I can’t seem to find where the Walden’s Romance Bestseller list is. Would you be good enough to post a link?

Thanks

oh, Jenny – I’ve been meaning to ask; is there a proper time to be giving you your TimTams at the conference? Also, will you be signing books there?

The Staid Professor’s Hot Affair with the Man from Her Past: Will he realize her identity before a bullet once again tears her from his arms?

This is fun.

The Paraplegic’s Wife’s Lunch Partner’s Erotic Tales’ Effect on the Paraplegic’s Wife’s Libido

The Steampunk Prince’s Concubine’s Hooha’s Glitteriness Across Class Boundaries

I’m stopping now. Yes I am.

I think you’re right about the short-cut summary/synopsis aspect of these titles, but I also think you’re right about them blending together after awhile. That was always the problem I had with the one-word titles, too. A title has to be different from everything else out there while evoking familiar reactions in readers and encapsulating the book while . . .

Best advice I ever got on titles was from Lee K. Abbott. He said, “A title should sound like something a character in the book would say.”

And all my sympathies on being handed your title, except, well there you are in the top ten. Go, Kate.

A reader sent me over here because she’d spotted my title (That’s The Sicilian’s Red-Hot Revenge) on your list. I hadn’t noticed quite as strongly as you that 7 out of the 10 had that possessive – I guess I just get inured to the titles we’re handed – yes, definitely handed. The titles are Marketing . . . hmm was going to say ‘Marketing think’ but maybe those words don’t quite fit.

One thing is that the possessive gives the reader a short cut summary that ‘the hero of this book is Sicilian/Spanish/A Future King . . .’ Marketing belileve this is important. They also believe that words like Revenge and Mistress and Affair and Demand are important. They say these words in the titles make the books fly off the shelves. And there is the evidence in that they appear on the Waldenbooks list.

What do I think? No comment. But personally I’m never sure if I’ve read The Sicilian’s Pregnant Mistress or The Spaniard’s ditto or The Future King’s – or The Greek Tycoon’s. . . .

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/17/books/17dale.html

p.s. He’s read the 7th book, so he knows how it ends. All he will say is that it’s a surprise ending. The Times’ reporter’s response was “Gee. Thanks.”

I can guarantee that someone in my house would buy and read a book titled REMAINS OF THE DEAD. Probably me, because I’d be the only one who ever heard of REMAINS OF THE DAY. I’d be expecting a spoof, though.

Is that better? Sorry.

sorry, but I had been confused by the Sydney conference, I thought you were going there instead of Brisbane. So you are still coming to Brisbane? When??? Are you hanging out in any bookshops? Let me personally recommend Pulp Fiction in the city, their name belies them, you can get an incredible range of excellent books there and they were the ones I got Don’t Look Down from. Are you bringing Cerise?