Fun With Titles

I finished the proposal (three sample chapters) for my new young adult novel. Then I didn’t have a title. It’s usually best to have a title when you send off a book proposal; otherwise you’re calling it Untitled Book That I Hope You’ll Buy. So I went to my favorite source for book title ideas: http://www.thesaurus.com.

I came up with BUMMER OF A HERO, but it turns out that “bummer,” one of my favorite words, also means “the unpleasant aftermath of taking narcotic drugs.” Since this is a goofy comedy for kids, I thought it might be best to avoid the confusion.

Then I came up with SUPERHERO LITE, and I thought “Eureka!” and changed the name of the file and the folder from THE BUBBLER (I assure you, the book was never going to be called THE BUBBLER). Minutes later, my wife suggested SEMI-HERO, which will stop people from hearing the title and thinking it’s about a magical superhero light, so I’m going with that.

Next I need to change the name of my novel-in-progress THE ODYSSEY OF HARRIET, because it kind of sounds like OZZIE & HARRIET. This book is not like OZZIE & HARRIET.