My Title is Taken

[sandree]

I was reading a compilation of bestsellers, and to my surprise, I see Two by Two, by Nicolas Sparks. I have, unfortunately, chosen exactly the same title for my own WIP, which I hope to self publish soon. I have had it critiqued quite a bit on another forum and edited as well and no one picked this up.

I suppose it would be best for me to choose another title. I’m not sure what the etiquette is on this, as well as the legal and marketing side of it. Stinks, though, since I had a cover almost done as well.

By the way, the two stories are completely different. Mine is science fiction. I wonder if that title was floating around in the ethers and we both happened to pluck it out. I know I have never seen the Nicolas Sparks book...

[The Doctor]

Keep it as it is. Especially since the two books are in different genres.

[LilyBLily]

There is no copyright on titles. Somebody always has written a book with "your" title. It doesn't matter. 

[okey dokey]

Like Lily and the Doctor say.
Use your title.
You'll be OK.

[sandree]

So glad I asked. I was assuming this was not OK...  Thanks! 

[David VanDyke]

There's no copyright in the US or Commonwealth countries on book titles.

Some unfortunate soul recently published a sci-fi book titled "Nightfall," which to me is a bit cheesy, since there's a very famous story by Asimov with that name. Cheesy, but not illegal. Technically, I could publish a book called "The Shining," assuming that name is not trademarked (which it probably is).


There is copyright in Germany, however. There, the first to publish gets the copyright.

[CoraBuhlert]

It's not copyright, exactly, but title protection and you have to apply for it for a hefty fee.

I really hope that the title protection regulation will be struck down, because while it may have made sense in the trad pub only era, but with so many books published, it's impossible these days. But the German publishers and booksellers association hates indies and won't change this or other regulations that disadvantage indies. And parliament won't intervene on its own, because title protection, access to ISBN numbers, etc... is not exactly a high priority for most German citizens. Short of someone going to the supreme court and sueing, I don't see that happening any time soon and even then, I'm not sure if the supreme court won't side with the publishers.

[Bill Hiatt]

While titles can't be copyrighted in many countries, I'd try to stay away from using the same title if the genres are the same.

Even with different genres there is a risk of someone searching for your book by title and getting an avalanche of results from a more famous book using the same title. Whether that is actually a problem is hard to say. I've tested in a few cases in which a self-published title and a well-known, trad pubbed book have the same title. In a Google search, the self-pubbed version gets buried several pages deep. On Amazon, it's not as bad, but the self-pubbed book still ends up below all the editions of the trad pubbed work. Of course, if someone is actually searching for your book and is diligent, the person will find it, anyway.

When I first started publishing, I knew someone who released a book, The Chosen, with the same title as the Chaim Potok classic. I suggested a title change might be desirable. He told me the book in question was his bestselling title. So perhaps it really isn't an issue. I offer the idea for whatever it may be worth.

[sandree]

The title search concerns me too. The book in question - Two by Two - by Nicolas Sparks comes up with pages of search results and is quite recent and popular. Leaning towards choosing another title right now.

[David VanDyke]

It's not copyright, exactly, but title protection and you have to apply for it for a hefty fee.

While I wouldn't presume to argue with you on your home ground, these sources disagree with your statement in detail. For example, the fee doesn't seem excessive, unless I'm misunderstanding, and it seems to be granted automatically in some cases.

https://www.janefriedman.com/german-market-indie-authors/

http://www.how-to-publish-in-germany.com/title-protection-what-you-need-to-know-and-where-you-can-get-it/

http://indiesgogerman.com/title-protection-and-imprint-in-german-books/

[Post-Doctorate D]

I feel like I now need to write a book entitled My Title is Taken.

It will be about a prince who has his identity stolen.  Rom-com, maybe.

Maybe I'll throw in a werewolf and call it My Title is Taken by the Alpha.

I think there will also need to be unicorns and dragons.

And a blue bus.

Maybe a cat.

And pasta.

[Tom Wood]

Didn't Chuck Tingle already publish My Tittle is Takken? 

[David VanDyke]

Reminds me of this book, by an acquaintance of mine:

https://www.amazon.com/Without-Title-R-Brian-Roser/dp/1448622239

[A Fading Street]

I feel like I now need to write a book entitled My Title is Taken.

It will be about a prince who has his identity stolen.  Rom-com, maybe.

Maybe I'll throw in a werewolf and call it My Title is Taken by the Alpha.

I think there will also need to be unicorns and dragons.

And a blue bus.

Maybe a cat.

And pasta.

I'd read that ;)

[Michelle Louring]

I feel like I now need to write a book entitled My Title is Taken.

It will be about a prince who has his identity stolen.  Rom-com, maybe.

Maybe I'll throw in a werewolf and call it My Title is Taken by the Alpha.

I think there will also need to be unicorns and dragons.

And a blue bus.

Maybe a cat.

And pasta.

No two-headed puppies? 

[Ricky Roma]

This sort of thing happens a fair amount. Some writers actively try and use established titles to piggyback on the success of others. Not sure how successful it is, but my feeling is that you should try and make your title as unique and distinctive as possible.

The one example I recall, is (I believe) Girl On A Train by A.J. Waines was released a few years after Paula Hawkins' THE Girl On THE Train came out (my caps). But I'm a little vague on details, as I suspect many readers will likely be.

[DrewMcGunn]

My title was taken by some zombie apocalypse book when I released my first-in-series.

Now, when someone searches for the title, that book is 2/3 of the way down the page. My books vanquished the zombie apocalypse. 

Because my book is part of a series, and I was careful with the series name, I don't worry much about the individual titles matching another book's title. After all, the series title follows the book's title on the Zon, so confusion shouldn't be an issue.

