I figured I’d post before the inevitable question is raised: isn’t there a band named World Leader Pretend?
Yes, there is. And a song by R.E.M. too.
Here’s the whole story of the title of my book. In its nascent form, World Leader Pretend was titled The Strangely Peaceful Citadel of Blue Orcs. I thought this title was hilarious: like a bad sci-fi/fantasy book. The only problem was that when I went to sell it people didn’t think it was a funny, strangely appropriate title. They thought I was trying to sell them a bad sci-fi/fantasy book.
So I decided to change the title, for the sake of getting publishers to read past the first paragraph of my cover letter. The title I chose was World Leader Pretend. I chose this title in 2002. At the time, I don’t think the band World Leader Pretend existed, and if they did, they weren’t showing up on Google. I picked the title based on the R.E.M. song, which is about a person who “sits at his table, and wages war on himself.”
This seemed a perfect analogy to my main character, who is devastatingly obsessed with an online war game. It also suited me on other levels, as the act of writing is like this, too: forcing yourself to sit still in front of a computer for 4 hours each day, 5 days each week, for weeks and months and years on end is also an act of war against oneself.
So the book got bought, eventually. I spoke to my agent and editor about changing the title back, but nobody ever got the original title. And then this band came along–and now I’m stuck with a novel that appears to be named after an indie rock band.
I just hope nobody decides to sue me. Then again, I could really use the publicity…