Thursday, February 18, 2016

An Exciting Week...or...Help Wanted! by Jannine Gallant

I Need Help! Probably not a shock to anyone...LOL But this time I need specific help. Book title help. Let me explain what happened...

Last week was an interesting step in my writing career. I had a .99 cent BookBub ad out for Every Step She Takes on Feb. 10th, the second book in my Who's Watching Now series. The third book, Every Vow She Breaks, will be available on March 1st. Last summer, my publisher used the same sales tactic with the first book in the series to promote ESST when it released with really terrific results. But I came up just short of the top 100 overall ranking on Amazon. This time I made it! My lowest ranking was #91 overall and #3 in romantic suspense. Of course the number immediately started a steady upward climb after hitting that milestone, but I felt I'd accomplished something huge. Also, I saw a nice dip in rankings on book one and pre-orders for book three. I hope I can keep the momentum going until EVSB releases on March 1st.

So, I was feeling pretty pleased with myself when I got an email from my editor at Kensington. The uppity-ups wanted a proposal for a new series from me. Was I interested? How soon could I have one ready? Wh...what? My second series with them isn't even finished. The first book in the Born To Be Wilde series, Wilde One, won't release until September. I'm currently 20,000 words into the fourth and final book. Apparently my big ranking milestone caught someone's attention. I can only assume they're banking on the Wilde series doing well to want more books from me. A thought that made me jump up and down a little.

Then reality set in. Here I was, thinking I'd finish Wilde Horses and get to slow down and take a break. Maybe clean my house... Really think about what I wanted to do next. Because I hadn't given my next project a single, solitary thought! I've been too busy writing. The good news was I could do whatever I wanted as long as it was contemporary and a series. Romantic suspense was A-Okay. Terrific! Except I had nothing to guide me in choosing a theme for the new series.

This is where I started pestering my CP, poor Margo, with dozens of emails. I like to call it thinking out loud to someone who will actually answer me, so I don't seem quite as crazy as I would talking to myself. I bounced around ideas. She gave me back a yay or nay and made pertinent suggestions. After getting no writing done for two days, I came up with a series title and rough plots for the first two books. The third is pretty hazy. Here's where the plea for help comes in.

The title for my series is Finders Keepers. The idea is each of the three heroines finds something (but doesn't realize its significance) that the villain of the piece wants back...and will do whatever it takes to get it. Book one is Lost And Found. Book two is Playing For Keeps. Book three is the question mark. I want to use either Find or Keep (or some form of those words) in the title, and I want a common phrase. My plot revolves around my heroine, who searches the countryside for antiques and collectibles for her shop. She finds something related to a crime in a box of junk she bought. Oh, this is a friends to lovers story with a lot of angst getting there. All title suggestions are welcome. Ready, set, go!

If you haven't read Every Step She Takes yet, it's still .99 cents. Buy it on Amazon, Barnes & Noble or Apple iBooks.

Thanks in advance for all your help!

27 comments:

Margo Hoornstra said...

LOVE FINDS YOU - my brilliant suggestion of a few days ago. I stand by it - LOL! Okay, maybe a little tweaking. Love Finds Her? Love Finds Him? Love Finds Them? LOVE FINDS A WAY!! Another brilliant suggestion. I'm standing by this one too!

Brenda Whiteside said...

What I took from this post is Every Step She Takes is still .99 so I'm off to buy that! Good luck with the title which I suck at coming up with.

Jannine Gallant said...

Both good, Margo. Thank you for all the effort you've put into this title over the last few days! I don't know that I'm set on love in the title, however. I'm still torn...

Brenda, I'm not going to complain about your take away from the post! LOL I obviously suck at titles, too, or I wouldn't be begging for help!

Rolynn Anderson said...

Keep or Find. You need to stay with the 'seeking/finding' theme. And I'm not sure you should put 'love' in the third one since the other two don't have it. Hmm. Heart? Scavenged...turned up...scrounged...ferret out...a rare find. Ohh this is tough! I'll think more.

