Let's Talk About Comp Titles
It's time to talk about the very worst part of writing. No, not revising, no not synopsis - comp titles, the worst part is comp titles. A comparison "comp" title is a published work that can be compared to your novel in several ways - similar in tone, topic matter, tropes, etc.
Why do you need comp titles?
If you are traditionally publishing, comp titles will be important at every stage of the journey. First, most agents prefer at least two comp titles in queries. When you get to the stage of selling the book, the editor will also want comp titles to help pitch it to their team. You'll want comp titles when marketing the book to pull in readers who want to find more of what they want to read.
Even if you're self-publishing, comp titles are very useful, so it's a good idea to keep them in mind. Comp titles are a pretty important part of publishing a book.
What can you use for comp titles?
Comp titles, unfortunately, have some pretty rigid set of rules. The general rule of thumb is:
Recently published (within the last 2-3 years is ideal)
Same genre and marketing category (YA books for YA, sci-fi books for sci-fi, etc)
Same format (comp books for books, graphic novels for graphic novels, etc)
All of these rules are pretty important, and also very easy to bungle. It's very tempting to cite an older book for inspiration, because it probably was. It's also tempting to pick a movie or TV series, because it would be easily recognizable.
However, you have to remember that comp titles are for marketing purposes. You want to use them to prove you're familiar with the audience you're writing for as well as appeal to readers who are specifically looking for books (not movies). So while comparing Our Flag Means Death to your book for a quick twitter pitch is fine, you'll want to stick to the rules for querying.
How do you find comp titles? Part One
Ah, the hardest part. We're told to write something original and special to us, and then told to find things that are Just Like It in order to pitch it to someone. Not only does that sting a little, it goes against most of the writing process, so comp titles tend to be difficult to do.
First, take your book and try to boil it down to basic themes. You'll want to lay out:
Genre and sub-genre (Romance and rom-com, fantasy and contemporary fantasy, etc)
Common elements (Court drama? Sword-fighting? Dragon fantasy versus faerie fantasy? Types of magic?)
Audience (Middle Grade? YA? Someone who buys books at the airport, or is hunting for the next massive sci-fi series to follow? Cosy mystery readers and thriller mystery readers might overlap, but you'll want to pin down the biggest group of people who would read your work).
Tropes (found family, enemies to lovers, subverted chosen one, etc. Embrace those AO3 tags, my friend. They will help you seek out the right titles)
Authors you're similar too (harder, but if you know you fit into a certain style, embrace it)
How do you find comp titles? Part Two
The actual hard part - no matter how well-read you are, finding comparable books is actually hard. Here's a few methods, none of them perfect, to try to get started.
Amazon's "customers also bought" recommendations - (obligatory pause for boos) But actually pretty helpful if you've found one book and need similar.
EBSCO Novelist - A search engine for libraries, usually available through your local library if you're in the US. If you can't find it on their website, ask your librarian - or see if a buddy from another county can loan you their card number for access.
Goodreads Lists - There's a lot of bad about Goodreads, but one thing the userbase is great at is creating lists of books by genre, market, and publishing year - and can help you see how they're described.
Monthly New Releases - Multiple cites track new releases by genre, and it's a good idea to get on top of the market you want to sell in as soon as possible.
BookBrowse - Extremely thorough book recommendation site, just don't get lost. It's very tempting to get lost.
Literature Map - Suggests similar authors based on your input.
Writer's Digest, The Writer, Poets&Writers - and any other current magazine. They often interview newly published writers and have a good thumb on what's being published.
Your local librarian - Seriously, someone at your library is working very hard to keep on top of new releases, and they would love to help you find what you need. The only librarians that eat people are in Night Vale, so you should be fine. Unless you live in Night Vale, which in that case, my condolences to your interns.
Wrap-Up Questions
Are you sure I can't comp a movie/TV series/manga? It's highly recommended to only comp books if you are trying to sell a book (in a query to an agent, specifically), but hey, I can't tell you what to do. You might have the perfect pitch, and agents are fickle beasts. Whatever works, works.
What if I really want to comp [insert very popular older series here]? The problem with comping Super Popular Thing Everyone Knows is that your book is obviously not Super Popular Thing, so it's not useful to gauge the tone of your work. This isn't true for all things - Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd century Space works, but avoid Game of Thrones. You don't want to rouse the r/freefolk crowd, I promise you.
Is there anything I should not comp? Every single video game comp I've seen has bombed hard. They just don't fly, probably because people who work in publishing don't have time to play video games.
What do I tell my friend who thinks their book is too unique to comp? There's no getting through to them, you just have to let them find that out the hard way. Comp titles are for marketing, and you'll need to market your book. It'll get easier. I think.
Should I read my comp titles? Yes and for the love of nachos, if you don't have time to read it, make sure you have a thorough understanding of the plot. The last thing you want is to query an agent who has a hard no against sexual assault scenes and whoops, one of your comp titles has a notorious sexual assault scene. Spare yourself the grief and make sure your comps are appropriate to your work.
