Researching the Competition

[Alphabet]

Hello,

I wonder if anyone could suggest appropriate boundaries for the 'competing titles' section of a book proposal?
For example, I hope there is no need to list PA/POD/Vanity publications that might be found on Amazon. Or is there?
Do we need to scan the forthcoming releases as listed in TheBookseller etc - part of me thinks perhaps yes - but how to evaluate the content/comparisons for a book not yet on the shelf?
Need we scan library catalogues for books out of print but still available there?

Anyway, if there are a set of places most apporpriate to look that might be simpler than listing all the places that need not be looked - I assure you any help you can give would be much appreciated. I think this part may be the toughest part of the book proposal!

Separately but still related, is there an upper number of titles at which you can stop researching, because at some point you will have listed the larger percentage of competing titles saleswise. (and assuming you are defining how your own book is better/different than the rest)

I wouldn't want my proposal to fail for seeming to have conducted incomplete or sloppy research - on the other hand I can't really afford to buy every likely title on amazon just to see whether it is competition or not!

[Lauri B]

Hello,

I wonder if anyone could suggest appropriate boundaries for the 'competing titles' section of a book proposal?
For example, I hope there is no need to list PA/POD/Vanity publications that might be found on Amazon. Or is there?
Do we need to scan the forthcoming releases as listed in TheBookseller etc - part of me thinks perhaps yes - but how to evaluate the content/comparisons for a book not yet on the shelf?
Need we scan library catalogues for books out of print but still available there?

Anyway, if there are a set of places most apporpriate to look that might be simpler than listing all the places that need not be looked - I assure you any help you can give would be much appreciated. I think this part may be the toughest part of the book proposal!

Separately but still related, is there an upper number of titles at which you can stop researching, because at some point you will have listed the larger percentage of competing titles saleswise. (and assuming you are defining how your own book is better/different than the rest)

I wouldn't want my proposal to fail for seeming to have conducted incomplete or sloppy research - on the other hand I can't really afford to buy every likely title on amazon just to see whether it is competition or not!

Hi there,
You're right--don't bother including vanity or POD titles in your competitive analysis UNLESS they are consistently highly ranked on Amazon (after all, you just never know--especially in niche nonfiction). The whole point of competitive analysis is to give potential publishers an idea of where your book fits in the market, what else is out there, how it's selling, and why your book is different from those titles. No publisher expects you to do a comprehensive analysis of all the titles your book could possibly compete with, ever, but we do hope you'll find the five or ten titles most like yours, or most likely to compete with yours. If your book is a very niche title, you may only have 3 or 4 viable competitors. If it's on a fairly general topic, you'll have more--but that will also help you realize that you may need to rethink some things about your book if you have dozens and dozens of good competing books out there that differ from yours only in insignificant ways.

Competitive analysis is great for both authors and publishers, because it gives authors a chance to see where their book might fit in the market, whether or not their work is truly something new and different, or if they need to come up with a different angle or approach to a topic in order to be accepted. It helps a publisher to see where the market for that kind of book has been and is heading, gives them ideas for where and how to promote this kind of book, and whether or not the market for this particular type of work is so saturated that they're going to have a hard time snatching market share from what's already out there.

Good luck!

[Alphabet]

Thank you for your prompt and useful reply. I am starting to feel the edges of insanity drifting further away even as I type - what a relief!