Comments on: How do you title a book well?

By: Nancy White

Nancy White — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 17:50:07 +0000

I was browsing my blog stats and as it turns out, this little blog post has been one of the most “hit” posts on the site. Now, I presume people were finding it via a search, so it may not have been relevant, but clearly this question of titling a book is hot! So I thought it might be worth circling back to say that since we titled the book in September, “Digital Habitats: stewarding technology for communities” I still like the title. Now THAT is an acid test!

By: Full Circle Associates » A huge sigh of relief - a title

Full Circle Associates » A huge sigh of relief - a title — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 18:40:17 +0000

[...] and Etienne Wenger and I have been writing this thing that became a book. You’ve heard me periodically obsessing about it here in my blog. Writing communally is one of the hardest and most rewarding [...]

By: Nancy White

Nancy White — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 16:51:00 +0000

The feedback and suggestions are FANTASTIC, y’all. Thank you so much. We are meeting today and I’m going to present a summary of your ideas and suggestions. Hopefully we will close on this soon.

Jay, your point about flexibility is good… but it also causes some confusion along the way. It will be interesting to see what the impact of the “un book” format you are championing has on us. Will we flow with that flexibility, or get lost? (I suspect BOTH!!) Flexibility and complexity carry their own “loads!”

By: Jay Cross

Jay Cross — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 15:24:03 +0000

How about just Practice? Printing on demand enables you to change the title whenever you find a better one. Last week my Learnscape Architecture morphed into just Learnscaping.

By: Lilly Evans

Lilly Evans — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 23:55:23 +0000

Nancy,

My first question is:
Who is the intended audience for your book?

From the brainstorm examples I would surmise that it aims at people who are in some way ‘technical’ and likely aware of potential/possibilities of CoPs. If so, then “Tech to Connect’ with one of the taglines above that includes ‘community’ and/or ‘stewardship’ would be good.

If you are aiming at general audience, then a single word, catchy and generating curiosity is essential. How about STEWARDOLOGY? Or COMMUNISHIP? They merges Stewardship, technology and community. Finally TECHUNITY is my favorite.

Good luck and do count me in as early script readers for comments before final print version!

By: LaDonna Coy

LaDonna Coy — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 03:33:46 +0000

Hi Nancy,

What a great post and the brainstorm is perfectly named! What fun, uh, I mean work. As I read through the list and the comments my mind jumped to a remembrance from Wikinomics, that we have entered the Age of Participation. Maybe a title like, Connected Communities: Stewarding Technology in the Age of Participation.

Good luck on selecting a title for the book – can hardly wait to buy a copy!

By: P+T Johnson-Lenz

P+T Johnson-Lenz — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 21:30:57 +0000

Wonderfully creative, fun list and comments.

Tech to Connect is great. The rhyme makes it stick.

Online Cat Herding: Stewarding technology skillfully for communities of practice

Practicing Virtual Communities (“practicing” as an adjective and a verb)

Always Connect: Stewarding technology for communities of practice

Communities Shaping Technology Shaping Communities (OK, too long, but you get the idea)

By: Bev Trayner

Bev Trayner — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 23:21:59 +0000

.. or just “Where to meet?” Subtitle: “Stewarding technology for communities of practice.”

By: Bev Trayner

Bev Trayner — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 23:20:49 +0000

“Where to meet? Tools and technologies for communities of practice”.

Better go to bed now!

By: Bev Trayner

Bev Trayner — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 23:19:29 +0000

The title that talks to me is: “Beyond technology for communities of practice”.