I need comp title help

CheG

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Not sure if this is the right place. But I am really searching for low-key fantasy YA comp titles. And by low-key I mean my book centers around a magical contest for a school scholarship. No court intrigue, no "save the kingdom", no over throw of governments. It's a Cinderella retelling but the main character pursues her education instead of a romance. So there is magic, dresses, friendship, mean step-family, that sort of thing. And most of my comps are older- Murder, Magic, and What We Wore, the film Ever After... so I need some more recent titles and I 99% write MG! So I'm not up on the YA market but I seem to have written a YA in spite of myself!

Help is super appreciated!!
 

Sage

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Cheering you all on!
(I thought you were asking for low-key comps and was very confused)

So, my guess would be that you don't want a Cinderella retelling as a comp (although, if you do, here's a Goodreads list for you), but rather to say "A Cinderella story that is [magical school] meets [contemp book about character competing for scholarship money]." You can easily, IMO, just use Cinderella as a comp (Cinderella meets [magical and/or scholarship contest book]), but that may not give a feeling to the agent for your book.

So part of the problem is that there is no way for us to give a comp that suggests your voice or style or the feeling of the book. We can give plot suggestions, maybe suggest books if we had a good idea of the character, but probably not one that gives your book's feel.

You really should just read a bunch of books in your desired genre. Are you looking for recs or for us to figure out your comps based on our experience. I hesitate to give comps, but am up for giving recs on: magical books, contest books, Cinderella retellings.
 

chelseagparker

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I agree with Sage about "A Cinderella story that is [magical school] meets [contemp book about character competing for scholarship money]". For specific titles, though, I can offer a couple!

The easiest thing, imo, would be to say it's Hogwarts meets You Should See Me in a Crown. Hogwarts is obviously the most recognizable magical school (though, with JKR's transphobia, it might be better to find another magical school; I might suggest Watford School of Magicks from Rainbow Rowell's Carry On). You Should See Me in a Crown is totally in the vein of a character competing for scholarship money as it follows a girl competing to be prom queen to secure a scholarship for university.

I hope that helps!
 

MaryLennox

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I like the idea of saying Cinderella meets <insert a contemporary YA book about competing for scholarships>.

The first thing that popped into my mind was Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine, because it's a Cinderella re-telling and there's no big overthrow the government death-defying finale thing. But I think it's considered MG? I always thought it was MG but then I think I saw it pop up on the Time's Best 100 YA books thing recently...I was also going to say maybe the Princess Academy books by Shannon Hale? It's bit more low-key, but then I also think it's MG...

BTW, I love that it's a low-key YA fantasy story. I wish there were more. But it kind of feels like if it isn't death defying then it isn't edgy enough to be YA and it gets tossed into MG. :( I know that's not always the case, it just often feels that way.

P.S. Ella Enchanted is one of those movies that has NOTHING the same as the book except the title...so if you've seen the movie but haven't read the book, just...know that. lol This is my most hated book-to-movie adaption of all time. I absolutely loved this book when I first discovered it as a young teen and the movie was just...horrendous.