Comps Don’t Have to be the Absolute Bane of My Existence AKA Why Do I Do This

Comparative titles (aka comp titles) are something that has baffled me on and off again for the past…thirteen years? But who’s counting? What is a comp title, you ask? In a writer’s world, it’s a book or other piece of IP (intellectual property) that shares themes, ideas, and/or tropes in common with your book. And they can be pretty darn hard to figure out after you’ve finished writing your novel. It gets worst: most publishers want to see at least two, sometimes more. Gulp.

So how does one go about looking for these elusive comps? READ. Reading widely in (and out of) your genre would be good advice. There’s also TV Tropes dot com to search. Another trick? Google the different elements your book contains and see what titles that brings up. For example, earlier today I searched for “Clive Cussler as a fantasy novel” and came up with some potential book titles. The next step was reading their blurbs to see if they sounded possible as comps. Now it’s time to check out a few and see if they come close.

If I had been smart (oops), I would have done what I’m currently doing for my next WIP, which is plotted, for all my previous books. I’m searching for books that sound similar, using some of the above methods, and will read what I can. This time, however, I’ll scour the book (and search the internet, just as a safety net) to find different tropes, figure out if they’re genre/subgenre staples, and make certain I employ them or a variation in my WIP.

In retrospect, I would say the following comparative titles are accurate for my two Flame Tree Press series, The Goblets Immortal and Blade & Bone.

The Goblets Immortal: The Mistborn series by Brandon Sanderson

Blade & Bone: The Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas.

There’ s a problem, however. Have you spotted it? The names are too big. It makes me seem rather presumptuous to say “Oh, look, my books are like Brando Sando’s!” Instead of driving readers to me, that’s going to make them shake their heads and think, “Man, she’s full of herself.”

I wish I could say I had titles in mind. I do for my works herein out, however. Care to take a look for me?

TFIW (pending acceptance or rejection from FTP): The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab and Shades of Milk and Honey by Mary Robinette Kowal. Yes, Schwab is a BIG NAME, but Kowal isn’t quite as big yet is still well-respected and known.

FIH (drafting): The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde (which would be problematic on its own, given that it’s an old title, definitely NOT within the last five years), A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness (again, maybe not recent enough), and (possibly) A Trinket for the Taking by Victoria Laurie. The last title isn’t as well known, but it is recent and has almost four-hundred ratings on Amazon US.

HoIBLB (next WIP): The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen by K.J. Anderson (an older and somewhat obscure title; it’s also the novelization of the movie/graphic novel), and I’m still looking for the rest. Some of the tropes include: revenge, assembling a band of antiheroes to fight the baddies, star-crossed lovers (almost like Twilight in some senses, except both are predators and prey), pirates, rivaling magical creatures, and more. If this sounds like anything you’ve read, I IMPLORE you to tell me in the comments. I desperately NEED this information.

My other call to action? Pick up and review a copy of Forged (Blade & Bone 3.) There are no reviews on the US Amazon site, which is sad. What readers abroad are saying:

Bindu writes: “‘Forged’ is the triumphant finale of the ‘Blade and Bone’ trilogy. Whilst, normally I would say you could read this as a stand-alone, I think this time round you would benefit from reading the prior books. Just so you can get a better understanding of Verve and her motivations and relationships.”

Emma Ashley concurs: “Fans of fantasy novels will love this. The story was so brilliantly written and packed full of adventure that sometimes I forgot that I was reading and I got easily lost in the Fae worlds.”

Bookworm86 has this POV: “This book is extremely well written with vivid and evocative descriptions and illustrations that really put you in the storyline, seeing and feeling everything that is going on in the storyline. This is the first book I have read by this author but the third book in Beth’s ‘Blade And Bone’ series but it can be read as a standalone.”

So, okay, there you go. Have a great weekend!

Beth