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"The plot of an Alafair Burke thriller doesn't just rip from the headlines. She's one step ahead of them. 212 scares you and keeps you turning the pages into the wee hours."
— Harlan Coben
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Potato, Potahto: What's in a Title?
Saturday, August 1, 2009
  With my fifth novel, I joined for the first time the list of authors who have published an identical novel under two different titles. The Ellie Hatcher novel published as Angel's Tip was published in the UK as City of Fear.
Until then, I had been completely unaware of the double-title phenomenon. I asked my UK editor at Avon why she was suggesting a different title. I thought Angel's Tip was perfect. In the opening scene of the novel, Indiana college student Chelsea Hart is still getting her party on at a hot Manhattan club when her friends decide it's time to crash back at the hotel. Chelsea opts to stay out on her own for one last drink. The name of that drink? An Angel's Tip. The title also alludes to a tip that comes in later to NYPD Detective Ellie Hatcher from the father of a previous murder victim. Decent title, right?
Well, little did I know that in the UK, "tip" is sometimes slang for dirt or a mess. Angel Detritus was not what I was after. City of Fear had a nice ring to it, highlighting both the Manhattan setting and the stalking tone of some of the chapters. And the title wasn't the only change. I had to cut back on a light scene in which Ellie and her partner, JJ Rogan, sing the theme song to The Jeffersons during a stakeout. Apparently George and Weezy weren't on constant syndication on the other side of the pond.
It turns out I've gone and done it again. The next Ellie Hatcher novel will be published as 212 in the United States this spring, but UK readers should look for City of Lies. I know I'm not the only author who's gone through this. Lee Child had "Running Blind" and "The Visitor." Karin Slaughter currently has "Undone" and "Genesis." Nevertheless, I have a hard time wrapping my head around it.
I suppose it's similar to having a child you call Miguel in Spain and Mike in the US, but do parents really do that? My guess is they don't, because a name conveys something unique about the thing that it names. The fact that I go by my given name, Alafair, instead of the more convenient Ally, says something about me -- nothing concrete, to be sure, but something. It's because names matter that companies pay market researchers big bucks to come up with brands like Accenture and Apple.
What do you think? How much does the title of the book affect your reading of it? Or the jacket art for that matter, which also varies in different countries? Will readers of "212" and "City of Lies" have identical experiences if the insides of the books are the same, when the outsides are different? Or do the title and the jacket frame the book from the outset, not just physically but psychologically? And what other double-title books are out there? Labels: Angel's Tip, writing
posted by Alafair Burke at 5:52 AM
 
4 Comments:
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I went through this with COLLISION, which was called RUN in the UK. I think it's a marketing consideration. I haven't found a lot of confusion resulting from the different titles (although I'd just gotten an email from a reader who'd gotten both editions, unaware). Be sure you note on your web site that the editions are of the same book; it can help avoid confusion among readers who travel and see a book of yours they think they don't have.
I don't think it changes anything about the book, per se, although the different titles can emphasize different aspects. As a title, COLLISION focuses on the intersection of two very different lives; RUN focuses on the action. I'm not sure that changes the reader's experience, although it might change expectations.
I do think the US title is far better. Especially with the double connotation.
The UK publisher is much too over-cautious. Granted, in colloquial slang, a mother might say to her child, "your room is a real tip"/mess. But in a novel's title, more so in a crime genre, most people would understand it in context, as a tip, as in a clue/tip-off. "Angel's Tip" is a much more imaginative title, which would draw in a wide-ranging shelf browser. On a bookstore table or stand, amidst mixed genres, Angel's Tip will pique more curiosity. "City of Fear" is respectable, but I feel the publisher's could have opted for a more imaginative title.
Nice aspect though, is that it looks very satisfactory and extends a titles list. Potato, Potahto, looking forward to a bookshop trip for my copy. Merci, and all best with the launches.
PS. Enjoy yr Twitter points.
Jane (Oxford)
I think the UK publisher is being too over-cautious. "Tip" is used in the sense of "your room's a tip" (messy) or "I'm taking this old chair to the tip" (garbage dump) but it's also used in the sense of tip off or leaving a tip for good service. It's also clear that "Angel's Tip" is a phrase so you simply would not read the phrase as individual words so the multiple meanings of "tip" aren't an issue.
I'm UK-based and prefer "Angel's Tip".
However, having gone ahead with "City of Fear", I can see why an UK editor would want to continue the city theme with "City of Lies"
The US's "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" is known as "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" in the UK so it happens to UK authors too.
It's City of Fear down here in New Zealand as well. I agree that perhaps "Angel's Tip" is a better title... City of Fear is perhaps a little too generic (could apply to many crime novels).
Enjoyed the book. Have reviewed it for an Australian magazine (Good Reading) which will be coming out in a couple of months. Now onto Rain Gods...