by hatfield13

Title Question, Just for Friends

There’s some discussion swirling around the title for my next middle grade novel, about a figure skater from a small-town maple farm who earns a scholarship to train with the elite in Lake Placid.  The original title is SUGAR ON SNOW, which I have always liked, but I’m also open-minded, since some folks at the publisher think it would be better if the title had a clearer connection to skating. So we’re brainstorming.

The other title that’s come up that I like is SUGAR AND ICE. (Thanks eluper and literaticat!)

So may I ask your opinion?  Which one do you like better? Which title would make you more likely to pick up a book with a skater on the cover?

SUGAR ON SNOW

or

SUGAR AND ICE

…or something else??  Would love to hear your thoughts.  Thanks!

30 Replies on “Title Question, Just for Friends”

  1. Hmmmm… I kept wanting to see an “on” between Sugar and Ice. “Sugar on Ice” Though I’m sure “ice” is some kind of drug and we don’t want that :-)) I lean toward Sugar on Snow still, though I understand the need for the title to be more specific to skating. Sorry, I’m not much help!

  2. I like Sugar on Snow, but it’s hard to say if that’s only because I’ve heard you refer to it that way so often! Won’t the cover art convey the skating angle? I like it when the art and the title support each other, not repeat each other.

  3. I like Sugar on Snow. It’s just more euphonious to me. Sugar and Ice sounds embattled and teeth clenchy. It’s also harder to say out loud. Sugaronsnow has a natural flow from word to word, where as Sugar and Ice, you have really chew on the enunciation to get through it. (This is my very scientific take!)

  4. I know the cover illustration is sort of out of your hands, but I agree with Sara that a cover illustration with a girl skating ( especially skating outdoors) would resolve those concerns. I really prefer the title Sugar on Snow.

  6. I keep thinking it should be ICE AND SUGAR, as a play on “icing sugar”, but that’s probably just my crazed hamster brain acting up again.

  7. I prefer Sugar on Snow. If not for the skater on the cover, I’d be worried about it not looking like a skating book, too, but with one, am not sure there’s mich to be gained with Sugar On Ice, and the tone of it feels off, somehow.

  10. “Sugar and Ice” is close to “Sugar and Spice”, which I find distracting. I like”Sugar on Snow” — it flows in a pretty way, but you’re right that the ice skating link isn’t clear… hmm. Is there a particular skating move that the character likes or is working on?

  12. To be honest, I’ve always loved the title Sugar on Snow, but agree there should be a skating connection (even with the cover art). That said, I’ve come up w/a few (bad) ideas that I wouldn’t put out publicly. I’ll email you.

  13. SUGAR ON SNOW is such a great title, and it’s sad to lose it. 🙁 But I do think it’d be a good idea to have a skating connection in the title.

    The “and” is messing with me head, so I prefer the SUGAR ON ICE that Angie recommended.

    Good luuuuuck!! (And if my editor asks, I completely agreed with her whatever she said, if she had a vote on it. 😉 )

  16. I didn’t like “on” with the Ice title for that same reason. And I still feel like you – I loved SUGAR ON SNOW, but I’m starting to think that may not be the best title to serve the book.

  17. Me, too. And I’m saying so, looking at your cover for OPERATION YES, which is such a perfect example of that. Thanks for the food for thought.

  18. Thanks for the input, Saundra! I love SUGAR ON SNOW,too, but I also know that the sales people at Walker/Bloomsbury are smart-smart-smart, so…trying to stay open.

  29. I really like SUGAR AND ICE–it’s a nice play on words and doesn’t make me think that it’s going to be another book about making maple syrup (being from Vermont, that’s my first assumption).

  30. As you’ve been calling the book Sugar on Snow, I’ve liked that and been intrigued as to why that title and what about the story gave you that idea. The Brilliant Fall of Gianna Z was such a fabulous title and so I assumed that there was just as much meaning behind Sugar on Snow. It did make me think of making maple syrup, but also ponder what it might tell me about the main character.
    That being said, when you just now mentioned the Sugar and Ice title, I immediately thought of the rhyme about “sugar and spice and everything nice…” and thought, hmm- what is the personality of the main character like? Is she sugar and spice, or is she sugar and ice- all girl, but tough because of something that has happened to her? (I’ve been teaching my students how to do literary analysis and reading some intense books lately- just finished The Adoration of Jenna Fox- so my mind is in analyze mode!)

    Don’t know if this is at all helpful!