Last week, I spent a great deal of time e-mailing back & forth with my editor trying to come up with the perfect title for my next Silhouette Desire. (Did I mention that it’s scheduled for June 2011? Yes, indeed—weeeee!. :party )
Of course, I already thought I had the perfect title. I’d named it The CEO’s Secret Heir, which you have to admit really does rock. :notworthy Unfortunately, the continuity release for that same month is going to have “CEO” in the title, so mine had to be changed. :sadheart
Their first suggestion for a new title was Hidden Heir, Untamed Ex, which I really didn’t like. I think it’s okay for me to admit that, since I told them pretty much the same thing. It’s that “untamed” part; it puts me in mind of old-old mean Alpha male titles from the early 80s & just rubs me the wrong way.
But the rest had potential, so I offered a few suggestions of my own. His Ex, Her Secret…The Billionaire’s Secret Heir (the hero was really only a millionaire in my mind, but since they’re making this book part of the “Billionaires and Babies” promotion, he apparently made a sudden killing in the market :genie )…The Billionaire’s Baby Surprise…The Billionaire’s Hidden Heir…His Hidden Heir…The Rich Man’s Secret Heir…Hiding the Billionaire’s Baby…
I can’t help it; I am such a sucker for this type of title. :dog
Though they didn’t love any of those right off the bat, they came back with a variation on my first suggestion: His Hidden Heir, Her Little Secret.
Okay, now we were on the right track. It didn’t feel quite perfect to me, but I definitely liked it. So I turned around & asked if we could reverse the order of the two parts—Her Little Secret, His Hidden Heir. My reasoning? Technically, the “secret” came before the “heir” & I thought it flowed a little better. My editor liked it that way, too, the Senior Editor of the line liked it, & so we have our new bingo! title for the aforementioned The CEO’s Secret Heir.
So mark your calendars. HER LITTLE SECRET, HIS HIDDEN HEIR will be out in June 2011.
Yay! Thank goodness my editors are flexible & don’t mind a bit of back-&-forth brainstorming. And thank goodness I know how to compromise, too. Well, you know…sometimes. 
I like the new title and yes “Untamed Ex” makes it sound like he’s a were shape-shifter about to lose his soul to the moon.
LOL I never thought of that. I just kept thinking, I’d like to see some man try to tell ME I’m untamed! And if readers had a similar reaction, it wouldn’t be pretty. :angeldevil
Or that he’s Roman. I’m convinced they are a whole different breed.
Oh i doooo likee that title!! and i will be adding this to my next years calender!! :dancing
Yay! :biggestgrin I like it, too. And my dear editor—likely just to appease me…but hey, it worked :biggestgrin —says we can save The CEO’s Secret Heir to use for another story down the road, since I’m so attached to it. :kitty
Wow, you went through a lot to get the title. Glad you like the new one…it does sound better than the first.
Peace and love,
Paula R.
So is it June yet? Love the new title and yeah, the whole untamed thing just wasn’t working for me either. I had visions of Fabio covers from way back when.