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?
Mulling this over more….and looking at some of my Secrets of the Tudor Court books…gets in Secrets but distinguishes from raft of Tudor historical fiction….how about Secrets of the Sun King’s Court? Or Secrets of the French Court? Just a thought…..
I like Keeper of the Secrets, too, but it is well used. There are too novels (2002 and 2008) of almost identical name and more that are variations. None of the others I think hit the mark–but I would guess that a great title will occur to you yet. I find that sometimes I have the title right at the beginning, and other times I’ve had long lists of them and didn’t find the right one until te 11th hour.
I know, Lilian: that’s a serious drawback. Most similar titles are in a different genre (YA or spiritual), so we will see what my agent and publishers think.
For Mistress of the Sun I was absolutely stuck on another title, which I very unhappily put aside and came up with its title in, yes, the 11th hour. I am so glad I did. The other title—Bone Magic—would have been a mistake.
i do like the Arts of fascination xx
I like it too — it would definitely intrigue me.
I love it!
Thank you, Erika—me too! I get a little concerned when I’m so attached to a title. So many things can change.
I’m about to hit click on an amazon.com order and Mistress of the Sun is in the cart. I’m so excited and can’t wait to read it! (and it’s a perfect title).
I love English history, particularly Tudor history. There’s been A LOT and I mean A LOT of Tudor era historical fiction of late with “secrets of” in the title. It sounds so English. I’d love to see a more “Frenchified” title. Something that’s more mystical, airy, and reflects the theater aspect or the sorcery aspect. If you hadn’t told me the significance of the Secret keeper I wouldn’t have known (and as I type I also think about the secret keeper in the Harry Potter books). I’ll happily lap it up whatever the title is but I’d love to see something that reflects more the mystery and the pageantry that I anticipate in the book. Hope this helps! Best of luck.
Good points, DeAnn. We’ll keep searching!
See my thoughts above. I’ve spent the past 20 minutes thinking of nothing but titles…I can’t imagine how it’s not whirling around constantly in your mind! I do like Secrets of the Sun King’s Court. Or Secret Keeper of the French Court…or Secret Keeper of the Sun King’s Court. That last one may be getting too long.
My brain is actually a bit worn out right now, DeAnn, but I’m keeping notes. Thank you!