For some time I have toyed with a title for my next novel, which will be a murder set in a Black newspaper. It comes to mind because in reality I came up with the title long before I had even the slightest idea what the novel was about. It’s a title I really love.
What’s in a name? For a publisher and from a marketing standpoint there’s probably quite a lot in a name. And I doubt anyone but the bravest publisher is going to like this one. The working title is “Death at the Jungle-bunny Journal.”
The book itself will not be controversial. Although the plot is a little complicated at the moment, it’s a standard murder mystery and the reader will travel along with the hero as he tries to figure who did it and why.
But the title is a grabber. And I like the alliteration. Jungle-bunny Journal rolls easily off the tongue. I love it. If I weren’t a Black person I would never be able to use it, which is probably why no publisher will touch it. So I will keep it merely as a working title (and not tell anyone but you).
About a decade ago while I was working at The Philadelphia Tribune, a Black newspaper in Philadelphia, a reporter and I were talking about what we considered an insult on the paper by some public official. And she and I came up with a number of terms that we were sure the official probably used in private to describe The Tribune, such as the Darky Dispatch.
But my favorite has always been the Jungle-bunny Journal.
So that’s the name. We will have to see how it flies once I get the book written. And I will update my blog on the issue when the time comes.
I will talk to you next week.
Thanks for reading and keep writing.
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