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So you may remember my recent post? I said I was revealing the title of my third novel? Not to make it seem like it was click bait–I had all the intentions of revealing the title of my newest novel–but…I may have overlooked one tiny detail. I originally said my third novel was going to be titled Remedy for Memory, but there’s another wonderful Youtuber, Brista Drake, who has a book titled Remedy for Memory. Now Brista has been awesome and said I can title my book that as well, but after feeling a little bit silly for not remembering that was the title of her book (I follow her on YouTube for God’s sake!) it just doesn’t feel right to title my novel Remedy for Memory.

For now, novel #3 has no title, but it will I promise! And when it does I won’t have the same issue!

I wanted to spend today talking about how you should choose a title for your novel. More specifically, if you’ve chosen a title, making sure it will work for you.

Do Book Titles Have Copyright?

The good news is books can have the same title. There is no copyright over titles unless it’s a book that has an “image.” This would be the case for something like Harry Potter. Harry Potter is a trademark, if you used the name in your title you would get sued if it caught their lawyer’s eyes. While you can legally use the same book title as someone else, it’s not always the best idea.

Same Titles?

It’s important to do a Google or Goodreads search when you’re titling your novel. It’s okay if a title is the same as another book, but it shouldn’t be a book in the same genre simply because you don’t want people confusing the two books. Now the book I’m writing and the book Brista published aren’t technically in the same genre, but we use the same marketing techniques. We both appear on YouTube, so our books, and ourselves are bound to bump into each other. With the same titles, things would just get confusing.

Does the Title Fit the Genre of the Book?

Just like you want your cover art to speak for the genre, you want the title of your book to speak for the genre as well. Often times you’ll know a romance novel from a mile away because of the title, and that’s a good thing! A lot of books will get bad reviews because their cover art or title was misleading. Some readers don’t always check what genre a book is, so when they pick up a book with a title like The Floral Night and it ends up being a book with blood and gore, odds are a reader will leave a not-so-good review.

Most of all you just want to make sure the title feels right to you. Play around with a few different options until you find out what’s right for you. And don’t do what I did and announce the book title is absolutely final and you’ve done your research.

What are some of the titles of your novel/works in progress? Share them in the comments below!

Find me on Instagram! @mandilynnwrites