The Title of My Book
When I went through the writing cohort in May of last year, I developed a 42-page book proposal that positioned me at the starting gate for pitching my book. I have pitched it to a couple of agencies so far with no success, but my task was to give it six months in order for my platform to grow. In the year of our Lord 2023, I plan to pitch more diligently in an effort to find a taker willing to promote me to the various publishers of the world. (My right is raised as I type that sentence…I solemnly swear.)
Part of that proposal involved coming up with a working title for my book. Some may say that might be the easy part, and maybe it is for some, but I wrestled with a few titles before landing on what I thought was a winner…”Dancing in the Valley of the Shadow of Death.” This title came to me when sharing about my journey and how I’d faced death three times yet God saved me. It felt like I was dancing in that valley.
The phrase “valley of the shadow of death” comes from Psalm 23. Verse 4 reads, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.” I’ve recited this psalm many times not truly understanding what that verse meant. I remember when my Mom died, at her funeral, the pastor, Jeff Elieff, described our journey on the way to Heaven as being preceded by walking in the valley of the shadow of death. That resonated with me as I had watched my Mom decline into a horrible state before passing from this world. Now, after being close to death myself, I had experienced it in reality.
The great thing about the writing cohort was collaborating with other aspiring authors in the same boat. We were able to bounce ideas off each other and give feedback. The group of five other cohort companions were amazing in giving feedback when I shared my title. The consensus was my title was somewhat of a downer. (Whomp, whomp) I had to agree, even though my heart was set on the original title. On the other side of our collaboration came my new title, “Dancing in the Valley.” It is shorter, yet it conveys enough to emit the feeling of joy and sorrow all mixed together. Often joy and sadness can travel together in our lives, molding us from our experiences.
Every non-fiction book has a subtitle. Don’t believe me? Search on Amazon a recent book you’ve read that is non-fiction. You’ll likely know it by its title, but if you look at the product page you’ll see a colon then a subtitle. Crazy, huh? I had never noticed that before, but now I always do. I knew I could add more context in my subtitle. I worked on a few options and went with one my fearless co-hort leader, Joy, came up with…..”Dancing in the Valley: Finding Life and Joy Amidst the Shadow of Death Nipping at my Heels.” It communicated perfectly what I wanted my title to say.
And that is how my title was birthed. I’ve come to love my main title and the brevity but completeness it conveys. I’m still writing away on my manuscript and may post some chapters as blog posts in the future. Andy Weir, the author of The Martian, actually wrote that entire book as a story on his site’s blog. It became a best seller and movie, so it’s good to dream big. And maybe someday I’ll look back and say, “remember when.” A girl should never stop dreaming.