Comp Titles: Everything You Need to Know
When you are first looking at how to pitch literary agents or draw an audience to your book, you will likely come across the term comp titles, or comparison titles. It can be difficult to narrow down what comp titles to use for your book— especially if you aren’t sure what they are or how to use them. Here is everything you need to know about comp titles and examples of how to use them.
What are Comp Titles?
Comp titles, or comparison titles, are titles of media that you use to compare to your book. As the name suggests, you are comparing other media (books, movies, etc.) to your book to give the reader a frame of reference. As in, Stranger Things is like IT because they both center around a group of adolescents on a terrifying adventure. Of course, your comp titles should go a little bit deeper.
Why Do I Need Comp Titles?
Using comp titles shows a variety of things, including:
1. You Know the Genre
Knowing what books are current in your market says a lot about you as a writer and your story. It builds confidence in those reading (including agents reading your query letter) that you know what you’re talking about. It also lets them know that you are well-read and understand the basic expectations of the genre.
2. You Know the Market
If you know the market well, you’re ahead of the game. The market of your genre and age group (aka, what is selling and trending) is a great insight. You may not be able to predict the future when you’re drafting, but you can analyze the market as it is right now. Read widely and watch social media (TikTok, Twitter and Instagram are your best friends) to see if any trending books can be used as comps for yours.
3. Your Book Fits the Market
Your book fitting the market is just another way to say that your book is sellable. If you have solid, popular comp titles, this will give agents, editors, and readers an idea of what to expect when they read your book. It also lets them know that your book is similar to media they already like. For agents and editors, it shows that your book has potential to thrive in the book market.
This is crucial, as agents and editors are looking for books that they can sell to readers.
How to Choose Comp Titles
So now that we know the importance of comp titles, it’s time to think about the comp titles for your book. What are they right now? Why did you choose them? If you don’t have any, what roadblock are you hitting?
Here are some tips on choosing the right comp titles for your book.
1. Choose Books in Your Genre and Age Group
This may sound obvious, but you would be surprised by how many writers can’t seem to find books within their age group and genre to compare their own work to. Choosing books that are in your age range (or even movies that appeal to the same audience) ties into the above point of showing that you know the market.
It can be hard to find comp titles for your unique story, but they’re out there. I promise. When in doubt, ask your local bookstore associate about books they can recommend. Later on, we’ll talk about where you can find comp titles.
2. Have at Least One Book Comp
Using different types of media such as movies, anime, video games and more is not a bad idea at all, especially if they’re recent and accurate. However, if you’re querying a book, you should use at least one book as a comparison title to show that you know the market.
3. Comps Should Be No More Than 5 Years Old
This rule is relatively flexible, but using more recent titles can catch the eye of a reader or agent quicker than older titles. Using older titles may imply that the books you’ve read—and write—are dated.
4. Focus on Aspects Aside from Plot
Your first instinct (and many writers’ first instincts) may be to find a book that has a plot very similar to yours. While books with a similar plot can be good comps, there are other aspects of your book to consider. This includes your book’s setting, characters, atmosphere, your writing style, etc. For example, you may have a main character who is a lot like Laura Croft. Or perhaps you have intricate world-building like Samantha Shannon’s Priory of the Orange Tree.
5. Briefly Describe Why You Chose Your Comps
Now, don’t add a paragraph explaining why you chose each comp and how you found it by asking a friend who likes to read about books they thought might match yours. Please don’t. But you can—and sometimes should—provide an explanation on the aspects you are comparing your work to. For example, “(YOUR WORK) marries the atmosphere of Coraline by Neil Gaiman with the family dynamics of Mama Mia.”
This way, agents don’t have to guess about what aspects to expect from your work, especially when you have very different comp titles.
6. Use Comps Everyone Will Know
While you may be tempted to comp your favorite indie book that inspired you to write, using a book no one else knows about defeats the purpose of a comp title. A comp title should give an agent a frame of reference for what to expect from your book. If you use a book or movie that isn’t well-known, the agent reading it won’t have any frame of reference, rendering the comp useless.
