The end is nearing. I am getting really close to finishing the revision on TURING’S DECEIT, a.k.a. DARK FIBER.
The one thing that is still bothering me is the title. So I decided to call in some help. Your help!
Do you remember what it’s about?
It’s a thriller and it’s about greedy Matt Turing and gullible Jonathan Kelder, it’s about the ultimate compression algorithm and a multi-million dollar deal. It’s about good and evil and about the dark that lives inside all of us…
If you need more you can read the tentative blurb or a(pre-revsion!) sample.
Help me out and tell me which title would entice you into buying the book!
Tagged: algorithm, Dark Fiber, Mina Witteman, multi-million deal, Poll, Turing's Deceit
Mina Witteman 
Hi Mina,
As I’m a market researcher and a writer, I really appreciate your title poll! I must say that having read about your work on DARK FIBER, I might be predisposed to that particular title over the others. But I do find it intriguing and appropriate to your genre’s audience. Can you see stats on which demo groups are voting for each title? “If You Fear Dying…” seems like it might skew older (non-fiction feel). In my opinion, DARK FIBER would be the best title for the movie version, as well!
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Thank you, Juliann. That is valuable input!
Mina
PS: there is a market researcher in the book, as well! 🙂
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The trouble is that I have no idea what Dark Fiber actually means. Not even a hint. But I know who Alan Turing is. And I’m intrigued to know in what way he was deceitful. But the book isn’t about Alan Turing, so that’s an association you might want to avoid for fear of being considered deceitful yourself! 🙂
If it’s a thriller, why not go for a title that inspires a question about the central conflict? Or that has a double meaning that becomes clear when the mystery is solved?
I also like titles that tell me what kind of journey I can expect as a reader, following in the wake of a particular protagonist. In other words, what kind of ride am I in for?
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Ah, Lia, those are exactly the things that bug me. Although for me Dark Fiber comes really natural (it’s a bit of a techy term used for ‘unlit’ fiber optics, or fiber optics that are not yet in use), I suspect that most people will have no clue. Turing’s Deceit does have a double meaning that will become clear in the end, but to me it doesn’t feel ‘strong’ enough.
I think you hit the nail right on the head if you say that the title should tell the reader what kind of ride he’s in for. Food for thought! Thank you!
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Dark Fiber
Hi Mina,
no doubt, “Dark Fiber” is by far the best one
and if you need to know why :
1- it has the best ‘inner melody’ & pronounceability (‘bekt het lekkerst’)
2- ‘Dark’ strongly appeals to the mysteries deep inside every human
3- ‘Fiber’ could also refer to the fiber-traces found on every CSI crime scene, and therefore associates strongly to detective-stories and mysteries…
4- there’s nothing against a subtitle, is there ? (I would suggest something along the lines of “Dark Fiber – web of deceits”)
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Hi Toon,
Another marketing specialist! Thank you for your input. I will take the poll with me to my agent. See what he thinks. BTW: the Lulu title scorer says Dark Fiber has 69% chance of becoming a bestseller and Turing’s Deceit 72.5%. A close call, ain’t it? 🙂
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Hi Mina,
I’d never heard of Lulu Titlescorer…
…I did some investigation : interesting tool…
but I would still go on ‘human intuition’ rather than ‘statistical calculations’…
even the ‘inventor’ of Lulu Titlescorer advises you to do so :
[quote] Even so, this is not an exact science. Far from it. In fact, Dr. Winkler advises that the Lulu Titlescorer should, in practice, always be combined with use of your own low-tech judgement.
This is because, for all the work that went it, the Lulu Titlescorer is capable of giving high scores to titles that most of us would rate as weird, if not terrible. Meanwhile, of course, it also gives low scores to the titles of novels (e.g. The Da Vinci Code) which, in fact, topped the New York Times bestseller list for long periods. [unquote]
Just for fun : try some real winners in Lulu Titlescorer :
Harry Potter
Decision Points (by G.W. Bush) – Amazon’s no.1 today
Millennium Trilogy
And – just for entertainment – you could also do a ‘Title Battle’ with Lulu Titlefight…
😉
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If I were a techie I’d go for Dark Fiber, but I am not and I like the idea of Turing’s Deceit better. I’m not familiar with your characters but “deceit” is dramatic, it promises excitement and intrigue. Different parties played out against each other.
A Comforting Illusion is too soft for me. Read about comfort? Eh, why?
So I’ll buy Turing’s Deceit and hope for toe curling problems. Perhaps the resolution in the end will lead to the next book, the Comforting Illusion.
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Thanks for your input, Judith! Yes, being a techie or not is a big number in the title equation. Lots of strong arguments for Turing’s Deceit and for Dark Fiber. It’s going to be hard to take a decision. Maybe the final verdict will come with the final words of the manuscript…
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