Jannine Gallant said...

Rolynn, I like A Rare Find. Keep thinking!

Margo Hoornstra said...

A something Find. Maybe no Rare though. These are forever friends turned lovers. More 2 cents. I can't help myself ;-)

Vonnie Davis ~ Romance Author said...

Dangerous Keepsake or Keepsake Found

Alicia Dean said...

First of all...congratulations!!! That's very exciting. :) I also bought m copy, heck of a deal!

Now,for titles, I'm not great at them, but I'll give it a shot. Something along the lines of 'Finders Keepers' or 'Losers Weepers.' I also like using 'rare' or something like that in the title. Hmmm...I'll have to think on this a scoatch. :)

Jannine Gallant said...

You can keep sticking in your 2 cents, Margo. I don't mind! LOL

I think what she "finds" is going to be a knife with blood on the hilt...so keepsake probably wouldn't work, Vonnie. My summery wasn't very thorough, but she's also finding a new relationship with the hero. So I'm trying to play on both of those.

Thanks for the congrats, Ally! Since Finders Keepers is the series title, I thought about going with Losers Weepers for the last book. But that kind of implies an unhappy ending, so I'm torn.

Keep those suggestions coming!

Pamela S Thibodeaux said...

What is the name of her shop?
Maybe use that as the title.

I like A Rare Find for both LOL

Congratulations!
PamT

Jannine Gallant said...

Hmmm, maybe I could name her shop something with Find or Keep in it. That might work. Thanks, Pam. Vonnie's Keepsake could come into play if I did that.

Alicia Dean said...

Ha! Duh...Maybe that's why Finders Keepers popped into my head. :)

Alison Henderson said...

What exciting news! YAAAAY! Now you have all those big-star problems, like a title for the third book two series from now. LOL. My first thought was Hers for Keeps or Hers to Keep. It's not very suspenseful, but does kind of wrap up the series and go along with the friends-to-lovers theme.

Diane Garner said...

Huge congrats on the new series! Sounds like your publisher loves you. Good luck on the title. I am NOT the one to help.

Jannine Gallant said...

Big star problems...I wish! LOL Your "to keep" triggered an epiphany, Alison, and I started brain storming. This is what I came up with.

#1 Promises To Keep
#2 Playing For Keeps
#3 Secrets To Keep
or
#1 Lost and Found
#2 Hard To Find
#3 Find A Way

Thoughts?

Jannine Gallant said...

Thanks, Diane. I appreciate the support!

Alison Henderson said...

I love Playing for Keeps!

Jannine Gallant said...

I'd go with all three keep or find titles, one for each book in the series. Which group do you like better?

Alison Henderson said...

I think I prefer the keep group as long as the stories match the titles. I also think it would be OK to mix the find and keep titles, given the name of the series.

MJ Schiller said...

What a wonderful problem to have! I'm with Alicia with the as LOSERS WEEPERS. If it's romantic suspense a creepy title is appropriate, in my book. Congratulations! Now may we all ride your coat tails to the top!

MJ Schiller said...

Oh, and got my copy of ESST! Thanks!

Jannine Gallant said...

Geez, MJ, now I'm second guessing myself and leaning toward Losers Weepers for the 3rd book and sticking with my other two original titles. I'm a mass of indecision! I'm afraid my coattails are pretty flimsy! LOL I do hope you enjoy ESST!

Jannine Gallant said...

For those who are curious...it's a done deal. I just sent off the proposal, complete with titles. I was swayed by Ally and MJ. I went with Lost And Found, Playing For Keeps, and Losers Weepers. And now to wait for the verdict!

Margo Hoornstra said...

That works! Good luck!

Diane Burton said...

You have so many great suggestions. I can't add anything. Congrats on the new series.

Leah St. James said...

I can't add anything either - except a big congratulations, Jannine. So happy for you! Your editors at Kensington are smart. :-)

Jannine Gallant said...

Thanks Diane and Leah. I'm just hoping they like my idea for this series!