Authors and Titles

There's a bit of buzz about how HBO is apparently refusing to let Martin name the Game of Thrones prequel series.

Here's the thing.

Unless you are publishing under your own imprint or, say, with a friend's company - authors often get overruled on titles. I've even had a short story forcibly retitled myself.

Even if you publish under your own imprint, there can be complications. I wasn't able to use the title I really wanted for Fallen Dark because it was close enough to another urban fantasy book that people were getting confused.

Titles are vital, but they're as vital from a marketing perspective as a creative one. You can't let your book (or TV show, or movie) be confused with something else. It has to tell readers and viewers what genre it is. It might be that HBO doesn't think fans will recognize "The Long Night" as a Game of Thrones spinoff.

It might be that they're all still wrangling about it. Martin's certainly not the only person with a say.

People saying he's being treated horribly miss the point though: This is all quite normal in the industry.

And titles are very, very hard.