by Sandra Gulland | Sep 12, 2012 | Adventures of a Writing Life |
As some of you may already know, I sent out a newsletter on Monday. It’s always a Big Deal, and always A Thrill.
Here it is if you haven’t seen it: my September 2012 newsletter.
When people sign up for the newsletter—(here: do it!)—I have no idea what part of the world they are from. Now, because the newsletter mailing service I use provides stats, I know I have readers everywhere:
The newsletter was read by many readers in Canada, US, UK, Mexico and France—of course—but also by readers in Australia, Germany, Argentina, Italy, Brazil, New Zealand, Thailand, Malta, Norway, Ireland, Israel, India, New Guinea and Russia!
It’s wonderful—wonderful!—to see.
I also get to see which of the links in the newsletter were the most popular. On the first day, it was—surprisingly!—my blog post on 17th-century breast pumps. Perhaps it was the warning that the reader would be grossed out. How can one resist?
The second favourite was a blog post on the revision process with the ominous title “The Slough of Despond (the swampy middle)“—which indicates to me that there are a lot of writers on my mailing list. Nobody but a writer would really resonate with the words: Slough of Despond.
Not one person has responded so far to the announcement of the (likely) (so far) title of The Next Novel:
IN THE SERVICE OF THE SHADOW QUEEN
What do YOU think?
by Sandra Gulland | Mar 28, 2011 | Adventures of a Writing Life |
Whew! The 3rd draft was “sent” this morning to my agent. (Four days before I promised it: yay!) I won’t hear back for three weeks, so I’ll postpone my fretting for a week or so.
I’ve been promising a word about the title, which is presently, ta da…
(Drum roll please.)
Keeper of the Secrets
It’s hard to know if it will stick. I hope so.
When I put titles up for feedback in my last newsletter, here’s what I heard back:
1. Keeper of the Secrets was indeed the run-away favourite. I personally like Keeper of the Secrets quite a bit because it ties in with both the worlds of the theatre and court. In the world of the theatre, “Keeper of the Secrets” is the title of the person in charge of the special effects (and who is thus also suspected of witchcraft). As the suivante to Madame de Montespan, my heroine becomes the go-between between Athénaïs and Madame Voisin, the sorcerer, and thus becomes keeper of real secrets. She gives birth to a daughter by the King; and that, too, becomes a secret.
A possible problem with Keeper of the Secrets is that there may be too many books published with similar titles.
2. The Arts of Fascination came in 2nd: nobody disliked it, but few chose it as their #1 favourite.
3. The Travesty Player got similar reaction, but with some negativity.
4. A number of people liked the title The Beginning of Magic, but quite a few did not. My daughter’s boyfriend suggested The Origin of Magic, which rather intrigued me—it’s an excellent title—but the novel is not enough about magic.
And so: what do you think?
{photo credit}
by Sandra Gulland | Jan 29, 2011 | Adventures of a Writing Life |
.
Whew! I just sent out my latest newsletter. You can read it here.
Note that I’ve listed some of the titles I’m considering for The Next Novel. Let me know what you think. (I’ve already taken Once Upon a Time off the list due to immediate feedback: a reader noted that it sounds like an anthology of fairy tales.)
If you want to get on the mailing list for future newsletters, sign up here.
Now: time to get back to The Next Novel.
