I happen to be very convinced that a first book will never sell with an awful title like that. Perhaps the worst title I've ever heard of. Of course, I guess, the market for this book is for established fans and readers, and not really for newcomers. So he could have named the book "My Fat Ass" and it would have sold roughly the same number of books. Perhaps a few more, actually. Unless they took the title to mean Paolini's bony ass, in which case it would have sold none at all.

So perhaps just "Ass" would have been a better title.

The reason for this post is to discuss the importance of titles, mostly in regard to existing/published works, hence the reason we're in this forum and not open discussions. I have noticed a trend where an original title might be very good, but subsequent titles in a series may get worse over time. [Though it should be noted that none of the following are good titles by any stretch of imagination: Eragon, Eldest, and most especially Brisingr--sounds like the sound my lawnmower makes]

But this is not always true, sometimes a publisher won't let an established asuthor with a guaranteed reader base use a crappy title. Exhibit A Ender's Shadow, which happens to be a fine title. Originally, if I remember correctly, was to be called "Urchin," which is not a horrible title, but not a very good one.

So what's the difference? Is it that Tor is a bit more concerned about the marketability of titles than Randomhouse, or whoever published Paolini, or is it that a bad title is expected to affect Paolini's fan base less than Card's?

Titles are hard to come up with. It can't be too boring, to long, or to unpronoucable. But I don't care what Card titles his books, they're still going to kick "Ass".

A lot of writers have had odd pronounciation schemes in their novels---it took me five or six years to get used to the hard "c" in Tolkien's system--and since I haven't read Paolini's stuff (and am unlikely to), I don't know what he uses.

It took days to stop laughing. And even now I still have these chronic flare ups..hahah.. whenever I think about it...oh wait....hahahahaha ... there it goes again, I'd better run.

I can hear the laughter, but let me finish. Christopher Paolini was a 17-year-old when he had Eragon published, by his parents. While Shakespeare was once referred to as a 'crow making himself pretty with other people's feathers' meaning he borrowed, Chrisopher Paolini borrowed so badly that the film audience thinks he has rewritten Star Wars and the literary audience thinks he has rewritten... well everything.

I feel sorry for Paolini, because I promise you, if someone had published what I wrote when I was 17 (I wrote the first drafts of my first two novels between 16 and 20) I would have by now changed my name by depole and cried about the fact that my favourite creation was tarnished by being immortalised as that. And people can say 'but he has made heaps of money' but what's money when you no longer have pride.

Borrow a bit, fine, borrow a lot, ok, but at least do it well. I challenge anyone to read the scene where Eragon and his 'Gandalf/Dumbledore/Obi-Wan' mentor arrive in a city, use false names at the gates, only for Ergon to wake to find his 'wise' mentor has written him a message on the wall, signed with his real name and not groan out loud.

Nevertheless there is something inspiring to be learned here, and nothing to be gained by feeling bitter about another's success.