Ask most writers and they'll tell you that one of the first responses they get when they send out a manuscript is: Would you consider changing your title? It's a bit of a predictable reaction. For some reason people just want to disagree with what an author wants to call his/her book.
At Bacon Press Books, we're familiar with the title game. When we first approached Ellis Chase to write a book about his irreverent approach to job search, the working title was: There Are No Rules or First, Break All the Rules. Ok, we agree, it was pretty lame. And weren't there all those books on rules that had to do with dating?
The next time we asked Ellis to do a book that would let him share his expertise beyond his clients and students, the working title was: Would You Please Remove Your Blouse? Call us a bunch of snickering adolescents, we loved that title. It was the title of an article Ellis wrote for the The National Business Employment Weekly/Wall Street Journal, outlining his advice on how to prepare for the five most common job interview questions. We thought it was a great title for an article, for a book and for a chapter heading. Which is exactly how it's used in In Search of the Fun-Forever Job.
But Ellis just wasn't getting any traction with that provocative title. So he changed it again. This time he took his inspiration from a "book" his daughter wrote when she was eight. She wasn't sure yet what she wanted to be when she grew up, but she knew whatever it was, she wanted it to be a fun-forever job, where she could do whatever she wanted.
As Ellis explains in the preface to In Search of the Fun-Forever Job, many of his clients and students are looking for the very same thing. Even if they know it's impossible. All good inspiration deserves to be acknowledged. Below is an illustrated excerpt from the "book" that gave Ellis his real title. Don't even think about asking him to change it.
Copyright: H. Chase
