Interesting they kept that title. This is an actual text my mother fired off shortly after I sent her an image of my novel’s cover, which my publisher, Holand Press, had emailed me earlier that day. Mom is always my first, and in some ways, most critical reader. And she had been trying to convince me for months that Perpetuity is a bad title, worrying that few would even know what the word meant. (I’d argued with her, to little avail, that the word is close enough to “perpetual” for readers to get the gist.) When I later acknowledged that my publisher was hinting at the possibility of a title change, she must have thought the matter was settled.

I decided to be diplomatic in my reply text. Yes, but they included a teaser. Immediately beneath the title, the publisher had added the following: “ONE WOMAN’S SECRET COULD CHANGE THE WORLD OR END HER LIFE . . .” An attempt to address the absence of a more descriptive title by revealing something about my novel’s hook that might resonate with readers.

Titles are undeniably important for selling and branding creative works. When I’m browsing books, movies, and TV shows, I take in the title first, then the accompanying art, only proceeding to the blurb and reviews if the title and cover catch my interest. And one-word titles seem to be a divisive concept. Many criticize them for their lack of creativity and failure to be descriptive. Yet one-word titles (even excluding those ubiquitous two-word titles that begin with “The”) abound in fiction, movies, and TV shows. Some of my favorites in the sci-fi thriller genre are Divergent, Recursion, Upgrade, Dune, Intensity, Predator, Inception, Gattaca, and Severance. So, there must be good reasons why savvy authors, publishers, and marketeers often choose to sacrifice description for something short and punchy.

Here are some theories. One-word titles occupy less valuable space on a book cover or screen, leaving more room for the other visual components. They may also be more memorable, increasing the likelihood that someone will remember the title in a conversation with friends or when making an online purchase based on something favorable they recently heard or read. A strong one-word title—something that’s not too commonplace and hints at the book’s genre, subject, or theme—may also connect more immediately with people, eliminating the need to parse through the possible meanings of a word salad. And most simply, a single word may be the most apt title for a particular work.

One-word titles have downsides beyond their inherent descriptive limitations. Unless you invent a word, like Frankenstein or Gattaca, other creative works will share your title. This can weaken the branding potential, cause buyer confusion, and make it less likely for your book to appear at the top of an internet query’s results, especially if the author’s name isn’t also included in the search term.

Ultimately, the creator or publisher should select a title that conveys the essence of the work concisely and memorably. I’m certainly not wedded to one-word titles. (My first novel, The Champion Maker, has a descriptive title with a purposeful double-meaning, and I still cannot think of a suitable one-word alternative for that work.) For my latest novel, Perpetuity was my working title from the beginning, and I’m glad it made the final cut. I played around with various descriptive titles, but most of them felt zany, contrived, or too revealing. The publisher’s decision to add the teaser was a thoughtful compromise, hopefully reaping the benefits of my one-word title without some of the drawbacks.

Perpetuity was published by Holand Press on August 7, 2025.