Looking for comparables

What I've seen some people do is to give a description of their novel and ask AW for comparisons they have read.

I simply did not list any. There were none I could find and I didn't want to get it wrong.

Dianee said:

Hello, I was curious if anyone has good suggestions on how to find comparable books for their query letters and proposals? I've poked around on Amazon, reading descriptions of books, but have not found this strategy terribly productive. So far, the best I've done is to ask a local librarian for suggestions. I'm wondering if there are any tools or ideas that I'm not aware of for this purpose and how other writers approach this task.
Thanks

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I gave a similar answer to a similar type of question in another thread.

I think the reason why you’re finding it hard to find this, in 2019 on the World Wide Web, is that this information is so scarce, or so ultimately unhelpful, that it’s not worth the time or effort to bother.

The best advice I can give you is to look at the queries people are attempting here, see what about which ones grab your attention, and try to emulate their tactics. Then post it and get critiques.

Honestly, I think most people are shooting around in the dark when it comes to queries. Professional agents and editors might know what works, but I don’t see them posting their secrets online.

Personally, I figure any publisher that won’t look at the fiction I sent them if they don’t like the attached query, is a publisher I’m simply never going to publish with.

Pitch events are going on today on Twitter, and a lot of them are including comps. Here's some I've seen, for SFF:

She-Ra X Ember

Kill the Queen X ToG

A Quiet Place + Birdbox (This one got a LOT of responses)

Darker Shade of Magic + Heist Society

Monstress X Timekeeper

Leviathan Wakes + space vampires

Firefly X Stormchasers

Seems to me the pitches with comps do slightly better than those without. But that's only when the rest of it is strong. Most of these pitches were YA.

The word "Disability" is garnering a lot of interest as well.

My impression is the more current and topical the pitch is (tying into current trends and what's currently hot in the mediaverse) the more attention it gets. Those pitching are also teaming together to re-tweet their pitches, getting around the limits. I's say more but it's time for my dog's vet visit.

Yep--and I saw a cool twist on this: https://twitter.com/NatashaHanova/status/1090612597064253441

Comps are easier for me when I say what it is in the comp that reflects my book. Almost any book has *something* in common with almost any other book. Narrative structure, setting details, language, pacing, social elements, etc.

Family dynamics of "Book X" in a setting similar to "Book Y." Etc.

This really isn't a basic writing question. I'm moving it to General Publishing, since the OP doesn't have enough posts yet for Query Letter Hell.

I could find things that were in common with Anchor, but personally, I just felt there was so much more room for error than there was a chance of nailing it. I feel there would also be an aspect of disingenuousness to it. I *thought* of Anchor as a female Fight Club meets Sumerian-themed American Gods, but neither of those are suitable comp titles due to age and success levels. I didn't want to risk it by getting it wrong.

For Origin, I persistently went with "Too Like the Lightning, but the fantasy version" because I'm fairly sure that's my target market. But that felt right to me, and was nicely specific. I guess it depends on the book. Again, though, it could be I'm getting it wrong, and I could easily see an agent or editor saying "er, your novel is nothing like TLTL...." and that would be a valid viewpoint, too. I'm curious to see what goes on the pitch letter eventually lol.

I could be wrong as well. I'm often way off base. An agent on twitter was vehemently anti-comp a week or so ago and that was so refreshing.

Hey OP: Another approach is to look at 'favorite books' on the agent's wishlist profile. Example: One or two agents mention Clan of the Cave Bear. My story isn't that story, but i could imagine saying something *like*: 'You've mentioned Jean Auel as a favorite author. While my novel is not directly comparable to her work, elements XYZ do overlap.'

It's a hedge, and might be a horrible idea, but at the very least it allows a tucking-in of some element that is not present in the rest of the query. And shows some personalization.

I think comps are crazy hard. For what it's worth, in my 2 past querying attempts, I got requests without listing comps. But with so many agents using Query Manager, many of them *force* you to pick comps because it's a required field.

Some advice I've received from other writers is to pick the element of the book that's similar to yours and reference that. Like, "the whimsical magic of Harry Potter in a dystopian near future setting like the Hunger Games." I totally just made that up, and it's terrible, and people will say to never comp to something as big as HP, but you get the point. It feels a bit less daunting than trying to find a book that fits perfectly.