Carly Phillips on the importance of titles in a longstanding series

Carly Phillips, whose Dare to Touch, book five in her Dare to Love series, comes out today, shares the thinking that goes into book and series titles. To celebrate the release of Dare to Touch, book one in the series, Dare to Love, is free.

Carly: I was recently asked what the working title was for my new release, Dare to Touch, book No. 5 in the Dare to Love series. The answer? Dare to Touch. Why? Because I can't write a book unless I know the title. This isn't a quirk. For me, the title is the first step in knowing my characters. The title is the first inkling both the author and a potential reader have to the story. Along with the cover, this gives someone a teaser of what's to come.

First, I had to choose the series title. Dare to Love is my most recent, and first all-indie, series, which is about the Dare family … siblings shaped by a father's secrets and betrayal. The father, Robert Dare, had one family and another on the side. When a child in the illegitimate family needed bone marrow, Robert revealed his other family and asked his legitimate children to be tested. This betrayal by the patriarch of the family affected each child differently, and of course influenced their views on love. Hence the title, Dare to Love. The series title also worked as the title for the first sibling's story. Ian Dare, the oldest legitimate child, did indeed have to learn to take a chance and Dare to Love.

So what came next? How did I choose each title and why? There are three branches of the Dare family. Ian and his siblings (the "legitimate" family), Alex and his siblings (the "illegitimate" family) and Gabe and his siblings (the NY cousins).

The NY cousins were the easiest to name. These are all exceptionally hotter books with BDSM elements, hence Dare to Surrender, Dare to Submit and Dare to Seduce work well. Surrender, Submit and Seduce are words that are evocative of BDSM/hot books. Plus, I liked the alliteration.

The legitimate family — starting with Ian in Dare to Love have more traditional problems with love, beginning with trust and commitment issues. For these stories, I chose Dare to Love, Dare to Take, Dare to Hold, Dare to Touch and Dare to Rock. With the illegitimate family (now technically legitimate too, as Robert ultimately married the mother of his other children), I chose titles I felt had strength because this side of the family had their father figure in their lives despite their parents not being married. Beginning with Alex in Dare to Desire, the illegitimate family moves forward with Dare to Want, Dare to Pleasure and Dare to Dream.

All this to say, titles aren't random, at least not for me. They are well thought-out and matched with the hero and heroine in each book. Readers are smart and appreciate title links to characters and emotions that are woven throughout a story. It's important that the writer follows through on the promise made to the reader with the series and title. And in my case, all the Dare siblings do … Dare to Love.

Find out more about Carly and her books at www.carlyphillips.com.