Monday, January 25, 2010

we have a title!

Just about the point where I was going to give up and just call the book EAT, PRAY, LOVE GETTING PAGED, we finally came up with a title that everyone can live with.


THIS WON'T HURT A BIT
My Education in Medicine and Motherhood.


Thank god. I was starting to think that writing the title was harder than writing the actual book. Thanks to all the people who e-mailed and suggested titles in this vein, including (but not limited to--please e-mail me if I left you out):

Emily M.
Michael H.
Jennifer B.
Tim K.

Of course you all know that in my secret heart of hearts I will always think of it as "SCUTMONKEY," but I am digging this new title and I think it's accessible and grabby and direct and will look sweet on the cover. And most of all, it's a relief to have it decided, once and for all, like when you name your baby and can finally stop calling him Cleatus the Fetus.

Now, onward and upward!

24 comments:

  1. Love it. Scutmonkey still would've been awesome, but I can see this more appealing to the masses AND something you can live with.

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  2. Hooray! Great title.

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  3. it will always be 'scutmonkey' in my heart of hearts too. but i actually do like 'this won't hurt a bit' and even i comprehend that it will be more marketable this way.

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  4. Meghan2:38 PM

    Whoo hoo!

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  5. ooh i like

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  6. Anonymous3:28 PM

    Beyond--it is ok, Michelle's next book can be called Scutmonkey after her current book becomes a best seller!

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  7. Anonymous3:50 PM

    I like it too!

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  9. I like it! Very funny, especially given your "The Perfect Resident" comic strip... (Free pizza in the lounge!)

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  10. Anonymous6:40 PM

    Should there really be a period after motherhood? It isn't really a sentence, is it? Other than that: props to finding a great title!!

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  11. Anonymous7:19 PM

    Very catchy! Cant wait for the book to come out.

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  12. Anonymous8:45 PM

    Very catchy and grabby! What will the book jacket cover look like? Readers like us are sold, but for unknowing people walking in a bookstore, the cover photo/picture/colors/art is important because many people do judge a book by it's cover when browsing through a bookstore.

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  13. Love. It sounds great!!! (I loved Scutmonkey, but I totally agree that this is marketable to the masses. And awesome.)

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  14. Anonymous10:30 PM

    Currently calling my fetus cleatus. So I'm with you on this one. Looks good.

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  15. I like the title! Sorry you didn't get *your* title, but I'm sure the fact that your book will be on a bookshelf in a real bookstore will lessen the disapointment a little :)

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  16. Anonymous12:02 PM

    you should add "and other white lies". I remember telling patients that a shot of lidocaine was like a "little bee sting", after all I'd heard it many times described like that from attendings/residents...then I needed local for an outpatient procedure, and that lidocaine burned like a m*#$!f^*#!r! Never again did I describe it as a bee sting. Can't wait to read your book :)

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  17. Wait - what happened to the earlier subtitle: "How I went to med school, had a baby and became a real doctor" (or something along those lines). That was way, way better than "My Education in Medicine and Motherhood," which is just...stodgy! Go back to subtitle #1

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  18. Agree with zinemama, prefer subtitle #1

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  19. Love it! I suck at titles, myself, so didn't want to complain about PRACTICE (and since I really do suck at titles, couldn't come up with anything better), but this one captures the tone of what I'm imagining your book will be. I actually like the subtitle (but again...)

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  20. Amy V.9:37 PM

    LOVE the title! You should send a personalized autographed book to each of the people who helped contribute to the title! (And I promise I'm not one of them. LOL.) I think it's an awesome way to say thanks. Not to say that being mentioned in a post isn't super cool as well. =)

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  21. Anonymous9:41 PM

    Love it! Can't wait to read.

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  22. Steff8:11 AM

    Seems like a great title, but try searching for "This won't hurt a bit" on Amazon. You come up with TONS of other books and such.

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  23. Thanks, everyone. As for the suggestions on the title, I agree with basically all of you, but after a certain point I just figured that these book publishing types must know what they're doing so I conceded the little battles to them (among them, my numerous other title suggestions, my original subtitle, the parenthetical "and other little white lies" to append to the current title, so on and so forth) in the interest of moving to the next step.

    But between you and me, guys, I agree with you on many, many of these points!

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