Comp (comparative) titles are books you can point to as an example of what an agent or editor can expect when reading your manuscript. Listing two or three comp titles in your query letter or during your pitch gives an agent a quick idea of where your book fits in the marketplace.

When you want to convince an agent to take a chance on your novel, the immediate temptation is to compare your book to whatever's at the top of the bestseller list, but this could hurt your chance with an agent more than helping it. You should use...
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​The Three R's of Picking a Comp Title:

See All New Literary Agent Spotlights | Register for a Writers Conference

ABOUT THE AGENT:
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Jynastie Wilson (she/they) is an Assistant Literary Agent at The LCS Literary Agency where she started off as a Literary Intern. When she’s not agenting, you can find her playing video games with her partner, reading a queer novel, or journaling.

During a childhood that was spent devouring the pages of both fantasy and contemporary novels alike, Jynastie Wilson discovered that there was magic within these pages, one that was much more complex than the fact that they happened to offer a place of escape and distraction. Instead, she found that these novels had the magic to make people feel a little less alone — specifically those that came from various marginalized communities, such as she did. 

“Suddenly focused on this magic, Jynastie decided that she wanted to be someone that helped create and bring this magic to life. Something that she now hopes to achieve by working towards becoming a literary agent and supporting those who are underrepresented.”

JYNASTIE IS SEEKING:

Happy New Year! 2025 is finally here, and it is chock full of possibilities. What are you going to write this year? What are you going to pitch to agents, publishers, and contests? What are you going to read? What social media platforms will be you involved in? So many possibilities!

If you're feeling gung-ho and motivated to start the year, consider one of our 2025 writers conferences. We are planning many around the country and also online (where anyone can join from anywhere). See below the graphic in this post for our official list of events from February through July 2025. Our events have almost 150 success stories of writers who signed with agents following meeting them at an event. That's the best proof we can offer.

ABOUT THE AGENT:

Lucy Cleland is a Principal Literary Agent with Calligraph, representing idea-driven and narrative nonfiction of all stripes, upmarket fiction, and select children’s projects. Her clients have been Pulitzer finalists, winners of the NBCC Award and PEN America Awards, recipients of MacArthur “Genius” grants, and elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; their books have been featured in the New Yorker’s Briefly Noted, New York Times Editors’ Choice, and best books of the year lists, as well as ranked as USA Today Bestsellers and selected for Book of the Month Club.
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A southern transplant to Boston from Atlanta, Lucy graduated from Wellesley College and cut her teeth as an agent working closely with Jill Kneerim at Kneerim & Williams. She lives with her wife and a lot of books in Jamaica Plain.

LUCY IS SEEKING:

FREE CONTEST FOR WRITERS!

Welcome to the 2025 First Pages Contest. Contest #2 of this year is for writers of Adult Romance, Adult Historical Fiction, and Adult Women's Fiction. If you write in any of these genres (or a combo!), keep reading and submit your work! This free contest ends on Feb. 4, 2025. 

Here’s how it works: We invite awesome literary agents to judge the contest. The agents pick the genre(s) they want to judge. Writers in that genre are invited to send in their first page as part of the competition. Winners get a fabulous critique from your agent judge. It’s free to enter. Sound good? Then let’s get to some details and rules!

There are two additional contests happening now in January 2025 -- one for writers of young adult fiction, and one for writers of adult science fiction & fantasy. 

Welcome to the Writing Day Workshops site! We plan amazing writers conferences both online and all around the country, and we have many success stories of writers finding agents at our events.

See our current list of events here.

If you're here for the January 2025 writing contests (with a critique from an agent to the three winners of each), here they are below. Each contest is currently open until Feb. 4, 2025...

ABOUT THE AGENT:

Lee O’Brien (he/they) is an associate agent at Looking Glass Literary.
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Lee started his career at Irene Goodman Literary Agency in 2019, where he first worked as an assistant to Victoria Marini and later began building his own list as a junior agent, after completing his MA in English literature at UC Davis and moving back to New York full time in 2020.
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When not working as an agent, Lee writes YA fantasy about trans kids, magic, and monsters of all kinds as Lee Paige O’Brien.

​LEE IS SEEKING:

At writers conferences, I frequently get the question “Is it OK to sign with a new agent?” This is an interesting question, so let me try to delve into it here.

First of all, let’s look at the CONS:

• They are likely less experienced in contract and money negotiations.
• They likely know fewer editors at this point than an agent who’s been in business a while, meaning there is a smaller chance they can help you get published.
• They are likely in a weaker position to demand a high advance.
• New literary agents come and go. This means if your agent is in business for a year or two and doesn’t find the success for which they hoped, they could bail on the biz altogether. That leaves you without a home. If you sign with an agent who’s been in business for 14 years, however, chances are they won’t quit tomorrow.