Can my title include a vulgar word?

I don't think they would. I could be wrong, but I believe they would shy away from something like that because of the connotations. However, if you were referring to a female dog there's a chance you could get away with it, as it's the proper use of the word.

it would probably depend on the publisher.

There's a writer named Stewart Home who's certainly named books worse things - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stewart_Home#Novels . I think it depends a fair bit on the content and tone of your book. If it's a nice genteel, easy-reading before bedtime sort of thing, it might not sit so well with a publisher as if you were writing a transgressional masterpiece designed to push the boundaries of social constraints. Or something like that.

Thanks all for the advice. I guess I already assumed it was a bad idea, but this is the one that has been stuck in my head. I guess I'll keep looking for a new one.

I think "bitch" is fair game for a title and I love "Big Blue Bitch" as an epithet for the ocean. Keep it. "Bitch" has made the transition to primetime TV and a quick search of amazon.com reveals a number of titles that use it, at least a few of which I've seen in my local Borders ("Skinny Bitch" for one).

Hate to do this, but I have a question about titles myself.

My story is currently titled Always in the Band, which is a (very awesome) song. That's kind of the whole point of the book, there's a band, one of them is nearly killed, but he decides that he's always in the band and will always be in the band.

Now, would a publisher agree to using Always in the Band as a title, or will I have to switch it to another one I've been thinking about (Blind Ambition)?

Are you worried that they wouldn't simply because it's also the title of a song? If you are, don't. No-one has copyright on a title, of a song or otherwise.

There are in fact many books which have the same title, and you have to check the author in order to tell which is which, so having the same title as a song isn't going to bother them one bit. Try looking up 'Always on My Mind' on Amazon if you don't believe me. :-)

They might prefer a short title for other reasons though. No point in worrying about it now anyway. If you ever get to that point, worry about it then. In the meantime, keep the title as you want it. The important thing is to get the story finished. :-)

Where do you all get your titles? This has frustrated me ever sicne I started writing half a lifetime ago. I cannot come up with titles . . . for anything! I'm amazed that you guys can come up with two titles for for your stories: I can't even come up with one.

My titles tend to come to me as I'm developing the story, or I'll see or hear something and something goes 'click' in my head.

For instance, I came up with Rising Angels, Falling Apes whilst I was watching the Sky adaptation of Terry Pratchett's Hogfather. One of the characters talks about "...the place where the rising ape meets the falling angel." and it suddenly occurred to me that twisting it into Rising Angels, Falling Apes would be a pretty good description of the main group of characters in my story, as they act like the latter, but think they're the former.

I'm currently working on a story which was tentatively titled 'Uberviolence', simply because I needed something to call the folder it was saved in and a friend said 'you should call it Uberviolence', so I did. However, on the way back from Cornwall last week we passed a lorry which had the words 'completing the chain' on the side of it, and I suddenly thought what a good name it would be for the story. So 'Uberviolence' is now 'Completing the Chain'.

It's exactly the same process as getting the story ideas in the first place really - stray words or objects seen or heard at the right time, in the right frame of mind, causing the cogs to start to turn.

This is just me though. I'm sure other people do this kind of thing much differently. :-)

There's that new book out now called something like Skinny Bitch in the Kitch(en)

I entered bitch as a book search on amazon.com and came up with 474 hits so apparently they don’t mind such a mild term.

Roald Dahl (best known for his children's stories like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) wrote a novel called "Switch Bitch" (obviously not a kids book, but imagine if some kid was googling him to find other books he'd written).

Bitch has definitely shown up in the title of many a published book (eg Skinny Bitch as mentioned above), and you'd have an easier time using that word than using something that would normally be bleeped on network television. But it depends on what kind of book it is, too. Keep in mind that some booksellers might object to the use of the word and could theoretically choose not to sell the book, even if it becomes a bestseller. Not sure if Walmart engages in that kind of censorship anymore, but in the 90s they were known for not selling certain CDs because they disliked the cover art (eg, they wouldn't sell Nirvana's Nevermind album, with the naked baby in a swimming pool, until the cover was redesigned to edit out a certain piece of anatomy).

On the other hand, using the word "bitch" in the title might attract certain readers, who will expect an edgy read. If you can fufill that expectation, it might be worth using the word. Either way, why not use the title for now - if it's a huge issue, your agent or editor may suggest making a change. It's not too too likely that an agent/editor would avoid reading the story because of the title. It'll probably make them just as likely to give it a second glance. (As long as it's not a children's novel!)

I went to amazon.com and searched books for the word bitch and got 77,998 hits so have fun with your title.

"Big Blue Bitch" -- I love it. I want to read it already. Go for it!

-- Wes

Bitch is fair game for the title Big Blue Bitch. The publisher may decide to call it... The Vast Ocean Wonder anyway!!!

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On picking a title, the sure fine way of coming up with one is naming it something cheesy! That will grate your nerves until your creative mind produces something!

jade

Hot dogs. Starbursts. Chocolate. Goldfish with applesauce dip. I'm making my NaNo shopping list.