Comp Titles: Necessary, Nice to Have, or Wasted Space?

noranne · Dec 8, 2014

So I have a question about putting comp titles into a query letter. Personally, I don't like using comp titles for mine. Not that there is anything wrong with it, but nothing ever comes to mind immediately, and I feel like if I have to force a comparison, it probably isn't a good one. It seemed to me that this was mostly considered optional--maybe nice to have, but not really a big deal.

Lately, however, I've seen some agents making references to the importance of good comp titles. I wish I had copied down the times I saw it, as it was more than once, but I think it was on Twitter and maybe a blog. Now I'm wondering if I'm being a noob by not including comp titles.

But then I've seen others say that comp titles are mostly irrelevant, something that is hit or miss and easy to mess up (ie using titles older than 3 years, comparing your book to Harry Potter, etc). In which case it seems that it could hurt more than help, and you're better off not including them.

So what's the prevailing standard for comp titles? Nice to have, necessary, or just a waste of query space?

Old Hack · Dec 8, 2014

As usual, it depends.

Some agents want this, some don't. That's why it's good to personalise your queries.

Some genres require it more than others: non-fiction, for example, is more likely to benefit from being positioned in the marketplace than general fiction.

Read the stickies in our Query Letter Hell room, as there's a lot of good information there.

mayqueen · Dec 9, 2014

This is something I've been thinking about a lot lately. Like Old Hack says, it depends. I've seen some agents on Twitter and elsewhere who definitely want comp titles. My sense is, like you said, that a forced comparison is bad. So I think a bad comp title is worse than no comp title. I think it can help if the comp title is good, but I don't know. I also don't know the rules. I've heard your titles should be from the last five years, but I don't know where that comes from. All I know for sure is that your comp titles shouldn't be blockbuster, big names.

If you are putting your query through QLH, it does help to include how you're referencing comp titles to get feedback.

Becca C. · Dec 9, 2014

The comp title part of the query that got me my agent went like this:

MAYBE IN PARIS is a 64,000-word YA contemporary novel that combines the brother-sister relationship of Jennifer Brown's PERFECT ESCAPE with the romantic setting of Stephanie Perkins's ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS.

Both successful YA novels published in the last few years, and between them they have the same two most prominent plots of my book: autistic brother and his sister, and Parisian setting. I think that's the way to do it. Don't say "this is the next X." Pick books that share thematic elements in common with your book, who did respectfully well so they could justifiably say "oh, this book could do well since both of those books did well."

Jamesaritchie · Dec 9, 2014

I've never used a comp title, and never will. I like an agent who's knowledgeable enough to make her own comparisons, and who really doesn't care, anyway, as long as what I've written is good.

Old Hack · Dec 9, 2014

I'm glad that works for you, James: but I like it when proposals arrive complete with information which helps me see where the proposed book would fit into the market. It makes it easier for me, as an editor, to see how the book would work and what its potential market is.

Fuchsia Groan · Dec 9, 2014

I queried my book with two recent comp titles in the same genre. My agent then dreamed up an awesome pitch that involved two totally different comps, one of them published a lot longer than five years ago. Make of that what you will.

I don't think comps can work against you as long as they show that you know your genre and market. If you compare your book to Harry Potter just because it's a fantasy, you're not showing that kind of in-depth knowledge; you're trying to ride a bestseller train.

There's always the more tentative language of "Readers who enjoyed X and Y might enjoy this." That's your way of saying you know there's a market for books in this vein without directly comparing yours to others.

Sage · Dec 9, 2014

I've noticed that many new YA titles out lately are "X meets Y" in a way that I hadn't noticed being quite as prevalent before. So here's my personal opinion based on those. Overall, I'm pretty jaded on comp titles. The books being compared never seem to rival those comp titles, and sometimes feel only peripherally related (So you're dystopian? That doesn't mean you're anything like what *I* liked about the Hunger Games). When three books led me in a circle of big-name comp titles ("X meets Y" "Y meets Z" "Z meets X") they became meaningless to me and I decided to ignore them... until I found one that used two series that I adore, so I downloaded up a sample of the book when I might not have otherwise. Don't know if I'll buy it, but the names were an instant "Check me out, at least" to me.

And that's what comp titles can do for you. I'm sure that agents in general are at least as jaded as I am about them, but if I pitch a book as "Dr. Horrible's Sing-a-long Blog meets Fight Club" and an agent loves both those things, I'm going to get her attention. Unless, of course, she's been inundated with Dr. Horrible x Fight Club comps already.

Red-Green · Dec 11, 2014

Having very recently gone through the submission process, I can see why agents might want comp titles in a query. Before we went on sub, that was something my agent and I brainstormed, so it can't hurt to start that thought process early. It's important, because every single editor I chatted with wanted to talk comps.

I will also say that as awkward as it feels to cite a big, famous book as a comp, if it's done correctly, it won't be taken amiss. (And Becca C. & Fuchsia Groan provide some good examples about how to do it.) I was too embarrassed to suggest one of the books that I thought was a relevant comp to mine, and then in our very first chat, the editor who ultimately acquired the book blurted out the big book I'd been too embarrassed to name. So obviously, phrased properly, citing that comp would not have hurt me.

Corinne Duyvis · Dec 18, 2014

I'll go with "nice to have." A spot-on comp that really adds to the query is worth gold--and is probably what those agents are referring to--but ones that are overdone, inaccurate, forced, etc. can probably be skipped as they take up extra room and might give the wrong impression of your book, too. You don't want to turn off an agent before they can even read the query properly.

But when you do find the right one, it's awesome. When asked, I go with Levithan's EVERY DAY meets Cashore's GRACELING for the book that's currently out, and MARCELO IN THE REAL APOCALYPSE for my next one. Not sure yet about my WIP, though. *ponders*

Smiley0501 · Dec 20, 2014

I agree with the above. They are nice to have. They give an agent an idea you know your market (an agent told me this recently that people will give comps like Divergent meets Harry Potter…meaning they clearly haven't read their particular genre thoroughly enough. Why not D3fy by Sara Larsen if you are writing a YA fantasy? etc etc). They should be within the last 5 years because it shows you've been reading in the genre. But they are not necessary. They won't make or break your query letter/interest.

RightHoJeeves · Dec 21, 2014

I have literally zero idea what I'd put as a comp title on my current thing.

So I won't. Hopefully that doesn't bite me in the ass.

Lady Esther · Dec 21, 2014

What about comparing your book to movies? I don't have any book comparisons, just movies.

Comp Titles: Necessary, Nice to Have, or Wasted Space?

noranne

the possibilities are endless

Old Hack

Such a nasty woman

mayqueen

practical experience, FTW

Becca C.

Jamesaritchie

Old Hack

Such a nasty woman

Fuchsia Groan

Becoming a laptop-human hybrid

Sage

Supreme Guessinator

Red-Green

KoalaKoalaKoala!

Corinne Duyvis

My New Cat Is Too Big for Shoulders

Smiley0501

Lurker, now activated. :-)

RightHoJeeves

Lady Esther

I can say the alphabet backwards!