Offensive Book Titles
I recently published a story that had been initially titled Baby Girl. I changed the name to Nigger Baby, and black women have expressed their dislike of the title and the subject matter, which most have not read. I have had person after person tell me that I should be ashamed of putting that word on my book. Some have gone as far as posting one-star reviews for the book based solely on the cover title. One even went so far as to say she hadn’t bought the book or read it.
Opinions are like assholes, everybody has one, and most of them are full of shit. I will not change the title as long as the book is self-published by me, Kimberly Smith. That is my work, and I can call it whatever I choose. You don’t have to buy it, and no one is forcing you to read it. I don’t care if it doesn’t sell another copy. I don’t care if every person who looks at it, hates it. The title will remain Nigger Baby and so will the sequel Nigger Baby 2.
Just to drive the point home, the word Nigger, whether it is spelled with an ER or an A, is the same. Yet we meaning black folk, use it regularly or hear it and have no problem when it is spelled or pronounced with an A. You can find more than twenty pages or books with Nigga in the title or used as a keyword on Amazon, but no one is bothering those writers to change the name of their books. Also, there are more than twenty-one pages of books found when you do an Amazon search of the word Nigger. There are tons of songs with the word littered within their lyrics.
I am saddened by women attempting to shame me (Bullying) me into choosing a title that they are more comfortable with. Do I think that it is okay for a white person to call a black person Nigger under any context? The truth is it is nobody’s business what you do in the privacy of your relationship, bedroom, or your life.
The book is a story that views what might happen if you allow this kind of element in your relationship. Giving a title to a book is like naming a child. I conceived it, nurtured it, and brought it to life. I can call it whatever I want. Read it or don’t, but know that the title will remain Nigger Baby, regardless of what anyone thinks.
