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Find Your Comp Titles
Comparable titles — or comps — are one of the most powerful lines in a query letter. They signal to agents that you know your market and where your book lives on the shelf. Specifically: recently published books that share meaningful qualities with yours — genre, tone, theme, narrative structure, or target readership. Agents use them to quickly understand your book's commercial positioning and envision how they'd pitch it to editors. A well-chosen comp says: “readers who loved X will love my book, and here's why.”
Read the books you comp. Agents sometimes ask about your comps in follow-up conversations. If you haven't read them, it shows.
Tell us your genre and story. We'll suggest four titles worth including.
Tips for choosing strong comps
Keep them recent. Agents prefer comps published within the last three to five years. Older titles signal you haven't read widely in your genre lately.
Aim for the mid-list. Skip Gone Girl and The Hunger Games. Agents see those constantly. A mid-list title with a devoted readership shows genuine market awareness.
Be specific about the comparison. "Similar dark tone" is not a comp explanation. Identify what's actually shared — narrative structure, protagonist archetype, pacing, thematic focus, or readership overlap.
Use two to three comps, not five. Two strong, specific comps are far more effective than five vague ones. Quality over quantity.
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