Can you think of similar books?

[JoNightshade]

Okay, I posted this in the mainstream/contemporary forum, but there's no action over there. Apparently everyone hangs out here. As if I hadn't noticed. :) In any case, I've decided (for the time being) that my novel fits into the mainstream/contemporary fiction genre.

Now I am beginning to start my research for agents and prepping my query, etc. I'd like to be able to compare my book to a couple of contemporary novels.

So I'm wondering, based on my little synopsis/hook, if ya'll can think of any books you've read/seen that this reminds you of? Here it is:

Raised as an assassin, Timothy Gale decides to abandon the “family business” when his adoptive father is shot and paralyzed. Now, finished with his surgical internship, Timothy returns home to find Roger bitter and untouchable. Timothy encourages him to meet an old associate at a local café; there, Roger encounters beautiful but solitary librarian Ellie Song. Timothy is soon astounded by the changes Ellie brings to their lives. But the relationship becomes life-threatening when Roger’s unbalanced elder son reappears, unintentionally alerting an old enemy to Roger’s presence. Faced with this deadly threat, Timothy must decide whether he will kill again. Can he save Ellie and his father without sacrificing his future?

And before anyone says it, yes, I WILL go to the bookstore and look around, but I figured if I could shortcut reading every single book jacket in Barnes and Noble, I could save some time. :)

[Azraelsbane]

Just an honest question about this, as I'm not very well versed in queries, but is it a good idea to draw a comparison between popular novels and your own in queries? I've just read so many threads about how to make the novel stand out and show that it's not like the usual novel, that it made me wonder.

[reenkam]

Some people say it's a terrible idea. Some say it's good because it shows what your readership would be. I think with both of my full requests I mentioned other published books, but said how mine was different from them. So I compared and contrasted. I, personally, think that's the best way to go.

Oh, and I'm not sure about similar books...I just invaded the tread to say the above.

[JoNightshade]

Well... I thought you were supposed to give an example of the market your book would appeal to. IE, "My book will appeal to fans of __ and __."

I didn't realize there was any controversy about this!

[Marlys]

Okay, I posted this in the mainstream/contemporary forum, but there's no action over there. Apparently everyone hangs out here. As if I hadn't noticed. :) In any case, I've decided (for the time being) that my novel fits into the mainstream/contemporary fiction genre.

Now I am beginning to start my research for agents and prepping my query, etc. I'd like to be able to compare my book to a couple of contemporary novels.

So I'm wondering, based on my little synopsis/hook, if ya'll can think of any books you've read/seen that this reminds you of? Here it is:

Raised as an assassin, Timothy Gale decides to abandon the “family business” when his adoptive father is shot and paralyzed. Now, finished with his surgical internship, Timothy returns home to find Roger bitter and untouchable. Timothy encourages him to meet an old associate at a local café; there, Roger encounters beautiful but solitary librarian Ellie Song. Timothy is soon astounded by the changes Ellie brings to their lives. But the relationship becomes life-threatening when Roger’s unbalanced elder son reappears, unintentionally alerting an old enemy to Roger’s presence. Faced with this deadly threat, Timothy must decide whether he will kill again. Can he save Ellie and his father without sacrificing his future?

And before anyone says it, yes, I WILL go to the bookstore and look around, but I figured if I could shortcut reading every single book jacket in Barnes and Noble, I could save some time. :)
Sounds like a thriller, if saving his new life from the old enemy is the main focus of the plot. Retired assassin gets drawn back into the violent life used to be a fairly common plot (and I'm not slamming that, any more than I would hard-boiled detective has to decide whether to trust femme fatale or lovers from different sides of tracks try to build a life together--it's all in the execution).

But if the love story, say, is the focus and the bad guy just comes on at the end as a catalyst, it could be a romance. Or if the family relationships are central, and again the crisis is just the last hurdle in personal growth, it could well be mainstream.

Depends on the focus, I'd say.

[Azraelsbane]

Well... I thought you were supposed to give an example of the market your book would appeal to. IE, "My book will appeal to fans of __ and __."

