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Attention Again Folks
Well, during this time of relative silence I have been diligently working to get most of the essays on my old Nippapanca Blog (those found worthy) edited into the form of books so I can self-publish them on Amazon (which does appear to be my most realistic option at present). It turns out that what I have could easily be turned into five (5) thickish volumes. One will be on specifically Theravada Buddhist philosophy, with some translations. One will be on somewhat more eclectic philosophical Dharma. One will be on general Buddhist ethics and practice. One will consist of personal remembrances and reflections of my own path (including some old current events posts). And one will be essentially eclectic (though always from a more or less Buddhist perspective) philosophical social commentary--though on the old blog there was little of the politically incorrect ranting I have done on the new one.
So I am fishing for suggestions here. I'm trying to think of titles at present. I've been considering "Writings of a Buddhist Radical" as a title, with five different subtitles: "Strictly Theravada," "Philosophical Dharma," "Buddhist Ethics, Buddhist Practice," "A Seeker's Journey," and "Philosophical Social Commentary." I am navigating this essentially solo at present, and so I welcome feedback. Maybe "Technical Theravada"?
So I am fishing for suggestions here. I'm trying to think of titles at present. I've been considering "Writings of a Buddhist Radical" as a title, with five different subtitles: "Strictly Theravada," "Philosophical Dharma," "Buddhist Ethics, Buddhist Practice," "A Seeker's Journey," and "Philosophical Social Commentary." I am navigating this essentially solo at present, and so I welcome feedback. Maybe "Technical Theravada"?
Writings of a Buddhist radical traditionalist?
Incendiary,dissident, firebrand, provocateur? Radical when associated with the left is good, with the right typically less so.
I don't know how many copies a self published book usually sells, I haven't done the research - but I would avoid anything exclusionary - strictly, therevada, traditionalist, radical - are all exclusionary words - and the books are most probably only going to appeal to those with an interest in Buddhism in the first place, apart from those that think you're a tv chef and its a cookbook - keep the potential purchaser base as large as possible then let the consumer define you according to their own (limited) perceptions - define yourself as a radical in the author bio if you want - also, have an angle you’ll reach more people than without one (this is where one or two new introductory chapters might be useful), something like - this is the problem this is the answer, a guide to authentic practice, - what ever the angle you positioned yourself as the answer, the authority, to the problem (hegelian dialectic if I recall correctly) otherwise you have a collection of intellectual articles with no overarching themes the purpose of which will be over the heads of most general readers (I read that authors that want to sell and newspspers all target first year college level English reading ability as the appropriate mix of intellectualism and reading ability!) . There - my twenty cents worth be sure to do what you want!
I would personally avoid having the same title for all the books, even if the subtitle is different. Firstly it makes the potential reader feel like the books can’t or shouldn’t be read as standalone volumes. Secondly it makes the Amazon search results more confusing. Maybe you could switch the order of the title/subtitle? Eg Philosophical Dharma: More Writings of a Buddhist Radical for the second book, etc. And I agree that there might be a better word than ‘radical’. I think you used ‘incendiary Buddhist’ somewhere, that might be good. Or if you really like the word ‘radical’, maybe the phrase ‘radical Orthodoxy’ or something like that? Writings of a Radically-Orthodox Buddhist?
Be sure to use a picture of someone going up in flames on the front cover if you decide to use the word incendiary- or even if you don’t use the word incendiary- it will grab the attention as people scroll through the book lists on am-a-zion. My thirty cents for what it’s worth.
All right my friends, I appreciate your feedback and have come up with this as titles for the five collections of essays:
1. Essays and translations of Theravada:
*Essays in Theravada: Writings of an Incendiary Buddhist Monk*
2. More eclectic philosophy encompassing Theravada, other religions, and western philosophy:
*Philosophical Dharma: Writings of an Incendiary Buddhist Monk*
3. (self explanatory)
*Buddhist Ethics, Buddhist Practice: Writings of an Incendiary Buddhist Monk*
4. Personal accounts of my life as a monk:
*Memoirs from Myanmar: The Path of an Incendiary American Buddhist Monk*
5. Eclectic social commentary, including contemplations of love and “heart”:
*Love, Poetry, and the Human Condition: Writings of an Incendiary Buddhist Monk*
(The subtitles may be played down and in smaller type)
A small suggestion, for the sake of search results. Maybe for Book 1, you could title it "Theravada Buddhism" instead of just "Theravada", so that it's more likely to appear when people use the search term "Buddhism". Although Amazon is pretty smart about such things these days.
I think you got some great advice here. I agree that the word radical leaves a bad taste in the mouths of many these days... unless you are prone to wearing cat lady glasses and watching TYTurks.