‍I guess I didn’t give much thought to a title when I was writing my latest novel. Like many authors, I just write the story and leave the title to the end, hoping something workable will come to mind along the way. I tried a number of different titles for The Pencil Case. It was eventually given its name, for better or worse, by my husband’s barber after he related a summary of the story. The name seemed to work. The saga began with a boy being hit over the head with a pencil caae, and the incident led to him being a case managed by pencil pushers. 

‍Mortgaged Goods was so named because the protagonist was effectively mortgaged by her father to enable him to pay his gambling debts.  At one point in the story, after she discovered the truth of her childhood, she announced that she was ‘mortgaged goods’, and as I wrote about her making that declaration, I had a blinding flash of the obvious and realised that should be the title. 

‍My third novel was given the working title The Inheritance simply because that’s what it was all about: the inheritance. But when I sought critiques on the proposed cover design, a helpful fellow author remarked that The Inheritance was a work by a very well known author, Nora Roberts. When I responded that lots of novels share the same title, she replied that it wasn’t wise to invite confusion with a work by a well-known author. 

‍At that point, I started scanning the web for books titled The Inheritance, and I found many, though some appended additional words. I discovered:  The Inheritance: A Novel (two books by different authors shared that title); The Inheritance of Loss; The Inheritance Cycle; The Lost Inheritance; The Inheritance Games; and Inheritance An Irish Novel of Suspense. There was just Inheritance, without the ‘The’. And on a quick count, I found eight novels titled The Inheritance. At that point, I decided a new title was required.

‍My ever helpful husband suggested I write a list of possible titles, or just phrases that might relate to the story. Eventually it was he who suggested A Will of Deceit, nothing that the story was actually more about deceit than inheritance. And although Will might be inferred to reference Mildred’s statement of her last wishes, it might also refer to the Joanna’s wilful behaviour.  

‍A quick search revealed no existing novels bearing that title — at least none that rated display on Amazon Kindle. And so The Inheritance became A Will of Deceit, and the cover designer was instructed accordingly  

‍Titles do matter. The title is the book’s first impression. It can suggest the genre and tone. It can set reader expectations. Unique titles help books stand out, and hopefully make the work memorable.  I believe A Will of Deceit suggests the genre and tone effectively - much more so than The Inheritance would have.  I can only hope A Willl of Deceit proves to be as memorable as it is apprently unique, and that it appeals. Readers, please comment!