Whatever happened to 'The Seahorse Diaries'?

What's in a title, and how and when to come up with a good one.

How important are titles? I’m asked frequently, and I always say, ‘Massively, and also not at all’. Here’s a post about what exactly I mean by that, which includes the story of a trip to my agent’s office, a giant yellow plug, and Joe Orton.

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It was late December, or maybe early January. Late 2009, early 2010. Some time around then. It’s a bit blurry now because, unbelievably, that’s 15 years ago. And I’m not as young as I was. Last week is pretty hazy, to be honest.

Anyway. Fifteen years ago I met my agent (who let’s not forget, wasn’t my agent at the time, but an agent to whom I’d sent a MS and who hadn't yet rejected me but might) in her offices in Soho. I’d met her in the summer and talked about the book I was writing, and in early December I’d finished my draft and plucked up the courage to give her the manuscript. Now, she’d asked me to come in to have a chat about it.