When publishers buy the rights to a book in a particular language or territory, they also buy the right to re-title it for their audience. My U.S. publisher and I have opted for Shakespearean quotations for my Kate Stanley books. Many other publishers have wanted the word “Shakespeare” in the titles. That’s why Interred With Their Bones is called The Shakespeare Secret in the UK and many other countries. Likewise, Haunt Me Still is called The Shakespeare Curse in the UK and elsewhere.
I was admittedly doubtful about some of these decisions at first, but I’ve learned to trust my publishers. Besides serving as a descriptive label, a title’s main purpose is to grab an audience, and my books have done well in many different places.
Italy has proved the most inventive. Interred appears there as W, and Haunt Me Still has become Il Sangue Que Reste, or The Blood That Remains. Blood may remain, apparently, but titles are as wayward and inconstant as the moon.
