I'm wondering what kinds of names do and don't get attention when you're looking through piles of submissions. I can guess, but do and editors have preferences? Do you like cheese in your titles, the straight goods, artistry rivaling the articles themselves, what?
Contributor
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Titles are a funny thing, and they frequently get changed between submission and print. Depending on the moods of the editors, we like punny titles, straight titles, and clever titles.
As a general rule, we prefer our authors give us straight titles, which we can then modify as we see fit. We do not like "clever" titles that rely on overused phrases. For example, naming an Asian-themed article "Crouching X, Hidden Y" hurts your chances. More recently, it was the "X on a Y" phenomena that got old after the first one (the movie title). Don't rely on cool-sounding movie or television titles for your inspiration.
Does that help?
I used to drive myself crazy trying to think of "catchy" titles that would make me sound creative and exciting. Sometimes I just couldn't, though, and sometimes I'd put in an obviously stupid title, knowing the editors would select an appropriate one.
Then Mike published an article of mine with the "obviously stupid" title I picked, and I decided it was safer to just use boring titles. :D
-Amber S.
I used to drive myself crazy trying to think of "catchy" titles that would make me sound creative and exciting.
How about the "Scintillating Medesha?"
-The Great Green God ;)
I used to drive myself crazy trying to think of "catchy" titles that would make me sound creative and exciting. Sometimes I just couldn't, though, and sometimes I'd put in an obviously stupid title, knowing the editors would select an appropriate one.
Then Mike published an article of mine with the "obviously stupid" title I picked, and I decided it was safer to just use boring titles. :D
-Amber S.
What was this "obviously stupid" title?
Ok, here's a followup question: what works better, an email submission or a mailed submission for queries? I'm thinking mail would be good if only because it's concrete AND it keeps the submission forms together with the query so you lot don't have to search through piles of emails AND forms just to figure out if you can use any of them.
It's my understanding the editors prefer e-mail by a very wide margin.
What was this "obviously stupid" title?I used to drive myself crazy trying to think of "catchy" titles that would make me sound creative and exciting. Sometimes I just couldn't, though, and sometimes I'd put in an obviously stupid title, knowing the editors would select an appropriate one.
Then Mike published an article of mine with the "obviously stupid" title I picked, and I decided it was safer to just use boring titles. :D
-Amber S.
Not sure what Amber's was, but I've been here too. I submitted one with a title I assumed Mike would replace. He didn't, and so "Favored Enemy Feats" appeared in issue 335.
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Contributor
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Ok, here's a followup question: what works better, an email submission or a mailed submission for queries? I'm thinking mail would be good if only because it's concrete AND it keeps the submission forms together with the query so you lot don't have to search through piles of emails AND forms just to figure out if you can use any of them.
Never send us anything in physical format. Electrons are our friends. :)
Are you positive?
:D :D :D
What was this "obviously stupid" title?
"Swamp Swag", in issue #...lizardfolk.
-the Scintillating Medesha
Pfft. "Swamp Swag" is better than "Favored Enemy Feats." :D
"Swamp Swag" remains my favorite article that I wrote, I think. Maybe it and the Eco of the will-o'-wisp.
-Amber S.
My original title for "Grisly Ends" (A CW about dead bodies) was "He's Dead Jim". That didn't pass muster so I next suggested "Habeous Corpus".
(I guess sometimes my sense of humor is a little off kilter :) )
I think some of my greenlights for articles have been at least partially based upon a good title. If you pick the right one you can create an image in the editor's head about how it would look on the page. It doesn't always work but it rarely hurts to give a little thought to your title.