Dragaera

The title was originally "The Enchantress of Dzur Mountain"

Mon Oct 6 13:14:34 PDT 2003

extremely funny!!!!

b

Casey Rousseau wrote:

> Steve Hubbell asked:
> > What happens when the Vlad Taltos novel DZUR is published? Will
> > the titles of the other (eventually) forthcoming Vlad Taltos
> > books be changed to easier pronounced but more mundane titles?
>
> Although I asked much the same question last year when the topic first came
> up, I think the conversation probably went something like:
>
> PNH: Steve, we got a problem.
> SKZB: We do?  Sh_t, I ...
> PNH:  No, no, not that.  Marketing says 'The Enchantress of Dzur Mountain'
> is too long a title.
> SKZB: How is it too long?  It's shorter than 'Harry Potter and the Prisoner
> of Azkaban'!
> PNH:  Yeah, but with the Potter books, you can skip the 'Harry Potter and'
> part in counting how long the title is.  Also, the test group couldn't
> figure out how to pronounce 'Dzur'.
> SKZB: Oh, sure and Azkaban just trips right off the toungue.
> PNH:  Now, Steve, you know as well as I do that all Scholastic has to do is
> whisper that there is a new Harry book and people will fork over all their
> money.
> SKZB: What if I get around to writing _Dzur_?
> PNH:  We will cross that bridge when we come to it. Besides, you might get
> bored with Vlad long before then.  Let's call this one 'Sethra Lavode'.
> That keeps the title character the same, keeps the parallels with Dumas's
> Vicomte, etc.
> SKZB: It's not that much easier to pronounce.
> PNH:  Just trust me on this one.
> SKZB: Oh, all right.
>
> -Casey