Be honest. Are people going to figure it out…granted I can keep my production schedule?
So what do you think about the title form change?
by CJ | Jul 24, 2015 | Journal | 63 comments
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I like the new title, personally. The -er format has probably run its course and so long as the publisher remembers to mention the series on the cover (and more importantly on the listings online) it could be a great opportunity to bring in new readers as well.
Is it possible to add “A Foreigner Universe Book” or something along those lines to the cover? And having Atevi on the cover is probably a must.
Agreed. If the overall arc is taking a radically different turn, then changing title formats is a good way to signal that. Just make sure anyone who doesn’t follow the discussion here knows that it is part of the Foreigner storyline, preferably by something indicating that on the cover/spine.
Definitely agree; a mention of the Foreigner cycle and Atevi featured with Bren on the cover will make it clear it is part of the series. The change, in the eyes of the reading public, is fairly small. This member of the reading public likes it!
Converger? Convergor? Our language is not so devoid of nouns.
However, since you do the work, you get to name the book.
Just have fun.
CONVERGENCE…for me that sort of makes me think you have figured out a way to link certain universes together…….
Past titles have been adjectives applicable to Bren’s performance of his job in some sense. Convergence better relates to an impersonal process. If Bren’s involved with making that happen, perhaps he’s a “Facilitator”. (Yes, very over-used in the past few decades. Doesn’t excite me either.)
I think having “Foreigner Series” on the cover is a must. It should also be in the Amazon key words. Beyond that, changing your system for naming the books is fine. I can only name a few of the books in the series by title. But I can find every one of them on Amazon by typing, “cherryh foreigner #” where # is a number. And since that’s how I find books anymore, that’s all that matters to me.
Yay!!! Another Bren book! Yay!
I like its.
I like it and I have no doubt readers will figure it out. But Tulrose’s suggestion is very good, if feasible. I like the idea of marking a transition in the arc with a new naming convention.
I like the fact that it is a single word and as long as the long version is something like “Convergence: Foreigner Universe #17” you won’t lose dedicated fans, but might pick up new readers as well. My only worry is that there are at least 12 different novels with Convergence as the title or as part of the title. (That was just one page of Amazon hits on Convergence; multiple pages exist.) It might be better to call it “Foreigner Convergence: Foreigner Universe #17″ and then each additional book could be Foreigner AAA: Foreigner Universe #XX” (where AAA is a new title and XX is the book number), so that new readers will be taken directly to all the books in your series. What do I know? You might have objections to a multiple word title for the Foreigner books. Do what you think best.
Good point.
I really like the idea of having the “episode number” somewhere, if perhaps not the title. The series has gone on so long I can’t keep it straight when I’m browsing the bookstore. (BTW, did anybody see this? 🙂 ) Sometimes I look in the list inside the cover, but I don’t think all of those have had the same/correct order.
I haven’t been around for a while. Visitor is the I assume the book telling the the further story of the Reunion aliens and Convergence follows. CJ, I have always wondered about your writing strategy for a series as long as Foreigner. Do you have the whole arc of the story planned or do you let it develop as you write? This is a really big project and I would think it old get off the tracks pretty easily if you do not keep it in hand.
“Foreigner #00” (for esample) in the title and in the Amazon and other book seller keywords is a necessity. I really wish all book series would have something like that, but it’s inconsistent out in the wilds of bookshelves.
“Convergence” — I think the similar title I’m thinking of is “Divergence,” in a trilogy. But this is the only one that rings any bells.
I don’t see any reason to require -er/-or, -trix/-trice endings for every title in the series. It’s a good hook for a while, but sticking to it if there’s a better title, or if it’s gotten tiresome, wouldn’t make sense. I’d rather have a really catchy title than stick to a self-imposed rule.
Convergence sounds good. If there’s something that suits it better, go with that instead. 😀
Heh, though one would suggest calling it the “Atevi Phone Book” would not work too well, even though we’d probably read that. ;D
It’s good news that there is another Cherryh book in the works, in whatever story-universe. (One could hope for others too.) Happy storytelling!
Hmmm… the iduve are the strangers on the other side? How about ‘convergent’? I think there are are more ‘ent’ words than ‘ance’ words, and they seem more active to me.
OMG I would LOVE that. As much as I like the atevi, the iduve are my all-time favorites and I’ve long wanted another story (or more) featuring them. But that is up to CJ! 😀
As for this title, I have no problem with it. I would even venture to guess that many people would not notice the form change, they’d just be thrilled another Foreigner book it out 😉
Is that just wild speculation, or was that discussed somewhere that I missed completely?
Works for me. I assume the publisher will make sure it’s marked as part of the Foreigner universe (that being part of their job). Makes me wonder what’s going to be converging – the Reunioners and the Mospheirans, Reni-daja and the atevi, something we can’t yet see coming and the world….
I’m not sure it matters. As long as it’s Foreigner n: anyTitle, I’ll read it. Sooner or later.
Thanks for recalling Hunter of Worlds to mind. Been a long time since I’ve read it. Time for a reread. . . .
I thinks title style change is a fine idea. I realized some books back that I was having trouble remembering which title went with which “episode.” This will help.
I’ve looked—and people have used that title and almost any other you could think of. I’ll see Betsy at Worldcon and we’ll talk it over, and see what she thinks.
Confluence?
Syntrope? (A moving together? Or have I erred (likely) and syntrope means something else? What I get for not looking it up in the dictionary, just pulling the word from memory of affixes and roots.)
Of the two, I’d like “Confluence” better. — But if “Convergence” suits it better, use that.
(I started brainstorming roots and affixes, but then thought it was a bit much.)
But neither are adjectives that describe Bren or his job performance. Confluencigator? 😀 Converger? But that’s only a short step from V’ger! 🙄
Conveyor? Although I can sure understand the desire to have a whole new set of words to choose from, and I find Convergence intriguing. But good point in how common it’s used. Hmmm
*imagines a conga line of Atevi on a belt, leading to a … salad bar?*
Chondrite, that needs to be a gif, and I would pay to see it! 😀
Conga line or Limbo?
“Come on, shake your body, baby, do that conga beat!”
— Miami Sound Machine, Gloria Estefan
“Limbo, limbo! How low can you go?”
Yes, I think the conga-dancing atevi probably have more mileage than the limbo dancers.
…Bunny Hop?…
“You put your left foot in, you put your left foot out….”
Hmm, no, I think that was the Hokey-Pokey.
I guess that’d be better suited to those busy little Hokas over in Poul Anderson’s story-universe.
But if Bren can manage to translate Mairzy Doats, I’ll…well, I’ll eat some oats, but I think I’d draw the line at ivy. Besides, the little lambsy divy.
Conga wouldn’t be too far from the line-dancing we’ve seen already. (Limbo would probably be closer to what we had at my 40-year reunion: the bar started at 6 feet and went down to about 4. Not nearly as limber as we were at 18 or so. That was followed by the line-dance winding through the room.)
I can see it now: Cajeiri gets a glimpse of limbo dancing on some old human vid, and wants to see it done for his next birthday party! 😀
On the other hand, do the atevi have anything in the way of sword-dancing? Now that would be a sight to see!
Actually I remember something that sounds an awful lot like a conga line in a staff party. (If anybody gives me any argument about this I’ll have to go and look it up, but wasn’t it when Bren was staying at Dameiri’s with her all-female staff?) It sounded like a rather stately but giddy procession winding around the apartment, which definitely gave me the mental picture “conga line”.
It was a “solemn, hands behind the back line step”. In Invader, during the pizza party.
People hereabouts giddy at the thought of a new book?