I didn't realize there was any controversy about this!

I'm sorry I brought up something else to plague you while writing a query. I didn't mean to make your life harder. :cry:

[JoNightshade]

Sounds like a thriller, if saving his new life from the old enemy is the main focus of the plot. Retired assassin gets drawn back into the violent life used to be a fairly common plot (and I'm not slamming that, any more than I would hard-boiled detective has to decide whether to trust femme fatale or lovers from different sides of tracks try to build a life together--it's all in the execution).

But if the love story, say, is the focus and the bad guy just comes on at the end as a catalyst, it could be a romance. Or if the family relationships are central, and again the crisis is just the last hurdle in personal growth, it could well be mainstream.

Depends on the focus, I'd say.

This is why I've concluded it's mainstream. It has elements of both romance (with Ellie) and thriller (with the badguy), but the main thrust is family relationships. Forgiveness, reconciliation, etc.

So. Anyone?

[Shady Lane]

I can think of about a thousand YA books, but that's not really gonna help you.

Unless you feel like making Timothy 16, just finished with AP Bio (;))

[maestrowork]

the more commercial it is, the more likely you will think of something similar.

[Kaytie]

At this point, I don't think it's worth looking for books to compare your novel to if you can't think of any already. The thing is, unless you read all the books we recommend, you might end up making an incorrect comparison and look foolish to the agent.

Or, you might pick two books the agent hasn't read, which makes the comparison a meaningless sentence in your query letter.

I didn't make any comparisons in my query letter and that didn't stop me from finding an agent.

I say, you're better off trying to make your book as appealing as possible by honing your hook paragraph rather than trying to force comparisons that might not help and might possibly hinder. It's harder to do, so spend some good time on it, but your effort will make you stand out.

[Oberon]

I say, you're better off trying to make your book as appealing as possible by honing your hook paragraph rather than trying to force comparisons that might not help and might possibly hinder. It's harder to do, so spend some good time on it, but your effort will make you stand out.

I agree. Just a small suggestion: I had a little trouble figuring out who was who, it was a bit of a hitch in the flow.

[chartreuse]

Well, the only thing that comes to mind is a movie, Grosse Point Blank.

(It's just the whole assassin/romance thing).

[Will Lavender]

I actually think a query needs a market analysis. It doesn't HAVE to have one, obviously, but agents want to know how a publisher might market the book.

You might try The Butcher's Boy by Thomas Perry, which some consider the best assassin novel of the last 25 years. (Very, very fine novel.) This is a quirky, violent book -- so you might not want to go there. But this is a well-known novel in the hitman subgenre.

Someone else mentioned "focus," but I also think the tone is important when you're looking for a comparison. If there is a light tone going on, you might mention Michael Chabon's The Mysteries of Pittsburgh, which focuses on the father/son dynamic and the son breaking away from the father's influence. (You might even try the John Cusack film Grosse Pointe Blank. I compared my novel to film in the query and it was the smartest thing I did.)

The romance angle is obviously important, and I think will separate your book from a lot of other hitmen stories, so you'd want to find something that would work in that regard. Problem is, I'm not sure what it is. (Barry Eisler, maybe?)

[wee]

Did you see the awesome query letter guide that someone posted a few days ago? I don't see the post right off, but I bookmarked the link:

http://novelistanon.blogspot.com/2007/08/how-to-write-query-letter-in-five-easy.html

I haven't done any novel queries yet, but comparison keeps coming up in my research as a big no-no.

Maybe you could also search the Miss Snark archives & see if she has any comment on it?

http://misssnark.blogspot.com/

wee


PS: edited to add that Miss Snark did comment on this (figured as much): http://misssnark.blogspot.com/2006/02/my-work-is-just-like-that-novel-you.html

[CheshireCat]

I don't think there's anything wrong with comparing your work to something already out there -- in terms of the "kind" of book you're offering. My agent says she always asks the author where in a bookstore they think their book would be shelved, and the answer tells her a lot.

