Your opinion, please

I'm thinking of changing the Accidental Mentors tagline/subtitle and I need your input

When I started writing Accidental Mentors, I called it Something about the Women after Holly Near’s song of the same name. The song has inspired me for decades, and I thought it would be a fitting title for the collection I wanted to write.

However, as I got into writing the pieces, I simplified it to 65 Women. That conveyed the inspiration - one woman for each year of my life. I liked the catchiness and simplicity of it. But when I turned sixty-eight this year and I still hadn’t published “65 Women,” I began to question whether it was still a fitting title.

In both cases, I knew it needed a subtitle, but that didn’t come to me until I settled on Accidental Mentors. I wanted to convey that, in most cases, these women weren’t formal mentors, but were women who impacted my life by just living theirs. That’s when I chose “Inspirational Stories of Women Who Shaped My Life Without Even Trying.” That felt descriptive but also playful. However, I’ve received some feedback that maybe it’s a little too informal.

A couple days ago, a new subtitle popped into my head: “Inspirational Stories of Women Who Shaped My Life by Being Themselves.”

Without mentioning my idea to my wife Wendy, she suggested the very same title last night (although she put “just” in her version: “Inspirational Stories of Women Who Shaped My Life by Just Being Themselves”). Wendy thought the original subtitle trivialized their contributions. Ouch! Certainly not my intention.

I’ve decided that before I designed a book cover and printed t-shirts and other merch, I’d like your input. You’ve read the stories. You know about the gifts the women in my life gave me. Let me know what you think.

Which of the four subtitles I listed below do you prefer? If you like something else entirely, select (Other) and let me know your thoughts by leaving a comment.

In case you’re curious where the fourth option, “By Just Living Theirs,” came from, I added it as I was writing this post. When inspiration comes, jump on it! That’s what I say!

Thanks for participating. I’ll let you know the results.

Annette