A title sells a book in a way nothing else can. Cover art is a huge part of that, as are the blurbs on the jacket and inside the flaps, but it all starts with the title.

Getting that right is paramount.

In the traditional publishing universe, publishers constant change and tweak the titles of books. Let me state here, now and unequivocally that when my time comes, they have my fullest blessing to work their titular magic as they see fit. They know the genre and what works best. My job is to merely suggest and make certain whatever I do put forward leads the potential reader into being titillated enough to pick up, then investigate and hopefully buy it.

Mother Russia is the title of my forthcoming debut novel and as such has gone through many potential titles. I always wanted it to be hung on the hinges of the Soviet August Coup in 1991, so as such I flirted originally with the possibility of the title A Change Of Season. I suppose it reminded me of the title of the excellent movie A Dry White Season with Donald Sutherland and Marlon Brando, but that’s about as far as it went. Too milquetoast, too blah and unexciting, especially for a thriller.

Two word titles seem to be the norm for the thriller genre, and looking at Brad Thor for a model, the fewer the syllables, the better. Action and excitement need to be contained therein, and a promise of what to expect is essential. So I ended up renaming the book Red Moscow and that was it’s working title throughout the writing process. Red had multiple meanings in my genre: Soviet communism as well as blood, and it leaned into this as I wrote it, even to the point of having Tasia wear the perfume of the same name, which my research told me was enormously popular in Soviet Russia for decades. (I managed to acquire a bottle and it is indeed beautiful and enticing.)

Unfortunately, I couldn’t keep that title for the book.

In early 2023 I came to discover author Alma Katsu whose two debut espionage thrillers dropped that March, Red Widow and Red London. Wonderful titles nailed cleanly to the genre and which I hope which will become bestsellers. You should definitely purchase them. (Already ordered my own hardcover copies. Maybe I’ll run into Alma at some point and get them signed.)

Unfortunately, Red Moscow is simply too close to her titles. While bummed, I would not want to dilute either of our brands by utilizing similar title conventions. Such is life. So, I’ve gone back to the title I almost used before and which my beta readers liked best anyway: Mother Russia.

‘Mother Russia’ is my protagonist Tasia Zolotova’s nickname and is definitely a critical component of her story, especially on that all-important first day of the coup. Yes, it makes good sense.

While I was looking towards making ‘Mother Russia’ my series name, it may actually be easier to get there if I make it the title of the first book first and let things proceed logically from there. (Think of how George R. R. Martin’s A Game of Thrones made its way (slightly altered) into the title of the HBO series.) Also Mother Russia effortlessly leans into the genre with its second word while beautifully illustrating the presence of a female action protagonist with its first. A win-win.