"The Dandy" delayed

[tjmaglio]

Manton,

Sorry to hear about the delay. I've been involved in book projects before and am curious to know how you'll use the extra time. If our publisher hadn't insisted on deadlines, I think we'd still be refining the books we worked on and I'm sure you're the same.
Say, is there a chance either the styleforum or askandy gets a mention or reference in your book?

Thanks,
Tom

[edited out questions that were answered by your last post]

 

[Manton]

First book, yes. The book has been "finished" since August of 2002, but I have never really stopped working on it. I expect I will be polishing it right up until the end.

 

[tgfny]

The DaVinci Robe

Midnight in the Closet of Good and Evil

Rich Dad, Poor Dad, and Well Dressed Questionable Uncle

The World is Flat as Are My Trousers

French Women Don't Get Fat and French Men Don't Wear Brown

Angels, Demons, and Dandys

 

[LabelKing]

Will you have anything on NÃ

cessaire de Voyages?

 

[kabert]

I like the idea hinted at by some of the above --

To have some kind of catchy title -- sort of like what that Brit lady did with the potentially very boring/dry book on grammar, "Eats, Shoots and Leaves," with a panda on the cover. It is a very memorable title she came up with, which presumably helped substantially in sales than if she had called it "The Art of Proper Grammar" or some such title that some would view as too academic or too snooty or too common.

I suggest convening a titling committee and nominating RJMan as Chair, with RJ to receive for a successful title the lesser of (i) one RJ shirt, or the greater in value of (a) the lesser of (I) the median of (X) and (Y), where (X) equals the average of such royalties... Oh forget it.

 

[Fritz]

Apparently I am the only one, but I quite like "žThe Dandy". This title is in keeping with the parallel with the Prince, and I think that's important. It makes for a nice anecdote that Manton can tell to Letterman and Oprah and whoever. Or at least it can be printed on the book jacket. It also gives book critics something to write. This title makes sense, and please don't forget that books like "The Rainmaker" and " The Client" etc have found gazillions of paying customers.

BTW this afternoon I had another look at "Prince" which is in my huge stack of started but never finished books. Pretty interesting actually. I think this time I'll read it all the way through.

 

[countdemoney]

You may have found it yourself.

Now, there is some bit of scholarly controversy about what the title of The Prince really is. Nick does indicate, in a letter, that he considered the title to be On Principalities.

On Principles of male style On Principles of male elegance Principles of dress Etc. A search for "principles of dress" will get you this list on amazon I look forward to your book.

 

[RJman]

I suggest convening a titling committee and nominating RJMan as Chair, with RJ to receive for a successful title the lesser of (i) one RJ shirt, or the greater in value of (a) the lesser of (I) the median of (X) and (Y), where (X) equals the average of such royalties...  Oh forget it.

a) to suggest that I could surpass manton in creativity and originality in attire or in eloquence is a boundless misjudgment.

b) I will settle for a decent night's sleep.

 

[modsquad]

The best I can do is "The Ponce."

Wait, I got it: Big Princin' and then a subtitle explaing what the book is "Nicky Mach Decks Out the 21st Century Man" or some such.

 

[Huntsman]

Whoa. That was an exhaustive and informative reply, Manton. Maintaining the necessary parallelism in the title is challenging. Were you going with a subtitle, "Dandy: The Prince of Style" comes to mind. Can't see how to beat "The Dandy," though, it's one-to-one. Am anticipating the release...

Regards,
Huntsman

 

[Charley]

People hear "dandy" and they think "fop", like that dude Tim Roth played in Rob Roy. Or worse. Of course, I mean it in the Brummellian sense of elegance, restraint, perfect fit, pristine cut, etc., and I say so. Â But if people are so turned off by the title that they never pick up the book, then my explanation won't do me (or the publisher) a lot of good. Â That's the fear, anyway.

I do believe that a book with that title will be hard to market. Nothing really wrong with it, if the general public understood the meaning of the term. And a real shame to try to "dumb down" a book title to make a useful book marketable. If you do decide to change the title, I hope you will cover the thought process of selecting the new name - and abandoning "The Dandy" - in the foreward. A few pages explaining that could well set the stage for the rest of the book.

 

[Fabro]

I think that The Dandy is the perfect title. The only issue would be its similarity to Ellen Moers' excellent The Dandy: Brummell to Beerbohm, which is shortened on the spine to read simply The Dandy.

 

[naturlaut]

Other than the title, have you given any thoughts on the cover design/graphics? Its communicative quality surpasses even the title. Of course, it won't make much difference if you're ordering on Amazon, but on a book shelf in Barnes & Noble, the design catches the eyes even before the title does.

 

[Tokyo Slim]

 

[LabelKing]

Design-wise, usually simplicity is the best.

Something along the lines of Alexey Brodovitch.