Why are comps important for publishing?
Comps, or comparable titles, are an integral part of the process of getting your book to its readers. Using comps to figure out how your book fits into the publishing world helps an agent pitch it to publishers, a publisher to decide if it fits in their catalogue, and booksellers to know which shelves to put it on so that readers can find it. The right comps steer your book to the places where it will be successful.
What should I look for in a comp title?
Great comps fit your genre and subgenre, so it’s important to know your genre well, and identify all the factors that make up your book. What a comp title has in common with your book can vary. Maybe it’s characters, culture, time period, setting, theme, or treatment. Also consider the qualities that define you as an author and look for comparisons there.
Let’s say you’re writing a memoir. It’s easy enough to google “Memoirs published in 2020.” But brainstorming deeper can help you find books with more connections to yours than just genre and publication date. Define the elements of your book and expand your search. Perhaps you should also look into memoirs set on vacation, memoirs with a protagonist going through a divorce, books set in Hawaii, books by female authors, books by former CIA operatives, memoirs set in the 1970s, or whatever elements might match. Not all of these books will be comps, but learning how others have addressed those elements can help you identify differences between what you’ve written and what is already out there.
Look for comps published between two and five years from your publication date. A lot can change in five years, making older books just not that relevant to the current market. Likewise, a recently published book hasn’t proved itself yet. You want to show agents and editors a comparison to a strong, proven winner.
Find comp titles written by an author who has a similar publishing history to you. If your book is a debut, look for comps from debut authors. Books from up-and-coming authors are good choices. Don’t compare yourself to big name authors who have had more time to build their businesses. Show agents and editors that you have done the research and looked beyond the Jodi Picoults and John Grishams.
You want comp titles that have sold well. “Best of” lists can be helpful. Magazines like Publishers Weekly and Writer’s Digest publish interviews with authors of books that are getting notice. Talk to booksellers and librarians to find out what’s popular. Check out the length of waitlists on popular titles at your local library. Pay attention to what’s featured in the media.
An excellent comp is a book you’d be happy to be compared with. You’d be happy to sit on a panel next to this author, and if you saw them in person, you’d have honest, nice things to say about their book.
It’s crucial to deeply read every comp you decide to reference, and it’s also important to look at how other readers see the book. Read reviews. Learn what readers liked and disliked about it. Reading one- or two-star reviews can be enlightening.
Putting the effort into understanding comps now will help you make the right choices when you pitch the book.
Christine Pinto is a Developmental Editor with Allegory Editing. As a developmental editor, Christine draws on her experience as a fiction writer and writing instructor. She holds a Certificate in Writing for Children and a Certificate in Editing from the University of Washington. Over a decade of experience teaching writing to children and adults, she has gained a deep understanding of the craft of writing and strong communication skills for sharing that knowledge with writers. Christine’s own journey as a writer informs her editing work with deep empathy for writers preparing a manuscript for publication. Her interests include historical and contemporary fiction, memoir, romance, fantasy, non-fiction, technical, business writing and writing for children. You can reach Christine at christine@allegoryediting.com.