It doesn’t matter if you are an aspiring or experienced writer, when it’s time to choose a book title it can feel overwhelming. You want it to catch a reader’s attention, you want it to convey the theme of the book, and you want it to feel unique to the story you are telling. It can all be overwhelming! We outlined three simple strategies below to help you in naming your book. These are strategies we put into place when we choose book titles for our Thread of Souls series.
The Aesthetic Title
You may want to choose a title that focuses on the specific aesthetic of your story. Is your story dark and moody? Is it romantic and epic? Is it violent and strategic? If you have an idea of the vibes of your story, you can begin to create a short list of words related to them. Try not to fall into the stereotypical trap of young adult novels with edgy names, but instead choose words that relay the moods and themes of your work.
For example, if you book is romantic, you might want to include a color of passion in the title, like red or purple. Or aesthetics associated with romance such as flowers, fire, silk, the night, or chocolate.
Animals are also good metaphors for themes in your book. Foxes are associated with being cunning, owls for wisdom, dogs for loyalty, elephants for sturdiness, or spiders for laying traps.
Consider other symbols and what they mean. A full moon is often associated with power. Storms are often associated with troubling times. Rain for rebirth, a garden for life, an apple for temptation, and so on.
Here are some real-life examples: Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen, The Chaos of Stars by Kiersten White, and Midnight Beauties by Megan Shepherd.
The Prominent Name Title
You may choose your book title based on something prominent within the story itself. This could be a character, a location, or an item of note. This brings the focus onto something instrumental to your story’s plotline.
Some examples of stories named after characters: Romeo & Juliet by William Shakespeare, The Book of Mordred by Vivian Vande Velde, and Pendragon by D.J. MacHale.
Some examples of stories named after locations within: The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien, Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones, and Out of Africa by Karen Blixen.
Some examples of stories named after an item within: The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis, Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll, and The Singing Sword by Jack Whyte.
The Fairytale Setting Title
Sometimes you might want to cement the grand scale of the story you are telling. This is especially helpful if you are telling a book trilogy or series. This allows you to be flexible with subtitles, as well! When going for this type of book title, choose a synonym for “story” and then something else from the list above, such as a character name. We’ve got some great examples below!
The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis, The Kingkiller Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss, and A Song of Ice and Fire from George R. R. Martin.
How We Chose the Thread of Souls Names
“Thread of Souls” relates to everything that is published within our fantasy world. It not only goes with our theme of multiple character POV’s and how they influence each other, but also of the prominent goddess of death in the stories and her theme of threads. Readers familiar with Greek mythology will easily recognize the allusion to the Fates.
The eight-book series we are currently on is dubbed the “Spider Octology”. This is not only because of a prominent god feature and the number of books in the series, but also is thematic since spiders are associated with laying traps.
Here is a breakdown of the subtitles of the four books published so far:
Book 1 – Phantom Five. This is named after the adventuring group the Phantom Five created across the story.
Book 2 – Ash & Thunder. Not only is this title a bit aesthetic for the chaos and violence in the book, but it also directly relates to two major battles that take place within.
Book 3 – Path of the Spiders. Many secrets are uncovered in this book regarding Taliesin’s missing spiders.
Book 4- Asunder. The story begins with many of our heroes split apart, and thus the group has been torn asunder.
We hope this has been helpful to you! We’d love to hear how you came up with the names for your stories below!
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