Comp Titles: What They Are and Why They Matter

Hey everyone! Yes, I’m late again on posting this, and it’s not my planned 16 Personalities post. Since May, things have gotten hectic, and I haven’t had the time to get back on my normal schedule due to some life changes. That being said, hopefully things will calm down by next month and I can catch up on any of my planned posts which got behind. For today, I have a shorter but interesting post for any wannabe traditionally published authors on comp titles.

Comp Titles. A lot of debut authors, researching how to query agents or publishers, come across this term. I did. And unfortunately, for some time, I didn’t understand the significance of comp titles. Why they were needed. What they even were. I believed it was just some optional thing an author could put into the query letter, like a detail in a bio.

Comp titles, however, are pretty much required for an author hoping to get a traditionally published deal, and I hope to explain why here.

What is a Comp Title?

At its most basic form, a comp title is just what it sounds like: a title of a book which is comparable in some way to your story. Typically in genre, style, and/or in some cases, a specific element.

Someone once explained comp titles this way: Comp titles are books you’d find on a shelf next to yours in a bookstore. What books would your story sit next to at your local bookstore? Or what books would the “customers also bought” section of your book’s Amazon page show?

Unfortunately, it’s not just that simple, however. Something which makes comp titles especially tricky is the fact that the book must have been published no later than five years ago. A query letter should have two to three comp titles, though, so if you have two comp titles published under five years ago, and one published seven years ago, that is usually fine.

A comp title also is generally not an indie published book. While there’s no hard and fast rule, typically speaking, if you’re trying to get your book traditionally published, the comp titles should also be traditionally published. The exception for this may be if the indie title has sold large amounts of copies.

A comp title is also, generally speaking, not a massive best-seller like The Hunger Games or Harry Potter. While hopefully your book will be the next Hunger Games, nobody expects your story to have to live up to that, seeing as other factors contributed to it’s success. A comp title should be a book which has sold reasonably well, but not a huge bestseller.

For example, the book I am querying right now is a YA Fantasy with sci-fi elements. My three comp titles are all YA Fantasy. One of the comp titles has the political intrigue my story has, one has a similar futuristic, dystopian setting to my story, and the last one has the revenge arc my main character goes through. I mention all of these elements in my query with the comp titles to show the agents how my story is similar to all three.

Why Are They Necessary?

One word: marketing. Agents and publishers are out there to sell books and make money, and they need to know if people will buy your book. They don’t have the time to sit down and read everyone’s entire 80K+ manuscripts to see if they think they’re sellable. Comp titles help agents and publishers see what the book is like, where it would fit on a bookstore’s shelf, and who the audience is who will hopefully buy the book and pay off their investment. That is why there are so many particulars to picking out a comp title–and why it’s so important to avoid bad ones.

A comp title cannot usually be more than five years old because the market changes. The market six years ago is not the same as it is today. For example, not many people heard of romantasy ten years ago–but now it’s all the rage. Sometimes, you just have to wait for the right time for your book to be placed.

The market side of this is also why typically speaking, indie books probably aren’t the best comps unless they’ve sold very, very well. You’re trying to get a traditional publishing deal, so it makes sense to have traditionally published books as your comp titles. The same thing with major bestsellers–other factors contributed to their success, therefore they’re not realistic comps.

In Conclusion…

Agents and publishers are taking a gamble on every author they take on, wanting them and their book to succeed. Comp titles help these professionals see what your book is like, the target audience, and the market for your book, making it easier for them to see you and your book making them (and therefore, you) money, and for them to want to take you on as a client.

A comp title is:

• A book somehow similar to yours.
• One you’d find next to yours on a bookseller’s shelf.
• Published no later than five years ago.
• Traditionally published and successfully sold.

A comp title is not:

• A book published more than five years ago.
• A self-published book unless it sold large amounts of copies.
• A massive best-seller (e.g., The Hunger Games or Harry Potter).

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Did you know the importance of comp titles? Do you know what yours are? What are some of your favorite books published within the last five years? Let me know in the comments below! ~ Kay Adelin