I’ve been using the working title ROGUE for my second novel, the sci-fi thriller follow-up to ASCENSION POINT. It’s a nice enough title, sure, but it was pointed out to me today that it’s… well, not very distinctive. And, even worse, it’s already the title of a couple of other novels.
(One’s by Danielle Steele. While having a novel with the same title as one by an author who’s sold 800 million books might work out in my favour, it also really, really might not.)
Which is where you lovely folks come in!
I’ve thought up a few possible titles, and there’s a poll at the bottom of the post where you can vote for your favourite. Or even suggest your own! I’ll pick a winner next Friday. And if I end up using your suggestion, I’ll send you a free copy of the book (paperback or e-book) once it’s published as a thank you.
Before we get down to voting, here is the current blurb for the book. It’s very rough, and the wording is nowhere near final, but it should give you a good feel for the story, and get those title-judging juices flowing.
* * * * *
A year has passed since the events of ASCENSION POINT, and the galaxy shifts uncomfortably as the opposing forces of progress and tradition threaten the new and fragile peace…
Titan society teeters on the brink of civil war.
The Commonwealth bristles with hostility towards the returning Seryn.
While the Collective remains silent in the spaces between the stars, watching. And waiting.
Against this backdrop of turmoil and unrest, the Peacetrooper brother of Senator Neela Kane has gone missing. Intelligence places him on Karak, an Independent desert world: Operative Dante Zo is dispatched to bring him home—or confirm his demise.
Quinn, employee of the shadowy Seryn Agency, is also headed to Karak. Rumours abound of a fierce and sudden tribal war, centred around a mysterious foreign woman with uncanny power—Venus. The Seryn’s most dangerous rogue agent…
Meanwhile, on Karak itself, other forces bring their pieces into play. Tasha, a young but mercurial assassin, is unleashed—to kill the foreign witch, and bring peace back to her home.
But with a renegade Titan mercenary at her side, Venus will let nothing stand in the way of her plan. And the conquest of Karak is just the beginning…
With a world in the firing line, and the fate of the entire galaxy at stake, only one question remains.
In the name of duty, is there anything that can’t be sacrificed?
* * * * *
Poll time!
DAN HARRIS: 10% SCI, 90% FI 
I like Rogue the best of what you have (thinking about what I’d most likely pick up if I saw the title, assuming identical artwork), but I added an alternative.
Thanks, Eric! I like Rogue, too – if it ends up being the most popular, I’ll use it anyway, and Danielle Steel be damned 🙂
Your first book is Ascension Point and I notice that your book blurb is about another point of change in your world. Have you considered something like Breaking Point which could give your books a naming pattern that might stand out?
Oooh… I quite like that.
The only reason I’d be a little wary is that the new book’s not a direct sequel, and folks might expect that if there’s a naming pattern. Hmm. I’ll mull it over.
Thanks for commenting!
No worries, if all else fails, since you self-publish, you can always note on your cover that your book is a companion to Ascension Point, no matter what your ultimate title. I have heard of plenty of authors who write with different characters in the same world and their fans don’t seem upset by it. Anne McCaffery and L.E. Modestti come immediately to mind.
Conquest of Karak?
Like it! It certainly suggests sci-fi 🙂