptable thing to do? Does the ...
Bill's user avatar
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1 vote
3 answers
185 views

Suggestion/help needed with book series' subtitles containing series numbers

I have a series of books, e.g. Acme Travel Series... Book Title: London Sightseeing Subtitle: Acme Travel Series (Book 1 of Acme Travel Series) Book Title: Tokyo Sightseeing Volume 1 Subtitle: ...
spcsLrg's user avatar
  • 111
2 votes
0 answers
83 views

Is a comparative title in an ongoing book series considered a recent comp or not?

I have a novel where I have an excellent comparative ("comp") title in mind, but the book is part of an ongoing series of novels (scifi/fantasy, if it matters). The suggested time range for ...
DWKraus's user avatar
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4 votes
1 answer
112 views

Should an edit notice be in plural when mentioning multiple document titles?

I'm sending a message to a group of people informing them of an edit to one of their documents now mentions a reference to multiple documents and their titles. There is a total of four documents with ...
Gina Gomez's user avatar
4 votes
2 answers
2k views

How can I confirm that my book title isn't already taken?

I am writing a book that I plan to self-publish through Amazon's self-publishing service. My book is non-fiction. Searching Amazon.com, I could not find any other book with my title, yet it seems a ...
Village's user avatar
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1 answer
94 views

Can we save the name of a book we want to publish? [duplicate]

I want to publish a book in India, with a particular name. Can I save the name for using it in future? Or if there is already one book published with the same name, can I use it again?
Sarath's user avatar
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0 votes
2 answers
59 views

Section headings: "to check..." vs. "checking"

I have a technical document which consists of the following sections: 1. Assignment statements 2. Concatenation 3. Data types 4. To check whether key exists 5. To retrieve value 6. To check whether ...
user90726's user avatar
  • 129
0 votes
1 answer
38 views

Interrogative section headings are fine in a tech business blog?

I have a feeling that I overuse questioned headings in my writings about tech and business issues. I don't want to give examples of texts but, believe me, I use (or want to use) it very frequently ...
Suncatcher's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
48 views

How to properly put asterisk around a term?

How do I properly put asterisk around this title? Do I put it at the end of the title of after the term, KonMari Method? Which one is correct? How the KonMari Method Changed My Daily Routine* or ...
user44007's user avatar
0 votes
0 answers
85 views

Title within a title: How to format properly using Chicago style

Would this be an appropriate way to format the title of my essay, or should it be different? I am using the Chicago style. I am using two book titles within my own title. Would this be the proper way ...
julia's user avatar
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1 vote
2 answers
425 views

Multiple superimposed supers

I'm trying to figure out the correct formatting for multiple supers for the intro of my film. I imagine four separate superimposed lines, one appears, then fades away, until they are finished. How ...
user42624's user avatar
3 votes
2 answers
125 views

Can we use a title that alludes the opposite of what we're arguing for?

Let's say you decide to claim that time is absolute and not relative as Einstein said. Can you still use a title like "Einstein's time", "Relativity of time", "The geometry of time", "Time dilatation",...
Sayaman's user avatar
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19 votes
10 answers
12k views

Why are one-word titles so dominant in books, film, and games?

Something I talk about with friends when planning and sharing our projects & media we like is titles - and specifically my disdain for one-word titles. They seem to be more than dominant in ...
Swanijam's user avatar
  • 199
2 votes
3 answers
261 views

Using a prominent phrase from the title of a film in the body of an article, essay or paper, without referencing the title

I'll start with a clear example. You are writing an essay about the film The Wizard of Oz. Following the rules of titles, you put the film title in italics whenever you use it. But then you use the ...
Kat's user avatar
  • 21
2 votes
4 answers
223 views

Is it the right call to title my romance a 'legend'?

I am writing a book and I plan to call it "Legend of (name of the protagonist)". But I'm writing in first person (protagonist). Searching the meaning of the word "legend" in google I get: "a ...
Vinicius Morais's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
135 views

Do I need to change the title of my book because it is similar to the Transformers Universe?

