How I Self-Published a Book Series with the Wrong Title (And How I Changed It)

When naming a series of science fiction adventure novels, I made a serious mistake.

Titles are tricky. I think long and hard when naming my novels, and most of the time, I’m happy with the final choice. But in one particular case, my titling decision proved woefully misleading: George Goes to Mars.

Typing it now, I cringe. What was I thinking? It sounds like a picture book for very young children, when in fact it is aimed mainly at the Harry Potter/Alex Rider demographic. It’s a science fiction adventure for the young and young at heart.

The initial idea

In 2005, I came up with the story of thirteen-year-old orphan George Hughes. He goes from rags to riches when he discovers he is the sole proprietor of the planet Mars, due to a land registry claim made by his ancestor. Because humans are landing on Mars, he has exclusive rights to sell plots of land to film stars, pop stars, former presidents, and other celebrities with more money than sense, who want to build Martian holiday homes.

Unfortunately, this makes George an assassination target, as other sinister parties covet Mars for themselves. George is protected by the Mars Trust, an organisation set up by his late ancestor, and by a mysterious secret agent called Giles. They journey to Mars together and uncover a sinister conspiracy as well as an alien threat. Along the way, they are joined by the spoiled but spirited Meredith, the daughter of a rich industrialist who wants to build on Mars. An action-packed, thrilling, twist-laden adventure ensues.

George Goes to Mars

I wrote the novel in early 2006, and eventually self-published it under the title George Goes to Mars. Again, I don’t know what I was thinking with that title. Perhaps I thought it was quirky and rolled off the tongue, but it doesn’t convey mystery, intrigue, excitement, or adventure. It does the book no justice whatsoever.

Nonetheless, I stuck with the title. I didn’t intend to write a sequel, despite the annoying fact that a stunning idea for one occurred to me the moment I finished the first novel. Feeling exhausted with George’s world, I moved on to other writing projects. But that sequel idea nagged, tickled, and rattled around in my mind. The voices in my head grew louder. Six years later, I gave in and wrote the damn thing.

George Goes to Titan

The sequel, which involved a rather complex premise, introduced an even greater alien threat to George and his friends. I wrote this novel with multiple diagrams and pieces of string on the wall, trying to make sure I addressed all the potential paradoxes. My brain practically melted trying to keep it all straight, and whilst the final product (I am told) is entertaining and easy to follow, there’s a reason sci-fi writers seldom attempt time travel and parallel universes at the same time. In short, it proved another agonising effort. But that was it. The voices in my head had been silenced once more.

George Goes to Neptune

My wife read the draft manuscript for George Goes to Titan and loved it. I felt pleased. Then she said: “Of course, you’re bringing back (redacted character name) for the third novel, aren’t you?” My heart sank, for at that moment, the idea for a third novel, fully formed, popped into my mind. What’s more, it was the best story of the three. A chorus of maniacal laughter ensued from the voices in my head, and I knew I’d have to knuckle down and write another tale in the world of George Hughes.

At that point, I wrote a couple of small epilogues teasing the next adventure for the first two books (akin to Marvel post-credit scenes) and revised their respective manuscripts. Then I tackled what became George Goes to Neptune; the most ambitious novel of the three, but also, I had to admit, the one for which I felt the most enthusiasm. I’ve not written any further instalments, as I doubt I’ll top this one. My wife tells me this accidental trilogy gets better with each book, but thankfully the voices in my head have relented and gone quiet, at least as far as this series is concerned.

New titles

By 2015, all three titles in the George Hughes trilogy were released. Now all I had to do was sit back and watch as my sales figures went off the charts, right? Wrong. Tumbleweeds. A handful of people bought copies, but that was it. No reaction, response, or reviews. Or barely any. What went wrong? Why was I being ignored?

Of course, many factors can be at play in the Russian roulette world of self-published book sales, but I had to face the ugly truth: I’d been an idiot with the titles. All three needed revising, and this year, after unpublishing the original versions, I finally got around to it. I also took the opportunity to give all three manuscripts a substantial polish, since my writing has improved a lot since 2006 (the first novel had the most pruning and tweaking).

Parts one, two, and three of the George Hughes trilogy are now entitled The Martian Inheritance, The Titan War, and The Neptune Conspiracy, respectively. I think those get across the epic sweep of the tale far better. With any luck, readers will now give these a try, rather than wrongly dismissing them as books aimed at very small children.

I suspect fans of Harry Potter or Alex Rider will get a big kick out of these stories, but I again wish to emphasise these are not just books for children. Along the way, some of the preoccupations present in my other novels manifest themselves, including themes of fundamentalist religious oppression, abuse of power, and the responsibilities of the rich. Not that I mean to be preachy. I wrote these novels with no loftier intent than to craft exhilarating, gripping sci-fi tales, with an emphasis on adventure. There isn’t enough fun sci-fi on bookshelves in my opinion. It all tends to be very highbrow and serious. Despite their occasional darker, more serious themes, the George Hughes adventures are meant to be great entertainment for all ages.

And yes, I’m going to include a shameless plug: Why not consider The George Hughes Trilogy as a Christmas present this year?

Paperbacks and ebooks are available from the usual outlets, including Amazon and Smashwords. By far the best option is to pick up a paperback or ebook of the omnibus edition, which contains all three novels at a discounted price of three for the price of two (on Amazon in the UK here, in the US here, or on Smashwords here). Failing that, the novels can be purchased individually.

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