A good title means a lot

[Nightwaves]

If there's one thing I've learned after submitting stories to this site, the story title means a lot. Captain Obvious, here, but what I consider some of my best work has received less hits than other works with more provocative (but less imaginative) titles. Live and learn, eh?

 

[SimonDoom]

I think this is definitely true if a primary goal is to attract as many views as possible. Some authors don't care as much about that.

I also think it makes sense to take time to make sure that the title and tagline fit together to make the story as appealing as possible.

 

[NotWise]

If there's one thing I've learned after submitting stories to this site, the story title means a lot. Captain Obvious, here, but what I consider some of my best work has received less hits than other works with more provocative (but less imaginative) titles. Live and learn, eh?

This is true, but we don't all have to title stories like Silkstockingslover.

The second story I ever posted to Lit initially received a huge readership. It was at the top of the I/T hub on the morning it came out and for a while it was getting 1000's of views/minute. It's still my most-viewed story. The story is very short, has the second lowest score among my stories, and is far from my best work. The title is the only reason I can think of for its views. "That Little Bitch" gets attention.

The short description can also make or break your views. My most recent story wasn't going to get a lot of views because it was in SciFi/F, but I think I killed it by giving it the description "A woman struggles to save her adopted people." It's had just over 2000 views in four months. I could have said "Tamsin fucks a monster," or even "Tamsin fights to save her people." and gotten more attention.

 

[oggbashan]

My most successful title is "Virgin's Sister".

I wonder why?

 

[Kantarii]

My most popular titles among my fans have been “A Slut’s Triangle” and “Best Friends Forever”; however, “My Brother’s Ghost” is my most viewed series despite it being in a less than popular category such as “ Non Human”
Kant
The Title is the first sales pitch to the reader

 

[BuckyDuckman]

Agreed. A title is your first sales pitch to a potential reader's eyeballs. Clever or witty titles might attract a certain kind of reader, but I believe most our readers are here for the thrill of reading a sex story. My titles reflect that. For good or ill, I try to be as direct as possible.

I accidentally submitted a recent story with the wrong title: "Gay for Candy" was meant to be "Anything for Candy." I think the intended title works better since Candy frequently tells her lover, "If you do this one thing for me, I'll do anything for you." That carrot carries him down the rabbit hole.

But "Going Gay for Candy" or the shorter version that I actually used suits the content better. The man went gay for his girlfriend. That's much more direct and informative than "Needlepoint and Cream Pie."

Happy writing!

 

[Voboy]

I did a story once that was pretty good, or at least no worse than my others. It was a contest entry and got almost no traction: few reads, few votes. I think it barely made the contest vote threshold.

I was puzzled. Until another writer pointed out that the title was a German word. Albeit one which has passed into English, but apparently not far enough.

Too bad. It’s the right title for the piece, so it is what it is. But I hadn’t even thought about that.

 

[ilamont]

Okay, looking for advice here.

For the 'Summer Lovin' story contest, I'm considering a title that's quite cryptic -- "The Sextuple Dubya Covenant". It starts to make sense once you're ten pages or so into the story (it has nothing whatsoever to do with a certain former President...).

So is it too cryptic or weird? Would prospective readers decide to have a look just to find out WTF the title means? Or should I go for something a little more lewd, hinting at the story's content?

 

[SimonDoom]

Okay, looking for advice here.

For the 'Summer Story' contest, I'm considering a title that's quite cryptic -- "The Sextuple Dubya Covenant". It starts to make sense once you're ten pages or so into the story (it has nothing whatsoever to do with a certain former President...).

So is it too cryptic or weird? Would prospective readers decide to have a look just to find out WTF the title means? Or should I go for something a little more lewd, hinting at the story's content?

You have to ask, what do you want to achieve?

For some authors, the artistry of the title is important. They see it as part of the artistry of the story. They'd rather have a title that fits their artistic vision of the story than one that will attract views. This is a perfectly legitimate way to think.

I like clever titles, but I tend to see titles in a more practical light. The purpose of a title is to get eyeballs on your story. From that point on, your artistry will decide if they like it or not.

Your title strikes me as falling into the first category, not the second. It's a bit cryptic, and it's not erotic. It doesn't obviously tickle the kinky desires of readers looking for good stories in a particular category.

