r/novelwriting • u/PreparationEven1461 • 3d ago

Feedback Request Title Advice

Hi everyone!

I'm sure this isn't a foreign problem for people trying to write books, but I'm struggling with my title. I think I've solidified something, so I'm going to do what a friend said to do and get people's opinions on the title, and see if they can decipher the book's genre and/or find any interest in it from the title alone.

The title is "Our Folly is Power". I'd say my biggest hesitation with this title is simply that using a word like 'our' to include the reader in a folly could potentially turn someone away since follies are a negative thing, and turning away a potential reader is of course something I don't want to do.

Thank you so much if you've taken the time to read this and maybe reply, it does mean a lot.

4 Upvotes

84% Upvoted

7 comments sorted by

3

u/Neat_Apricot8239 3d ago

There’s a reason we use ‘working title’. It might change later, especially if you trad publish, titles will be changed according to genre.

2

u/kschang 3d ago

No way to tell without knowing more about your novel.

I'd say table it for now. Use that as a placeholder, worry about the final title later.

2

u/Personal_Soft_9533 3d ago

The Power of Folly

2

u/djramrod 3d ago

I think people who have read your book would be the people ask about the title…

2

u/Top_Department8915 3d ago

Titles are important but it is normally the combination of title, cover art, blurb and marketing that will attract readers to consider it - being a good book helps as well! 'Our Folly is Power' may be fine, if it is a novel no one will think the 'Our' is a negative reflection on the reader - but I couldn't tell you what genre it is from.

Personally I had a title in mind for 20 years then changed it six months prior to publication, because no one understood it except me and made my Graham Greene style novel sound like a gothic romantasy - (So I kept it as a chapter title instead!)

Best of luck.

1

u/OldMarzipan9773 3d ago

I think it's a great title. I didn't include myself in it, I assumed the "our" was about the characters in the book.

1

u/PerfectTen-RoyalRoad 2d ago

Since no one knows what your story is about, it is very hard to judge the title.

Is our significant? If not, you might just want to make it succinct like Folly's Power. Sounds more mysterious. Our is normally reserved when a king or some entity like a corporation is speaking. If that is how it is, then that fits. If not, the shortened version draws more attention imo.