Support for Indie Authors discussion

I have the manuscript but I can't decide on the title. Can you advise me? (This is not a promo, honest, but rather a serious dilemma I have found myself in!). I want to go with the title 'L'Autre Moi' as the words have direct relevance to the two main characters. I was advised that few people would be attracted to this as it is not in English. The English translation 'The Other Me' is great but a book came out last year of the same name (does that matter?). I thought of having 'The Other Me (L'autre Moi) or vice versa. What do you all think?

Go with you first instinct. I like the French.

There are bunches of books out there with the same title as each other, so it can get confusing what is okay to use and what is not. The reasons you might not want to have exactly the same title as another book: the possibility of being confused with another book of the same name, as well as showing up later in search results instead of being the first one. I think your idea for "The Other Me" followed by the French translation would be the best bet. You are right that as an English speaker, I would skip right past the only French title because it would make me assume the whole book is written in French which I cannot read. If your book is in English or at least an English translation, you will probably want the English title to appear first. By the way, "The Other Me" is a pretty cool title.

I'm kind of leaning toward vice versa myself. L'autre Moi as the title would help your book stand out from books with The Other Me as the title, and having the translation would help give readers a better idea of what the book is about.

Technically, though, it really doesn't matter if one, two, three or more books have the same title. The only setback is your book possibly getting lost among other books with the same title but, really, that can't be helped. Similar titles are going to happen, so I wouldn't worry too much about it.

Colin wrote: "I have the manuscript but I can't decide on the title. Can you advise me? (This is not a promo, honest, but rather a serious dilemma I have found myself in!). I want to go with the title 'L'Autre M..."

The problem with the French title is that English speaking people might overlook it and French speaking people might think it's French. It's a bit misleading.

Yeah, I'd use the main title in the same language you've written in, with a smaller sub title under it.
:)

I personally like L'autre Moi better, but the point about confusion is real. A possible solution might be to use well visible subtitle.

L'autre Moi
A tale of this and that

I am one who likes the French title better. I would suggest doing it in such a way as to make it a part of the background, but large, then have the English version as a sub.

For example (and mind you, I have no idea what the book is about so make sure the way you use it is related to the book!) Have it written in the sky with a plane flying by.

Have it look to be the name on the umbrella of the cafe table on the front cover.

Something creative along those lines. Anything promotion-related that will consist of writing the title out (blog posts, flyers, reviews, articles) will all be in English, so will make it clear that the book is in English.

Besides there are plenty of books that were translated into English, but kept the original name and haven't turned off readers.

As much as people say that you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover, people do, of course. I have to admit that if you used the French title, I would probably pass the book by assuming it was in French, or frankly, that it had a lot of French dialog in it. Since I don't speak/read French and I read aloud to my husband, I'd have trouble with either.

Have you considered:

L'Autre Moi: The Other Me

These are all great comments & it is reassuring to get such positive feedback. The general consensus seems to be to have the English Title as the mainstay. I suppose adding the French alternative actually makes the title original and is in keeping with the context of the book. Thanks everyone.

I love Heidi's idea. I'm thinking, the French title as a larger, darker shadow behind of the English words in lettering that looks solid.

I have to admit, following the suggestions of combining the two titles, this would solve the problem for me (of thinking the book was in French). Instead, I would now think that the book was in English, was set in France, and the combination title would add intrigue and interest.