Help me choose a book title?

[Muz]

Hey fellow GITPers! I'm putting out a call for opinions on some book title options, and I'm wondering if you'd care to help. I have a comedic contemporary fantasy coming this summer (it's going to be published by Seattle publisher Booktrope!). The working title was Murdering Zeus for Fun and Prophet, but we're going to be changing it. For one thing (minuscule spoilers!) Zeus is murdered in the first chapter, so the book isn't so much about murdering him as it is about what happens afterward when the Greek gods return (publicly) to the modern world. For another, we wanted a title that made it more clear that the book is something of an adventure.

So if you have a moment, here's the few options my editor/book manager and I have come up with. Which would you say makes you want to grab the book?

The Gods Are Back. Did You Myth Them?

Zeus is Dead! A Monstrously Inconvenient Adventure

Zeus Got Dead: A Monstrously Inconvenient Adventure

Zeus is Dead! A Quest of Human Proportions

The Quest for Rest After Zeus’s Death

Zeus is Dead, and Those Who Prophet

We're also debating whether or not to include "Modern" in the options with "Inconvenient Adventure." (e.g. Zeus is Dead! A Monstrously Inconvenient Modern Adventure.) The exclamation point after "Dead" in certain options is also up for discussion.

Thanks for your feedback! In the spoiler box below is a blurb I used for pitching it to the publisher, if you're curious to know more about the book. There's also additional info on my blog (http://michaelgmunz.blogspot.com/2014/02/murdering-zeus-for-fun-and-prophet-to.html).

Murdering Zeus for Fun and Prophet is a comedic contemporary fantasy set in a version of our world where reality TV heroes slay actual monsters and gods have their own Twitter feeds.

Nine months ago, Zeus’s assassination thrust the Greek gods into the modern world and instant celebrity status. Now they revel in their temples, casinos, and media empires–all except Apollo. A compulsive over-achiever, Apollo’s bursting portfolio has led to daily emails from six billion rapacious mortals that make his work days (i.e., days ending in Y) so insane that he cannot enjoy even a few minutes of target-shooting with his sister. Driven by a prophecy that Zeus’s resurrection holds the key to reducing his workload, Apollo risks his godhood to secretly help two genre-savvy mortals and the muse of comedy (and science fiction) return Zeus to life.

Now, an overflowing inbox is the least of his troubles. The conspiracy of gods who murdered Zeus will certainly kill again to prevent his return, “Ninjas Templar” have stolen some antique cans containing the Olympians’ ancient enemies, and–perhaps worst of all–the muse is starting to get cranky...

Murdering Zeus for Fun and Prophet crashes Greek myth into pop culture to create an adventure-comedy with affectionate deconstructions of genre tropes and a crack in the fourth wall...

[Aolbain]

Out of these? Definitely "Zeus is Dead, and Those Who Prophet".

[Socratov]

Well, Can I choose two?

Even if I can't I will regardless:

I like both :

The Gods are back, did you myth them?

and

Murdering Zeus for fun and Prophet

Even if you wanted to change the working title, I still think it would be quite a decent attention seeker...

[Elfsoans]

My top 3 in order would be:

Zeus is Dead, and Those Who Prophet
Zeus is Dead! A Monstrously Inconvenient Adventure
Zeus is Dead! A Quest of Human Proportions

[SeeDarkly_X]

Whatever you choose, "The Gods Are Back. Did You Myth Them?" sounds like a great subtitle (perhaps with an "or" prefix) after most of the options you mentioned.
And "Zeus Got Dead?" I get the humor of it, but clearly notable bad grammar in a title is probably not your best option. Just my opinion. I'm not a grammar expert. You seem to write well. It just seems like a "red flag" to readers on what they might expect and you're probably better to not give "grammar-nazis" fodder to criticize the book before they even open the cover, if you take my meaning.

The other four options are all kind of equally appealing but "Quest" seems to stick out most to me.

Hope that's constructive input for you. :smallsmile:

[Muz]

Whatever you choose, "The Gods Are Back. Did You Myth Them?" sounds like a great subtitle (perhaps with an "or" prefix) after most of the options you mentioned.
And "Zeus Got Dead?" I get the humor of it, but clearly notable bad grammar in a title is probably not your best option. Just my opinion. I'm not a grammar expert. You seem to write well. It just seems like a "red flag" to readers on what they might expect and you're probably better to not give "grammar-nazis" fodder to criticize the book before they even open the cover, if you take my meaning.

The other four options are all kind of equally appealing but "Quest" seems to stick out most to me.

Hope that's constructive input for you. :smallsmile:

Yeah, I think we're pretty likely to use "The gods are back. Did you myth them?" as a headline for the back cover if we don't pick it as the title. (It feels like it fits better there.)

Thanks to everyone so far! :smallsmile:

Oh, and the first chapter will likely be online as a free PDF at some point once we've finished the final edits...