What’s Wrong With Guards Gone Wild!?
As the title for my book, I mean.
Recently, I had a meeting with a friend to discuss the possibility of using crowdfunding to raise fund to publish Guards Gone Wild!, a collection of stories about my adventures in the private security industry.
During the meeting, my friend had a strong reaction to the title. He said Guards Gone Wild! will make my book look sleazy. He also told me I will receive criticisms from others, including publishers, over the title.
That came as a surprise to me. Because I had already decided on using Guards Gone Wild! as the title since September last year and have been tossing it around here and there ever since. No one complained about sleaziness or whatever.
On the other hand, my friend felt rather strongly about the sleaziness of my title of choice. Which is why I would like to do a poll here. To see how many people actually consider the title to be too sleazy and if that might affect sales of the book.
An alternative title was suggested during the meeting. Something like Diary of a Security Guard. Less sleazy sounding. Would that be a more appropriate title?
In my defense, I would like to say that there are stories of security guards behaving badly in my book, so I didn’t pick Guards Gone Wild! just for the sake of sounding sexy. “Gone wild”, in my opinion, need not be just about sex. A security guard who runs away from his work site in order to meet a lover in the red light district is “going wild”. A supervisor waving a knife to threaten his subordinate is “going wild”. The same could also be said of a guard who dumps a bunch of work permits by the swimming pool because he thought it was a filing cabinet.
Anyway, back to what I was saying. The poll. Yeah, I can’t set up a proper voting box because they charge money for it now. But please feel free to leave your comments here and share your thoughts about the title.
Teck Y. Loh
Posted on May 4, 2016, in Uncategorized and tagged authors, books, crowdfunding, publishers, publishing, security guards, self-publishing, Singapore, Writers, writing. Bookmark the permalink. 10 Comments.
Guards Gone Wild 
I think the whole point of using the title “Guards Gone Wild” is to tickle the potential reader’s curiosity, right? Anybody who sees the book is going to be intrigued to pick it up, regardless of whether they want to read a sleaze book or not. And when they do, the summary (provided nobody messes it up) is going to pleasantly surprise them.
“Diary of a Security Guard” is such a dated title for a book. To be frank, it’s boring and words like diary and confessions are overused. Moreover, I believe it might be misleading. From what I understand, you’re sharing all these crazy anecdotes from the lives security guards and not a journal of your life as a security guard. (Did I get that right?)
“Guards Gone Wild” is a fun play on the phrase “girls gone wild”. It sounds catchy and creates curiosity. (It’s the reason I decided to check out your blog!) The fact that you decided on this title quite a while back and haven’t had any second thoughts until this one opinion came along means something.
Of course, you’re doing the right thing in taking opinions. I hope mine will be of help 🙂
In short, I say stick to Guards Gone Wild. I just asked my colleague (who is also a copywriter like me) and she agrees.
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Thank you, prathima! Your opinion is very helpful and insightful!
I am sharing crazy anecdotes from my adventures in the private security industry, and many stories are about other guards misbehaving, but I write from a first-person perspective all the time. What I observed and experienced personally. That doesn’t make it a “diary” though… What do you think?
My manuscript is still under consideration at Publisher #3 but my friend who knows the publisher said they might reject Guards Gone Wild! as the title. If they do, I shall show them your comment here. 🙂
Okay, this is one vote for Guards Gone Wild! But my fellow bloggers, don’t be shy! If you disagree with the title, please do share your thoughts here as well. I want to collect as much feedback as possible.
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You could say it’s a diary but even then the word diary is so dated for a book like yours. I love “Guards gone wild”! What are Publisher #1 and #2 saying? Have you thought of asking for opinions on other public forums – Facebook perhaps? Book reviewers and book clubs? Or is there a publishing or editorial community you can ask? And if you have a target audience in mind, maybe ask people who fit that group too? In the end, I would say go with your gut. Even if Guards Gone Wild absolutely needs to be changed, make sure you go with a name you like and one that resonates the essence of your book. You don’t want to see your book finally published but with a name you don’t even like, right?
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Publishers #1, #2 and #4 have already rejected my manuscript. Publisher #3 is the only one who has yet to reply. So far I am getting more replies here than anywhere else.
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Awesome! Would love to see how it all turns out. All the best 🙂
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I like it! It makes me laugh and catches my attention.
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And this is another vote in support of Guards Gone Wild! 🙂
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A Facebook friend, Jarred, said this: “I think it is a good/witty title since it ties into an existing franchise in a way that is humorous. *shrugs*”
Another vote for Guards Gone Wild! 🙂
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Guards Gone Wild is cool bro.
One, it piques the interest of casual readers.
Two, if it attracts controversy, all the more it’ll sell, just like the Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye
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