This week I would ordinarily have gone to the Romance Writers of America National Conference in Anaheim, CA. I decided to skip the event this year, first time since 1998. Too many things going on this summer….
But a big consolation is that this week is also Release Week for A Not So Respectable Gentleman?
Have you noticed that my title has a question mark in it?
The book title at publication is not necessarily the title that the author thought up while writing the book. I’m not very good at thinking up titles but some of my favorites have come from my friend Julie (A Reputable Rake; The Vanishing Viscountess; The Wagering Widow). Harlequin Historical kept those titles, but most of the time they come up with one of their own rather than take one of my ideas. I do have input and sometimes a title is changed if I have a problem with it.
But when my editor proposed A Not So Respectable Gentleman, I immediately liked the title.
Fast forward to the stage when the copy edits are done and I have my last chance to look at the manuscript before publication. I noticed that there was a QUESTION MARK after the title. Oh, no! I thought. Somebody inserted a QUESTION MARK in my title! And it was too late to change it!
It turned out that the question mark had been there all along. I just didn’t notice it when my editor first proposed it. And it looks just fine on the bookcover. I just never thought of having a punctuation mark in a title before.
So my question is, did you even notice the question mark? Can you think of other titles that featured a punctuation mark?
I was surprised by it, and didn’t know quite what to make of it. However, once I read the book, I knew it fit. I think I may have seen an exclamation point or two, but otherwise, nothing. Congratulations on the release. Loved it!
Thanks, Judy!!!!
Well, so much for proofreaders! And no one who saw it thought to question (pun intended) it! LOL But don’t sweat it…it’ll be a talking point for years, the same as the 3 armed woman on one of Christina Dodd’s books.
I don’t have my copy yet, but yes, I would have noticed it and probably would have fired off an email to you to ask about it. I’m sure that you’ll be getting plenty of questions very soon!
It wasn’t a mistake, Karen. It was MY mistake for not having seen it when it was first proposed and commenting on it then, instead of panicking when it was too late to change it.
I’m sure they would have convinced me to keep it in, and, as Judy said, it did fit the story!
Other than commas and a few exclamation points, i can’t remember seeing too many punctuation marks in titles.
I don’t think I noticed the ? on the cover of A NOT SO RESPECTABLE GENTLEMAN? I hope the release is going well.
[...] WEBSITE BONUS: Diane is a prolific blogger — check out Diane’s recent blog post, Question Mark, for information about the origins of this unique title, and some behind the scenes tidbits about [...]