Taylor Swift Rom-Com Titles
A Comprehensive List
Editor Break Down: Taylor Swift Rom-Coms
I do not edit rom-coms (romantic comedies) in my day job and I do not really read rom-coms despite loving the genre in its film form (to me, the “rom” and the “com” both work better if you can see and hear them, and when they don’t work, it’s one of our great “good-bad” movie genres). However, I do sit in on editorial meetings and observe the book industry from the inside, and I have noticed a trend with emerging within rom-com literature. A trend that is likely driven by the almighty small “g” god of SEO and the one and only piece of monoculture we have left, Taylor Swift. That trend — and I’ll put this as generously as possible — is that rom-coms are lifting their titles directly from Taylor Swift lyrics and songs. I first noticed this with the self-published Call it What You Want, and I’ve heard of Champagne Problems, and Hits Different and, well, so many more. Publishing-wise this is incredibly smart—these phrases work as titles, they are in the Zeitgeist, and the readership quite naturally overlaps with the listenership. But creatively, it has to be said, that this is a little bit lame (it reminds me a bit of when US Senators tried to work in Swift lyrics to official government hearings).
In fairness to these writers, Taylor Swift titles and lyrics make exceptionally good rom-com book titles, and as we’ve talked about previously at Dear Head of Mine, Swift has a grasp on twisting common enough phrases into memorable, emotionally resonant lyrics. It’s one of the many reasons she’s popular in such a mind-bendingly big way. So, since I will likely never be called upon to make a brainstorming title list as an editor for a rom-com, I’ve decided to do this Wikipedia-style and give this resource away to aspiring writers for free. Here’s my public service to the writing community: every Taylor Swift song and lyric that could be a rom-com title with some bonus premises thrown in.
*This is not legal advice and I have no idea which of these titles constitute fair use*
The Classics aka Ride the Wave of Fame
Wildest Dreams (Rival horse trainers in a classic enemies-to-lovers plot)
Anti-Hero (Classic trope of high-strung working woman realizing she needs to work less, but then add the 21st century trope twist of the protagonist realizing that she’s all fine by herself)
Back to December (Christmas themed, obviously)
Champagne Problems (Taken! I forget what the book was about that had this title, but I feel like the song is already a rom-com gone wrong, maybe a little bit of modern day upstairs/downstairs set in a fancy Long Island mansion)
Cruel Summer (Take all the Taylor Swift real-life inspiration and set this romance between young professionals in the Lower East Side or in the West Village)
Enchanted (Hallmark Special #1)
Hits Different (Taken!)
Love Story (Hallmark Special #2)
All of These Could Double as Serial Killer Thriller Titles
I Bet You Think About Me
I Can See You
I Knew You Were Trouble
I Know Places
I Think He Knows
I Wish You Would
ME! (This isn’t a good title but it would be funny if someone did it)
He Must Like Me for Me
All About Me
I’m The Problem
Look What You Made Me Do
You Belong with Me
Clever(ish)/Why Haven’t These Been Used?
The 1 (Definitely starts with the protagonist coming back home from the big city)
Dear Reader (Can’t believe this hasn’t been used more, shoutout to Jane Eyre)
End Game (Sports!)
New Romantics (Great song, my favorite title of the bunch, go write it! Beware of lawyers!)
Paper Rings (Fine song, but I’ve never enjoyed the Nicolas Sparks energy it gives off)
Invisible String (See above, Jane Eyre reference #2)
Sweeter than Fiction (No notes)
Karma is my Boyfriend (Revenge rom-com?)
These are Cursed, Don’t Use Them
Mr. Perfectly Fine
Would’ve, Should’ve, Could’ve
Dear John
Hey Stephen
B-Sides
Begin Again (The one where the person comes home early and catches their spouse/significant other cheating at the beginning of the novel/movie)
Last Kiss (Heartbreaking ending)
London Boy (Self explanatory)
Lover (The sequel to ME!)
The Lucky One (Add some slightly magical realism element, time travel, etc. into this one)
Mastermind (Just rip a plot from one of Taylor Swift’s own romances)
Christmas Tree Farm (Christmas themed made for TV Hallmark movie)
The Story of Us (Also a heart-wrenching ABC show)
When Emma Falls in Love (Fits right into the Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine or Evvie Drake Starts Over mold already—elevated rom-com)
Evermore (Hallmark Special #3)
Forever & Always (Hallmark Special #4)
Forever Winter (Christmas Trilogy)
Half of My Heart (Grey’s anatomy style medical drama where two people are impaled by the same tree or something and fall in love as the medical team extracts them)
Electric Touch (Spicy)
How You Get the Girl (Classic 90s rom-com where they guy gets the girl but in retrospect he definitely doesn’t deserve her)
Dime Novels: Famous Literary Agent Talks Shit
In this reoccurring segment we review cultural news that is fit for dime novels, pulp magazines, and melodrama serials.
Andrew Wylie, one of the most famous literary agents in the book publishing business (why he’s known as “the jackal” and not “the coyote” we’ll never know), played exactly to type (the title of the interview features the phrase “Ruthless Cultural Elitism”) and gave a wildly entertaining, WWE heel-worthy performance in his New York Times profile. The whole thing is worth reading (linked below), but here’s a taste:
“Who gives a [expletive]? You want to matter in this culture? Not me.”
“I was talking to Salman Rushdie in Frankfurt.”
“One, the goal of the people we represent is not to be Beyoncé. It’s not directly connected to popularity. Let’s say you’re inviting some people to your house for dinner. Do you want everyone to arrive? Or do you want a select number of intelligent people who are amusing and understand what you’re talking about? The latter, I think. There are some people I don’t want to have join the dinner. They deserve to live, but they don’t need to come to my house for supper.”
“What’s an example of when a publisher or someone else in the business disagreed with you and they turned out to be right? ‘I don’t think that’s ever happened.’
“Stephen King is susceptible to artificial intelligence.”