the craft. comparable titles.

There’s been a lot of talk on the town, or Twitter, about comparable titles. Often referred to as comp titles only to add to the confusion of publishing and their jargon. If you are looking to pitch a book to a traditional publisher, you cannot escape this often confusing, sometimes frustrating aspect of the pitching process whether you're writing fiction or nonfiction.

In a recent tweet by an agent, she was voicing frustration about authors not including comp titles in their queries. Of course, being a white agent, this brought up a huge discussion about the issue that sometimes plagues writers from underrepresented communities. Are there any books like yours?

In short, there are certainly barriers to Black and POC authors finding highly appropriate comparable titles by sheer volume. However, when moving in an old white, structure like publishing, you have to try to show up within the constraints that are put before you. Even with tough odds against you, there is always an opportunity to be a little creative.

When we talk about a comparable title, all we’re saying is, what are the other books that your book would live on the shelf with? This can send an author into a complete tizzy. Of course, you think you’re writing the most original story (there’s nothing new under the sun, but I digress), however, at the end of the day, publishing is a business and they want to find a box to put you in. That’s how they will know how to sell it.

When I was first pitching my book, it was extremely difficult for me to grasp a comparable title. Was I looking for books that shared my content, style and structure, genre? And the answer was all of that. Ha! Honestly, I utilized films in my comparable section of my query because at the time, the only books that felt any type of similar were Young Adult books which my book was not. You can find a copy of my original query on the “Resources” page when you’re logged into your PTW Account.

So, where did I land? My comparable titles were My (Not So) Perfect Life by Sophie Kinsella. She writes about love and the workplace often so I felt like that was appropriate. But she’s also a nationally acclaimed best selling author. Then, I included On the Come Up by Angie Thomas. Although the book was YA, it had similar musical content. Also a nationally acclaimed bestselling author. LOL, which makes you look hella ambitious and not in a good way, but we’ll chat more on that later. Lastly, I mentioned that the book would share an audience of fans of the feature film Beyond the Lights. I know that the content, pacing, etc matched the book.

I’ve talked a lot about how I pitched my book as women’s fiction and in the publishing process it was shifted over to romance. Once that shift happened, now my publisher was leaning more into Jasmine Guillory’s While We Were Dating and the Sophie Kinsella book.

Well, after I was responsible for coming up with comp titles, books like The Final Revival of Opal and Nev and Daisy Jones & The Six came on my radar. But they were a bit more literary anyway and probably more comparable to an upcoming manuscript that I’m working on.

In a final shift, my book was picked up by the multicultural marketing department of Simon & Schuster and so my book has been paired with Love Radio by Ebony LaDelle and You Made a Fool of Death With Your Beauty by Akwaeke Emezi in a Black Love Summer promotion.

This is A LOT for you to probably still be thinking, but how the hell do I find comparable titles for my book? Well here are a couple notes to help:

Make sure you’re reading a lot. It’s cliche, but honestly, the only way you’re going to know what your book is similar to is if you read a lot of books! There’s really no way around it and honestly if you’re trying to write a book but don’t love reading them, that’s a bigger question. Write it off! Now I mostly buy books with my business account because it is an occupational expense. Or use that library card that’s gathering dust.

There is this weird balance between picking relevant books but also not overselling yourself which I alluded to earlier. You may want to look at other debut authors if it’s your first book. You want to find titles that did well to sell the point that you may be able to move copies, but also not too well because the reality is, not everyone is going to sell a million copies. Most aren’t, actually.

Your title also needs to be fairly recent. The publishing industry is constantly changing, so what sold ten years ago probably is not what’s hot in the market now. As a rule of thumb, you should try not to go back past five years because honestly there tends to be an industry shift around every five years. Much like music.

You also may want to call out what’s similar in the title you’ve picked. The pacing of To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before meets the setting of Queenie, so that you can connect the dots if it’s not an obvious comparison.

Comparable titles are not something to get hung up on. The most important thing is your pitch. So much of what I wrote in that initial query made it all the way through to my book’s description with just a little added sauce. However, it does show that you have working knowledge of the industry that you’re trying to be a part of. I’m very keen on being a student of your industry in both writing and music. Also, your agent and your editor will also have ideas around where your book sits in the market! Hope this helps.

Writing/Job Opportunities

Noella Williams is looking for pitches for Apartment Therapy’s news & culture vertical revolving around hispanic heritage month, back to school & our upcoming themes for art month, architecture week, community month, along w/other incoming holidays. Rates vary from $100-$250+ based on type, length & sources required, please have pitches sent by aug. 1!! feel free to send a hello, brief intro & descriptive pitch to noella.williams@apartmenttherapy.com. Apt Therapy pitch guide.

BuzzFeed is accepting pitches of reviews and takes on TV, movies, and music. Email readerpitches@buzzfeed.com.

The New Yorker is hiring a Culture Editor.

Time is hiring a Reporter, Health & Science.