I used the name Primus and Primes for my book and these are from the transformers universe. My concept is totally different. Is this a copyright infringement? I introduced a secret society named "...
Niranjan Mahajan's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
190 views

Is it confusing to name a chapter after a non-POV character?

I've got another chapter title question. In the first chapter of my story, a significant secondary character is introduced, and I think it makes sense to use the character's name as the chapter title....
Llewellyn's user avatar
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5 votes
2 answers
351 views

Using quote as title - disadvantages

There are multiple examples of works of fiction using for their title a quote from another famous work: Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, Ernest Hemingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls and more. The ...
Galastel supports GoFundMonica's user avatar
9 votes
3 answers
407 views

Reusing story title as chapter title

I've come up with a good title for my story, but it would also work really well as the title for the first chapter. However, I wonder whether it's at all advisable to do that. Do other stories do that?...
Llewellyn's user avatar
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3 votes
2 answers
248 views

Can I use a TV sitcom name as part of my book title

I would like to use the title of a TV sitcom in the title of my book. How do I find out if this is without legal ramifications?
Gloria McCarthy's user avatar
2 votes
2 answers
153 views

Changing titles, same story different angle

I have written a piece stemming from an idea about a particular process that leads to the attainment of magical abilities. The working title was written for the small, 250 word, treatise that I used ...
Ash's user avatar
  • 10k
2 votes
1 answer
78 views

How do I write a long title in APA?

I'm writing a science paper for school, and my teacher said I need a short title (running title) and a long title that uses active voice (a sentence). How do I write the long title? The short title ...
Pearson Frank's user avatar
7 votes
3 answers
208 views

Is a tag line useful on a cover?

I am playing around with cover art ideas and have some that are quite interesting. I have added a brief tag line, not quite a subtitle, to the cover to indicate the genre. Frankly, the artistic photo ...
Rasdashan's user avatar
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4 votes
5 answers
2k views

Shortening a title without changing its meaning

Essentially, I want to change: Managing a lot of people is a very difficult problem to: Lot of people, difficult problem I understand that when you shorten a title, it will become more vague, ...
puffofsmoke's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
148 views

Would publishers accept a title which includes the F-word?

I have a title for a novel, however, it would lose its zeitgeist if I couldn't include the F-word. I can't go in to details without giving away the title. Would this limit the potential audience ...
Pixelomo's user avatar
  • 183
1 vote
2 answers
50 views

Reversing title and subtitle in foreign edition

I am publishing a book with an American publisher. My contract allows me to make a separate contract with one particular foreign publisher for a translation in his language. That foreign publisher ...
emeritusprof's user avatar
2 votes
4 answers
3k views

How to search for titles of novels that are or begin with a word or phrase previously used as the title of many nonfictional works?

Say I have a possible title for a novel I am writing, and it's a word or phrase that has been used in the title of quite a large number of nonfictional works, sometimes as the whole of the title. But ...
edd's user avatar
  • 31
2 votes
1 answer
90 views

Indexing a long title with multiple parts and "The" at the beginning

In indexing a lengthy, clumsy title like this: The Orphans, The First Day: The Blue Sedan I'm wondering where the ", The" should be placed: Orphans, The, The First Day: The Blue Sedan ...
jdscomms's user avatar
  • 123
4 votes
5 answers
302 views

How do I finish my stories although I have both ideas and titles for them?

Almost every day I come up with new titles and rough ideas for new books to write. I e-mail them to myself, happy and longing to write them down. I have published two books, and I know I can write. ...
K.A.'s user avatar
  • 43
6 votes
3 answers
3k views

Is Having Two Titles Bad Style?

In older literature - mostly 19th century - I noticed a common tendency to provide two alternative titles for a text. One example I just came across is: Varney the Vampire; or, the Feast of Blood ...
Martin's user avatar
  • 161
2 votes
1 answer
3k views

What is the correct way to print song lyrics on a gravestone?