By the way, to me your book sounds as if it would probably be most successful marketed as something like mainstream suspense or a thriller. Plenty of them have elements found in "mainstream" fiction, but few books categorized as mainstream have assassins and such in them.

Just my opinion.

[maestrowork]

Some agents want to know this comparison so they know how to place your book and market it. Whether it is "editor A just published something like this so she wouldn't want it" or "editor B is looking for something just like that" -- it's all about marketing and selling.

When you say "my book is so unique that there's really nothing like it," it can work for or against you.

[JoNightshade]

Miss Snark warns against saying your book is "just like" something else, but also says:

I always suggest you say "readers who liked The Rules of Attraction" will like this because it's not a comparison. It's a signpost.

Which is basically what I was aiming for. With the queries I sent for my previous novel, I described my book as combining specific elements of two popular books. IE, the romantic tension of such-and-such and the offbeat humor of so-and-so. That seemed to get a pretty good response.

[JoNightshade]

I just read the "what book is yours most like" thread and I had an epiphany! The one single book I've read so far that is semi sorta like mine is A Prayer for the Dying (http://www.amazon.com/Prayer-Dying-Jack-Higgins/dp/0451138015/ref=sr_1_10/103-0718874-3451858?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1186781915&sr=8-10), by Jack Higgins. Unfortunately it's obscure and out-of-print, but it gives me somewhere to start. Hooray!

[wayndom]

Well... I thought you were supposed to give an example of the market your book would appeal to. IE, "My book will appeal to fans of __ and __."


If you want to do this, I'd advise you to also mention how your book is different from the ones you cite.

Personally, I don't think it's a good idea. If the agent you query is into the kind of book you've written (which should be a given), she'll already be familiar with other, similar books. If anything, you want to point out what your book offers that similar books don't.

It sounds to me like you have a perfectly good, interesting story idea that stands on its own merits. I don't see how mentioning other books will strengthen your presentation.

[Shady Lane]

Some agents want it. I queried a few agents that had in their guidelines to include a few similar books. It's especially popular in agents that want submissions via online forms.

[NiennaC]

I think it all depends on how you do it (whether to mention similar books or not). It's worked really well for some people, from what I've read here on AW.

As for what books JoNightshade, gotta say...I really don't know, it's not the genre I read. Wish I could be of more help.

[Zoombie]

Personally, I can not think of a single book like this one. But I only really read the very fine (shall I say, superior? No, I won't) genera of Science Fiction and Fantasy; this sounds more thriller.

[Shady Lane]

Personally, I can not think of a single book like this one. But I only really read the very fine (shall I say, superior? No, I won't) genera of Science Fiction and Fantasy, this sounds more thriller.

Semicolon after fantasy, Zoom. "This sounds more thriller" is a complete sentence (or supposed to be, in this case.)


--Your friendly neighborhood grammar beast.

[Zoombie]

Once again, I have been attacked.

<sigh>

Next thing, you'll be tolding me that my jollyfinegood words are not 'real' for some gobbersmack reason.

[Shady Lane]

*twitch*

Don't think of an attack, sweetie. Think of it as a friendly nudge.

[GeorgeK]

From the MD standpoint, finishing a surgical internship (one year of residency after medical school) will get you slightly more than squat in terms of licensure or medical priviledges...But anyway, yes I read something similar. It might take me a while to find it in my library (I never, or almost never throw out a book) The title was something like...The torturer's guild... or, torturer's apprentice...?

[EriRae]

I said that the readers of Norman Mailer's The Castle in the Forest and Thomas Harris's Hannibal Rising would also like my novel...Mailer's way out of my league, and Harris is just GROSS, but my book is also about the rise of evil in a young boy, so that's why I picked them. I second guess that decision every day because my query has been rejected, rejected, rejected, and now I'm rewriting. (Granted, there were problems with the novel as well as the query.)

If you don't already have some books to compare, don't sweat it. Just make your query so good that you don't need it. You can provide information about the market by saying that your novel has elements of thrillers and of romance, but it's really more about family, and everyone has a family.