Insights
Author Development, 5 min read
Comparable Titles, Done Properly
Comps are not compliments. They are a map of where your book belongs.
Agents, publishers and retailers use comparable titles to understand a book quickly. Choose them badly and the book is misunderstood before it is read.
Good comps are recent, realistic and specific. They describe readership and tone rather than ambition.
Comparable title research is also a discipline for the author: it clarifies what promise the book is making to its reader.