I need to know the correct way to quote a song lyric on a stone that is to be placed in a memorial garden. The first part of the song is in quotation because that's the way it's written in the ...
Marla's user avatar
  • 21
1 vote
1 answer
241 views

How do I label a graphic novel series?

Similar to the issues brought up in Structuring a novel like a television or graphic novel series, I'm adjusting a saga I'd conceived as an animated TV series of ~42min episodes, 13 episodes per ...
wetcircuit's user avatar
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3 votes
2 answers
913 views

Book Series - Is using 'Volume #' OK (with no book name)

I've written a book (the first in a series) and am getting read to Kindle Direct Publish the book. While I do have a good name for the world and series, I am having a hard time coming up with the name ...
JALLRED's user avatar
  • 193
1 vote
3 answers
2k views

New story in 'same universe'. When is it a sequel? How to title?

This is a two-part question, and I hope that's okay. 1. Would it classify as a sequel I've created a 'universe' in which one main story takes place so far. This will presumably be my first book. It ...
storbror's user avatar
  • 2,571
-2 votes
1 answer
64 views

“ The doctor spirit 'Dr. Tom' ” - possible book title? [closed]

I have written a book about a medical doctor who died. This doctor's spirit however comes back and takes control of normal, random people to continue his medical profession. Hence, the spirit is a ...
JoHKa's user avatar
  • 113
0 votes
1 answer
45 views

Titles as Real Estate [closed]

For a piece that I’m writing, I’m looking for the titles of well known of literature that could double as the heading of a real estate listing. I’ve come up with: As You Like It Wind in the ...
Al Lelopath's user avatar
4 votes
3 answers
187 views

Is putting Heaven in my book title a bad idea if the book isn't religious?

I have a really good title for this book, but I'm scared it implies the book is religious when it's really not. The title is "The Only Way To Heaven Is Up." It mostly focuses on people overcoming ...
Lunar Eclyptica's user avatar
4 votes
6 answers
5k views

System for Coming up With a Good Title

I have come up with a way to make it easier for myself and others to come up with titles. I am in need of advice to tell me whether or not if it is a good system for coming up with a title for a sci-...
Galactic5's user avatar
  • 376
3 votes
1 answer
95 views

Use of "salesy" secondary titles on Amazon

I was looking at the sales rankings on Amazon today with my publisher and he pointed out that all of the self-published best sellers have a short title then a semi-colon followed by a pitch line (see ...
Brereton's user avatar
  • 435
0 votes
5 answers
421 views

Too Long for Title/Subtitle?

I was considering naming my book "Cherry on Top." However, because this may be hard to search for on Google, I was going to add a subtitle. Perhaps make the full title/subtitle "Cherry on Top: Not so ...
AddalynnMoore's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
145 views

A different question regarding titling a novel - Edited

THIS QUESTION HAS BEEN EDITED: KEEPS ORIGINAL TITLE TO MAKE SENSE OF EXISTING ANSWERS, BUT I'M ADDING THE FOLLOWING: I do somewhat regret choosing "farmers" as my fake title, since most ...
storbror's user avatar
  • 2,571
0 votes
3 answers
104 views

Need help titling my book? [closed]

So... I'm writing a book that takes place in an alternate world. In this world, there are a bunch of islands that align with the star sign constellations (Ex: Gemini, Sagittarius, etc.) the island ...
Reeves Matheny's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
874 views

Books with similar titles

I wrote a book and after publishing it, went to search for its availability. That's when I discovered that another book written 8 years ago has the same title. My title, unlike the other one, includes ...
Anita Marie's user avatar
2 votes
2 answers
85 views

A tale of noun?

I'm trying to write a blog under the heading "A tale of happiness". The problem is that it sounds odd and almost all the heading that sound right have "two $NOUN" format (in case of common nouns) ...
Laschet Jain's user avatar