How to Use Comparison Titles in a Query Letter
Most guides to writing query letters will tell you to include comparison titles (also known as “comp” titles)—published books that have something in common with your unpublished manuscript. This request has everything to do with marketing and selling your book. Strong comp titles show there is a market out there for your manuscript. It worked once before, so it probably will again.
There’s of course some flawed logic here. Agents and editors are always asking to see manuscripts that are original, that tackle subjects like never before. So how is saying your book is similar to another one helpful?
Here are some ways to make comparison titles work for you:
The comparison titles in your query letter should be recently published books (published in the last two years is best, and I wouldn’t select any that published more than five years ago). If you’re struggling to find two, or if there’s an older book you think is a solid comp title for your project and you absolutely need to include it, then make sure at least one of the comp titles in your query letter is a recent publication. You want your comp titles to prove that a market for your book exists right now. Publishers need to know that your book has the potential to interest readers before they spend money publishing it.
Avoid “blockbuster” titles. For me, blockbuster titles are books and series that have become so big that they’re (sometimes literally) their own media franchise. It can be a disservice to use a bestselling book or series that sets the bar so high that your manuscript doesn’t have a chance to catch up. If your book doesn’t create the same level of excitement as the book you’ve used as a comp title, then you’re possibly setting a reader up for disappointment. Everyone hopes and wants for their work to be a bestseller, so try to find comp titles that are truly similar to your work, not just ones that have sold millions of copies.
Focus on style or tone—not plot. Telling an agent or editor that the plot of your book is similar to another book can be dangerous. (Like I mentioned earlier, no one wants to read something they’ve read before.) Instead, use your comp titles to help explain the style or tone of your book, or maybe the subject matter, or common themes. You get the idea. Using comp titles in this way allows you to tell the reader even more information about your work than what you can fit in the pitch in your query letter.
Use other media formats as comparison titles. I personally resonate with this approach to comp titles—after all, books are competing with other mediums to get the attention and time of readers/viewers. TV shows and movies are common, but I’ve also read query letters that use song titles or albums as comp titles. If you go with this option, you’ll want to also include one or two books in your list of comp titles (again, we need to know that similar books have done well recently).
Don’t depend on comparison titles to sell your book. Your comp titles alone will not sell your manuscript. There’s always a chance the person reading your query letter hasn’t read (or maybe even heard of) the books you’ve chosen as comparison titles. Always assume someone won’t know the comp titles and write the best pitch you possibly can.
Comparison titles don’t often increase my level of interest in a project (and when they do, it’s because an author has mentioned one of my favourite books, tv shows, or movies), but they also don’t lessen a query letter’s value if I don’t know the ones chosen. One thing that they do always do is tell me you’re thinking seriously about your career as an author and considering the business decisions behind getting your book published—and that’s a great trait to have when seeking literary representation. So while comparison titles can be helpful for a variety of reasons, the most important element in your query letter remains an effective pitch.
