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Perhaps the biggest mistake I made early in my writing career involved titles. I’d never gone to a writing conference or had any classes on publishing. I was living overseas in the Orient, studying martial arts. This was pre-Internet- yes there was a time when we didn’t have access to the Internet. My sole publishing resource was an out of date Writers Marketplace from a library in the nearest military post, Camp Page (which no longer exists!).
No one, not my first agent, my first editor, my guardian angel, told me that title was critical. Years later I listened to Mary Higgins Clark talk about title and how it must gather attention and “invite readers into the book”. If only she’s been overseas studying martial arts nearby.
So I picked really stupid titles. I mean REALLY stupid.
A title must grab attention and/or let the reader know what the book is about. I decided to do neither. My first published book ended up being . (PS, it’s free on all eBook platforms) Even Cool Gus is rolling his eyes and it takes a lot for Cool Gus to use his muscles. It’s about Special Forces attacking drug labs in Colombia. Shortly after that book came out a guy named Tom Clancy released a book with a similar plot, but his was titled CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER. Hmm.
I’m now writing precursors to my bestselling Green Beret series. They occur before EYES OF THE HAMMER. And DRAGON SIM-13. And my invented term . And my most genius title . Yep, just the letter. My wife says I’m a little slow at…
