Saturday, August 14, 2010

A New Attitude

by Kate Willoughby from the August 16, 2010 issue

Tagline:  Doctor's orders or not, Dan knew he was too set in his ways to change.  And then he met Ginger...

Okay, since this is my story, I can't really review it. I did want to say, I love the tagline, but I wasn't so happy about the title change. I had originally named the story "Old Dogs Can." "A New Attitude" sounds generic to me. I thought my title made more sense, considering the story, but the editors do as they see fit. They know their audience. I'm happy that they published it at all.

It's funny because the whole story came about because I was emailing someone and commented that I had learned something and that apparently you could teach old dogs new tricks. I immediately thought that "Old Dogs Can" would be a great story title. The rest is history. LOL

6 comments:

Pat said...

Loved this story.

Actually, I totally understand why they changed your title. Your title is cute but their title is slightly more positive and WW is always saying how they want things more upbeat. IMO this is a perfect example of the subtle changes WW makes and why.

Kate Willoughby said...

True, Pat. Or maybe the "old" part of the title was distasteful for some reason. :)

Pat said...

No not even a tiny bit distasteful just a tad more negative than 'new.' Both titles fit the story and yes, I think yours has more umph and pull-the-reader-in ability and would be perfect any where else. I think this whole 'positive' idea thing is why it is so hard to get published in WW.

I've analized my critique partners' stories that have been published in WW from what they submitted to what was published and over and over its tiny little things like this I see in the editing. It see it in both romanace and mystery. I drive them all crazy with, "This sentence need to say the same thing but make it more positive."

Kate Willoughby said...

Positivity is the watchword, isn't it!

Anonymous said...

Congrats on your story Kate!

Tressa

Kate Willoughby said...

Thanks, Tressa!