Comp Titles.

I’ve known for a while that one of the weakest sections of my query letter is where I mention comparison titles–or comp titles. 

Part of the query needs to tell the literary agent exactly where the book would sit on the shelves at a bookstore, and one of the ways to do this is by using comp titles. It also helps set expectations of what the story holds.

Many times, comp titles are in the format: X meets Y. For example if I described a book as, Survivor meets The Bachelor, you’d have a decent idea what the book was about before you even read the synopsis. (If you’re interested, this book actually exists! It’s called Attached at the Hip by Christine Riccio, and it’s delightful.)

Agents like for comp titles to be fairly recent–aka published within the last five years–and it’s better to use books that weren’t huge successes. Sure, if you wrote about a magical school, Harry Potter might feel like the obvious choice, but it doesn’t work for two reasons. 1) It may still be culturally relevant, but it’s an older title. 2) “Successful” barely even begins to describe how well that series did. (Try “global phenomenon.”) Plus, there are many other book with magical schools that may be better suited comp titles.

For my fantasy novel, one of the comp titles is easy since I wanted to write a fantasy retelling of The Scarlet Pimpernel; however, when I started writing Veritas, I didn’t know where the story was even headed, so it definitely wasn’t based on anything.

All that to say… I’ve really struggled coming up with good solid comp titles. Currently, I’ve been a little more vague–just using author names (which is better than nothing at all)–but as I’ve been looking closer at my submission package, it is one area that can definitely be improved.

Not only does including specific comp titles show that the writer understands their own novel, it also shows that the writer really understands the industry and how exactly an agent could sell the book to editors. It provides a quick pitch: Knives Out with magic. (Another great read! The Lies We Conjure by Sarah Henning.)

My problem is… Until recently, I haven’t really found good comp titles. Not to say that I think Veritas is too unique that it can’t be compared to existing books–that would be an outlandish claim–but because most of the young adult mysteries I’ve read tend to have more of a traditional “Whodunit” set up. Veritas is less about solving a murder, and more about piecing together the secrets of someone’s life after they are no longer here to share them. 

However, after having a few conversations with friends, I have two solid leads on comp titles. I’m currently about a fourth of the way through one–and it’s a definite contender–and I have the second on loan from the library. 

Did I essentially just assign myself writing homework in the form of reading two novels? Yes. Yes, I did. 

Writing isn’t always about sitting down at a computer typing away at a blank document. There’s a lot of research that goes into it, and this is one area I’m more than happy to continue researching.