Another title question

[The Din]

Like many of you, I am nearing completion of my NIP and am wrestling with the decision of what to call the bloody thing. And I do mean bloody. Its full of vulgarities and violence, and I want the title to suggest as much. Namely, the inadvertent misery and death left in the wake of my good intentioned protagonist.

The Bodies Left Behind: was my original title, but a google search brings up a novel already by this name. I have no intention of using it now, but for curiosity's sake, would sharing a title with a book of a different genre be a big no no?

Cadaverous Leavings: is my current title, though my fear is that it might be a little morbid for the mass market. Is going with such a title going to hamstring me when trying to get published? Is it too obscure? Been done before?

Any and all opinions are welcome.

 

[Steerpike]

I don't see a real problem with use of a title that is the same as a work in another genre, unless the title is a very famous one. In this case, I haven't heard of the other work.

Cadaverous Leavings is a name that I would assume applies to a horror novel. I don't much care for it as a name for a fantasy work, to be honest.

As for trying to get it published...I don't know how much impact the name will have. I suppose it could attract, or put off, an editor or agent at first glance. If a publisher decides to take on the work and doesn't like your title (no matter what you call it), they may well insist on changing it. In other words, if you go through a traditional publisher do not expect that the title you give the work will necessarily be the title at the end of the day.

 

[Ghost]

I agree that it isn't a big deal. If you're submitting to publishers, they might change it anyway. If you like your title, you should stick with it, but if having the same title bothers you a lot, you could change it.

Maybe omit the The and have Bodies Left Behind?
The Corpses Left Behind?
The Ones Who Remain?
Wake of Corpses? Oops, that sounds like a funeral with a few too many dead people. This is why I don't work in marketing.

I really dislike Cadaverous Leavings. It makes me think of zombie poop.

 

[Caged Maiden]

I really dislike Cadaverous Leavings. It makes me think of zombie poop.

HAHA @ Ouroboros.

Okay some suggestions:

Field of Bones
Skulls of (place name here)
Death's wake
(Protagonist)'s Wake


Some words you might want to play with (because I don't know the overall tone of the book): Lamentations, Morbid, Bones, Skulls, Carnage, Sorrow.

I named a research paper A Mood of Morbidity. It was about how the black Death influenced European art.

OOh or one more idea. I'm a big old fan of ravens. Maybe something about them like Ravenroad, or something about the carrion eaters who follow him...

 

[The Din]

Thanks people. Had a feeling the title would have such an affect, just wanted to find something not done before. I had always planned to leave the title undecided until I could get a publisher to look at it, with simply a list of names I'd be happy with. So far it is as follows:
-Cadaverous Leavings: AKA zombiepoop.
-Bodies Left Behind
-Cadavers of Consequence
-Remnants of a Violent Man
-Violent Remains
-The Dead of Good Intent
-Cadavers of good intent
That's all I have so far. Let me know if any stand out, or if I'm simply barking up the wrong tree.

 

[Caged Maiden]

I vote either Bodies Left Behind or Violent Remains (though the last one might sound like resurrected undead a little).

 

[Ireth]

I like the sound of Bodies Left Behind, myself. It flows pretty nicely.

 

[bbeams32]

I like Bodies Left Behind as well. It draws my interest based on title alone, even knowing nothing of the plot.

 

[Ghost]

Bodies Left Behind has more punch than the other ones, and it makes people curious. Whose bodies were left behind? Who left them there? I see "cadavers" and I think of med school.

 

[The Din]

Thanks all. Seems the consensus is bodies left behind, which i like, though am loathe to use because its been done before. I'm really looking for an original title, preferably one without any of fantasy's many over-used words. Kinda grinds my gears when I see titles made from fantasy cliches thrown together. Thus I continue my search for the white whale of titles. The latest one I'm toying with is:

Servitude of the Sanguinary: as the book centers around a slave turned gladiator who is tormented by his inability to leave behind the violence of his previous life.

Others I'm considering:
-Another Name For Dying
-Two of Violence: as both main characters bare a curse that brings out people's most violent intentions.
-Shadows of Violence: as proximity to either POV invokes violence.
-Bloody impressions
-Footsteps of blood
Any preferences or ideas are welcome.

 

[Mindfire]

It really depends on what the plot is. What is the book about? Do you have a plot synopsis? Try this: Describe your book in 3 sentences or less. Once you've condensed your entire work into 3 sentences, you'll have a good idea of what the core of the story is. Once you know that, coming up with a title is much easier.

 

[Rullenzar]

Thanks all. Seems the consensus is bodies left behind, which i like, though am loathe to use because its been done before. I'm really looking for an original title, preferably one without any of fantasy's many over-used words. Kinda grinds my gears when I see titles made from fantasy cliches thrown together. Thus I continue my search for the white whale of titles. The latest one I'm toying with is:

Servitude of the Sanguinary: as the book centers around a slave turned gladiator who is tormented by his inability to leave behind the violence of his previous life.

Others I'm considering:
-Another Name For Dying
-Two of Violence: as both main characters bare a curse that brings out people's most violent intentions.
-Shadows of Violence: as proximity to either POV invokes violence.
-Bloody impressions
-Footsteps of blood
Any preferences or ideas are welcome.

I like footsteps of blood. Mindfires idea is worth a shot. Some things that come to mind from your small description of your main character would be:
-Violence is for the weak: expressing that the will to over come the violence is harder and weaker beings fall prey to their violent natures.
- Footsteps of the fallen: a play on one of your titles
- Blood runs deep
- Echoes of blood : or something to do with echoes from the past
- Echoes of violence/ Echoes of the past
- Can't Outrun The Blood On Your Hands: or something that plays on that concept
- Violence Spins an Intricate Web: Playing on the idea that once your caught in a web it's tough to wriggle free

Hope these help you out. gl with your title.

 

[emma]

Honestly, title wise unless you're planning on using a title that is big and famous, I don't think it matters if it's been done before. Who's to say someone some where right now isn't using the title you finally decide on for their own work. Plus, as someone said, there's always the possibility of agent/pub/buyer changing it.

You don't want to focus so much on being original that you stick your novel with a long obscure title that has to fight to catch the reader's attention. One thing you have to remember about the overused words in fantasy....publishers like to use them because they help busy shoppers zero in on the type of fantasy they like to read.

Just focus on something that sets the tone of your story and that you like and think would grab someone's interest.

 

[dreamer444]

I like Another Name for Dying

 

[Caged Maiden]

- Footsteps of the fallen: a play on one of your titles
- Blood runs deep
- Echoes of blood : or something to do with echoes from the past
- Echoes of violence/ Echoes of the past
- Can't Outrun The Blood On Your Hands: or something that plays on that concept
- Violence Spins an Intricate Web: Playing on the idea that once your caught in a web it's tough to wriggle free
.

These are some really great suggestions. I'm sad I didn't see you weigh in on my title crisis. I could have used some help like that!

 

[Rullenzar]

These are some really great suggestions. I'm sad I didn't see you weigh in on my title crisis. I could have used some help like that!

lol thx. Just wish these ideas came to me like that when my own work needs them.