As
the purchaser for all YA materials at my library, I become very
well-acquainted with the titles of recently-published books. Sometimes,
after reading page after page of (pretty dull) reviews or synopses, they
all seem to blend together. I’ll often think, “Haven’t I seen that one
before? Purchased it already?”
the purchaser for all YA materials at my library, I become very
well-acquainted with the titles of recently-published books. Sometimes,
after reading page after page of (pretty dull) reviews or synopses, they
all seem to blend together. I’ll often think, “Haven’t I seen that one
before? Purchased it already?”
The answer is “Yes, kind of.”
I
took a look at a slew of YA books published within the past few years
and noticed that a remarkable number have the same or nearly identical
titles. I’m sure the list below is not exhaustive – what others do you
know of?
Both 2013
Both 2013
2013, 2011
2011 (adult), 2013
2012 (adult), 2013
2012, 2011
2013, 2010
2012, 2012, 2009
Both 2011
2011, 2013
2012, 2013
Both 2013
2013, 2013
2012, 2013
I'm so over the one-word title. I feel like people think it makes a bold statement, but when everyone's doing it, it comes off as generic instead. And when people name their books the same thing, it is generic.
Not to mention that the covers for Vortex are not exactly easy to tell apart at a quick glance either!
Here are some I've noticed:
http://inbedwithbooks.blogspot.com/2012/09/titles-from-same-source.html
http://inbedwithbooks.blogspot.com/2012/06/soundalike-titles.html
And in addition to The Elementals, there's Elemental by Anthony John (2012).
There's also Storm by Brigid Kemmerer (2012) and Storm by D.J. MacHale (2014).
Another: Panic by Lauren Oliver (2014) and Sharon Draper (2013)
I'm also really tired of the one word titles. It's inevitable that there will be a lot of repeats and though it's punchy at first I find they're (the titles – not necessarily the book itself) are often easier to forget over time
I always thought these 2 Vortex books were the same one, weird! I've also noticed 2 YA books called Indelible, very confusing. Is it so hard to come up with an original title?
I purchase YA for my library too and have noticed this. It's tricky when kids ask for these books because you have to try to decipher which one they actually want because they don't know the author. Sometimes I do think I've already bought one and have to triple check to make sure I indeed did not.