7. Avoid Overused Comp Titles
It can be easy to use the biggest comps to try and catch an agent’s eye, but this can actually hurt you. Common comp titles will tell less about your book than more descriptive titles and blend together with all of the other queries that use the same comparisons.
For example, using Game of Thrones as a comp title to your high fantasy novel won’t necessarily do you any favors. It’s not an immediate no-no, but try to find another title that may better serve your story.
Comp Title Examples
Below are some examples of good comp titles and an explanation of why they are well done.
Example #1:
REDACTED is a 78,000 word adult fantasy romance, with the romantic time-traveling elements of The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger mixed with the fantastical worldbuilding of Pirates of the Caribbean.
The above is a good example because it 1) offers at least one novel comparison within the same genre, 2) uses popular titles everyone knows, and 3) explains the aspects of each comp that the book is being compared to.
Example #2:
I’m querying you because your [wish list] includes fresh rom-coms with dating apps and our overlap in favorite media gives me the inkling we’d be a good match. HAVE WE MET? Is a 79,000 word adult contemporary romance. It combines digital era dating as found in Alisha Rai’s THE RIGHT SWIPE, with the complications of grief-tinged fated love richly portrayed in Rebekah Weatherspoon’s XENI.
By Camille Baker, author of HAVE WE MET? and THE MOMENT WE MET
This above example uses several effective techniques. First, Baker individualizes the query by identifying why she queried the agent with this particular book. She then used relevant comparisons in her genre and described how they were similar to her novel.
Example #3:
[THE POISONS WE DRINK] is a multicultural young adult contemporary fantasy[…] complete at 90,000 words. Readers who enjoy PRACTICAL MAGIC, BREAKING BAD and #blackgirlmagic will be bewitched by this gritty tale of family and street survival.
By Bethany Baptiste, author of THE POISONS WE DRINK and
IZZY HAWTHORNE: DESTINY AWAITS
The query for The Poisons We Drink by Bethany Baptiste is an example that defies some of the “rules” in the best way. It combines something old and timeless (Practical Magic) with something new and wildly popular (Breaking Bad) to give a vivid idea of what hijinks the characters will be involved in.
Remember, all “rules” are flexible. What you need is to be confident and accurate with your comp choices.
Example #4:
[REDACTED] is a 77k YA speculative novel with a whip-sharp protagonist like Ruby in SOME GIRLS DO, all the heart of YOU’VE REACHED SAM, and similar themes—like religious trauma—explored in LESBIANA’S GUIDE TO CATHOLIC SCHOOL.
Arellano perfectly shows how to use more than two comp titles in your pitch. While two comp titles are the recommended, you can use three— although you typically shouldn’t go over three comp titles for one piece of work.
Example #5:
DON’T LET IN THE COLD combines the chilling thrills of FIVE TOTAL STRANGERS with the unease of ALL YOUR TWISTED SECRETS.
By Keely Parrack, author of DON’T LET IN THE COLD
This pitch by Parrack is another clear example of using accurate and timely pitches as well as describing why they were chosen.
Example #6:
LEI AND THE FIRE GODDESS is complete at 55,000-words and will appeal to fans of Roshani Chokshi’s Aru Shah and the End of Time and Tehlor Kay Mejia’s Paola Santiago and the River of Tears.
By Malia Maunakea, author of LEI AND THE FIRE GODDESS
and LIGHTWEIGHT FAMILY BACKPACKING
In this pitch, the author names are placed before the titles. This is a personal choice that you may want to make if you are emphasizing a certain author. In fact, some pitches use authors themselves as a comparison, such as “combining the lyricism of Laini Tailor with the world building of Roshani Chokshi.”
As you can see, there are a variety of ways to show off your comp titles, but most follow certain guidelines as listed above. Choosing comps that are most accurate and relevant will typically be the most effective.
Where to Find Comp Titles
Ask on Twitter #writingcommunity or #amwriting
Search your genre and age group on a book site like Goodreads
Ask a bookseller at your local bookstore
Ask a librarian
Follow Madelyn Knecht on Twitter and Instagram for more information!