If I were you -- I'm not, so that's obviously important -- I would create a title that I thought would appeal to your likely readership. I don't think the working title that you have does that.

But it's totally up to you. There's no right answer.

 

[ilamont]

Your title strikes me as falling into the first category, not the second. It's a bit cryptic, and it's not erotic. It doesn't obviously tickle the kinky desires of readers looking for good stories in a particular category.

If I were you -- I'm not, so that's obviously important -- I would create a title that I thought would appeal to your likely readership. I don't think the working title that you have does that.

But it's totally up to you. There's no right answer.

Excellent points. Thank you.

 

[Nightwaves]

Okay, looking for advice here.

For the 'Summer Lovin' story contest, I'm considering a title that's quite cryptic -- "The Sextuple Dubya Covenant". It starts to make sense once you're ten pages or so into the story (it has nothing whatsoever to do with a certain former President...).

So is it too cryptic or weird? Would prospective readers decide to have a look just to find out WTF the title means? Or should I go for something a little more lewd, hinting at the story's content?

So very true, there is no right answer. I have a few titles that are "artistic", but the rest are down and dirty. Yes, I'm a slut .

 

[ElectricBlue]

Okay, looking for advice here.

For the 'Summer Lovin' story contest, I'm considering a title that's quite cryptic -- "The Sextuple Dubya Covenant". It starts to make sense once you're ten pages or so into the story (it has nothing whatsoever to do with a certain former President...).

So is it too cryptic or weird? Would prospective readers decide to have a look just to find out WTF the title means? Or should I go for something a little more lewd, hinting at the story's content?

Keep it simple. You've got two words many people won't know the meaning of, and a cultural reference to an old president. It won't get opened out of curiosity, that's for sure.

 

[rjordan]

My most successful title is "Virgin's Sister".

I wonder why?

Ha ha. My most viewed was "Virgins on the Run" about a couple of undocumented young Mexican women trying to cross the border into California.

Probably the same reason.

rj

 

[nosebone]

I will agree with Mr. Doom. Unless you have some epic damn story, I'd steer clear of some grandiose title. I've kept most of titles simple. My most viewed story is called "My Cousin Janie, Ch 1", my fastest viewed story is "My Sister Stacey, Ch 1." My highest scored story is "Was it the 'Wrong' Number ch 10'.

Keep things simple. Don't put a Lambo decal on a Fiat 500.

 

[Requiax]

I’m bad at titles. ‘Brave Nude World’ is probably the best I have come up with and that’s wholly unoriginal.

In terms of best performing on Lit, I think ‘Nikki’s Naked Weekend’ does the job best. It’s in the Ex/Voy category and the title tells the reader a) there’s a female character (called Nikki of course) who b) will be naked for c) quite a significant stretch of time. Which is probably what readers in that category want to know...

 

[FEELINGLUCKYPUNK]

Howard Hughes made movies. He won an Oscar with his first flick. One of his early films was SCARFACE, a gangster noir with lotsa sex and vioelence. Al Capone talked to Howard about the title.
Hughes toldd Capone he got the title from the book and the title sells tickets.

 

[FEELINGLUCKYPUNK]

My latest title is CLEM'S CLAMS AND SWEET TOMATOES. A gal named Clementunbe owns a lesbian bar and grill.

 

[Nightwaves]

That settles it for me

Well, it's official. My latest submission (Morning Incest with Mom) is about to surpass my first submission from early 2010 (The Toolshed) for favorites. If your goal is to get read, make the title a no-brainer. I assume most of us are scrolling through tons of submissions for reading, and a simple title says it all.

 

[KeithD]

Sarah Gruen's working title for Water for Elephants was "Jacob's Ladder." A few of us advised her to find a more provocative title. Which one would you think was best? (The apparent inconsistent title treatment here, incidentally, is correct. A book title is in double quotes until published as such and then is rendered in italics.)

I don't do much reading at all at Literotica--I'm here to write, not read--but I think it's not just the title that's important, that it's the combination of the title and the description slug. The limit on characters in the description slug frustrates me; it's usually not quite enough.

 

[KeithD]

My latest title is CLEM'S CLAMS AND SWEET TOMATOES. A gal named Clementunbe owns a lesbian bar and grill.

URL? You're just floating a hypothetical title for the joke value, right? You're not really writing any stories, are you?