Book titles I loved but didn't use (part 3)
The Wordslut edition.
As the countdown to The Age of Magical Overthinking dwindles (T-minus six days until launch!!!), I’ve been reflecting on my whole publishing ~journey~ as a way to slow down and generate gratitude. Amid all the pressure and stress, I’ve been trying to remind myself how glad I am to be on my third book as opposed to my first. It’s nice not to feel like such a baby giraffe anymore. Everything about my first book was clumsy and difficult, not just the promotional aspect, but every single step along the way… starting with the titling process.
On this newsletter, I’ve already shared the book titles I considered but ultimately discarded for The Age of Magical Overthinking and Cultish. But I’ve withheld revisiting the Wordslut titling process, because woof, that was torture. When asked about what went into that book’s title, I usually admit that it was tough and there were long lists of options ranging from the not-so-bad to the downright abysmal—from the dry and academic to the cringe-tastic and punny. But for my own sanity, I never go back and look closely at those lists, because they are triggering. Wordslut wasn’t definitively named until about four months before it came out!!! That’s because the book covered such a huge swath of topics, and I was such a newb, I found myself intimidated to the point of paralysis. How was I supposed to represent the whole thesis of the book in just a single short word or phrase??? Wordslut emerged as an option about a year into the titling process, but I was resistant to it until the ninth hour purely because (and this is embarrassing) I was actually afraid of what my parents would think. Putting those reservations aside would be my first step on a lifelong path toward not letting other people’s reactions (or potential reactions) prevent me from being my most authentic creative self.
In the spirit of *journeys* and behind-the-scenes peeks, I wanted to share some of the book titles I loved (or mostly hated) but didn’t use for Wordslut. This list is from 2017 and was such a trip to revisit. Feel free to shout out the ones you like and loathe the most in the comments below!!