But there's a good argument to be made that a common name as a title would benefit from a subtitle or as part of a more distinct series name.

[guest957]

Interesting subject. Does this mean it'd be okay to publish a thriller titled All the Way Gone Girl or The Girl in the Window? I'm not going to do it, I just wonder if this sort thing is largely frowned upon because it could look like you're trying to ride someone else's coattails?

[She-la-te-da]

I'd say not to deliberately use or tweak a well-known title. Any book that was made into a movie was likely trademarked for the title and other elements, so that would supersede the thing about titles not being copyrighted.

Some things are so common they've been used a lot. I came up with a title for my UF book, but there were like a gazillion things already with that name, so I thought and fiddled and came up with a unique title. A few months later someone published a book with a title along the same lines, which I wasn't happy about, but meh. Not much I can do about it.

[Morgan Worth]

I feel like I now need to write a book entitled My Title is Taken.

It will be about a prince who has his identity stolen.  Rom-com, maybe.

Maybe I'll throw in a werewolf and call it My Title is Taken by the Alpha.

I think there will also need to be unicorns and dragons.

And a blue bus.

Maybe a cat.

And pasta.

Now I'm dying to read that!

[Ros]

As a reader, I'm less likely to pick up a book if the title is generic. So, "The Boy with the Porcelain Blade" is more of a draw for me than something called "The Invasion" or "Vengeance" or pretty much any single-name title.

Two by Two isn't totally generic, but it doesn't grab attention in the way a quirkier title might. You can improve on it.

[sandree]

So I was the OP on this thread. I did decide to change my title for various reasons. Then I chose Seeds of Change, somehow missing the fact that if you haven’t specified Books on Amazon, you get Rice - lots and lots of rice.   

[catowned]

It happens. Readers know to search kindle or book.

[VanessaC]

So I was the OP on this thread. I did decide to change my title for various reasons. Then I chose Seeds of Change, somehow missing the fact that if you haven’t specified Books on Amazon, you get Rice - lots and lots of rice.   

Don't worry - Amazon search engine turns up all sorts of weirdness if you don't filter it - anyone familiar with Amazon's eco system will know to filter for books / kindle books.

As an aside, I find choosing the title just about as hard as writing the blurb. When I came up with the titles for my first series, I did search on Amazon and, of course, found a few books with similar / same titles, however they were all in different genres, so I figured I was fine with a cover, description and keywords that make it clear which genre I'm writing in.

[bookworm]

There's no copyright in the US or Commonwealth countries on book titles.

Some unfortunate soul recently published a sci-fi book titled "Nightfall," which to me is a bit cheesy, since there's a very famous story by Asimov with that name. Cheesy, but not illegal.

Are you referring to this book? I read the whole series. It's middle grade and so has nothing at all to do with Asimov's story. Plus it's just one book in a series. There are only so many words in the dictionary and so it's awfully hard to come up with something that's never been done before.

P.S. If anyone has middle grade kids, I definitely recommend this series.

[Vidya]

bookworm, since you recommended it, I downloaded a sample. Wow. Granted it's Book 6, so the writer has to catch us up on a lot, but if I did the amount of telling that the first few pages do, i'm sure other writers would complain i'm infodumping and should manage to convey all this past history in a more natural manner.

To quote just one example from the book:

Caches were marble-size gadgets the Councillors used to store Forgotten Secrets—information deemed too dangerous for anyone to keep in their memory. Councillor Kenric had given Sophie his when he died—and Keefe had stolen it from her to buy his way into the Neverseen. But he got it back before he fled—and he also took the cache that belonged to Fintan, their leader. Dex was now trying to use his ability as a Technopath to hack into the gadgets.

Messenger, Shannon (2017-11-06T22:58:59). Nightfall (Keeper of the Lost Cities Book 6) (Kindle Locations 136-139). Aladdin. Kindle Edition.

***

This makes me think it's better not to summarize the past books. Generally anyone who reads a series had better do it chronologically anyway, so there's no real need to pander to those who think they'll start with Book 6.

[Alexa]

I feel like I now need to write a book entitled My Title is Taken.

It will be about a prince who has his identity stolen.  Rom-com, maybe.

Maybe I'll throw in a werewolf and call it My Title is Taken by the Alpha.

I think there will also need to be unicorns and dragons.

And a blue bus.

Maybe a cat.

And pasta.

 
Keep in mind that you won't be able to advertise it, because apparently, Alpha is now all about sex, and Amazon won't allow it in ads.
Naked ladies on covers are okay though, why not, nothing sexual there 

[martin]

Good one

[Just Copyeditors - Annie]

I am sure it was the reader's 'fault' in that they failed to search properly for their desired book, but I recall reading a couple of nasty reader reviews where the readers slated the book they'd bought because it was not the one they had wanted to buy.

Of course, they were after the bestseller, and what they got was something they perceived as markedly lesser. Oh dear!

Some will then take to the reviews section and sound off without even contemplating how it was their own fault by just searching against title and clicking 'buy now'.

I once also read a review where the reader had clearly bought the wrong book, read it, and then criticised it because it did not follow the plot that other reviewers had mentioned, ha. They never even realised they'd bought a different one and seemed genuinely perplexed.

So, I don't think you should name your book the same as someone else's, especially if the other one is a top-seller... but having said that, it could mean you gain some sales to which you were not entitled! :D That could backfire or could work in your favour. It'd be an interesting ride...  On a legal front, I can't see that it can get you into trouble, though, unless your book somehow emulates the other to try and pick off sales.

Annie