Thanks for all the answers! it's interesting for the one about comp titles, because i've heard a bunch of contradicting stuff. For example, some people say "neuromancer meets high school musical" isn't actually a comp title, and so you can and should use big names, to give a quick idea of the themes and tones of the book. But then you should still have actual comp titles: not too old, not too big, not too small, ... to prove commerciality of your work.
It never hurts to have a comp title from the last 5-10 years to show that you are up to date with the current market, but ultimately, it's mostly about clearly conveying the tone (and marketability) of the book
If you're querying agents, we want to adhere to their specific submission guidelines, but none of the ones I've spoken to would reject a book purely for having older comps
And if you're going indie, where the comp titles are just for marketing purposes, then of course how recent they are doesn't matter one bit!
Thank you so much for answering my question, Cae!!! I'll have to watch that video, it sounds most enlightening. Feeling far more ready to tackle writing it now!
Wow, I can't express how much I appreciate your generosity and clarity here Cae, it's such a delight to have my question featured and I hope your brilliant answer gives other writers that have been thinking the same some much needed guidance ✨ very thankful for all the work you do! Keep it up 🙏
Thanks for all the answers! it's interesting for the one about comp titles, because i've heard a bunch of contradicting stuff. For example, some people say "neuromancer meets high school musical" isn't actually a comp title, and so you can and should use big names, to give a quick idea of the themes and tones of the book. But then you should still have actual comp titles: not too old, not too big, not too small, ... to prove commerciality of your work.
Do you agree with that?
It never hurts to have a comp title from the last 5-10 years to show that you are up to date with the current market, but ultimately, it's mostly about clearly conveying the tone (and marketability) of the book
If you're querying agents, we want to adhere to their specific submission guidelines, but none of the ones I've spoken to would reject a book purely for having older comps
And if you're going indie, where the comp titles are just for marketing purposes, then of course how recent they are doesn't matter one bit!
Thank you so much for answering my question, Cae!!! I'll have to watch that video, it sounds most enlightening. Feeling far more ready to tackle writing it now!
Really glad to hear that. Thanks so much for asking such an interesting question! It was a fun one to research
This is really helpful, thank you!
Really glad it helped. Thanks so much for reading!
Wow, I can't express how much I appreciate your generosity and clarity here Cae, it's such a delight to have my question featured and I hope your brilliant answer gives other writers that have been thinking the same some much needed guidance ✨ very thankful for all the work you do! Keep it up 🙏
It's my absolute pleasure! Thanks so much for sharing your question!