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... The Three R's of Picking a Comp Title: 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:
![]() If you’re writing a novel or memoir, the most important part of the query letter is the pitch—a brief basic description of your story designed to pique the agent’s interest. This will be the longest and most difficult section to compose. It’s tough to boil down an entire book into a few condensed paragraphs, but here are 7 tips for how to lay out a compelling pitch that draws an agent or editor in. 1. Control your length. Pitches are 3-10 sentences, and most run 6-9. Concise is a very good thing. If you write more than ten sentences, your letter runs the risk of going over one page and also simply rambling. 2. Do not reveal the ending. If, when describing my latest novel, I told you that the good guy wins in the end, but his wife dies when failing to disarm a bomb at the end … would you still want to read the book? Probably not. A query pitch reads like back cover copy from a novel or DVD in that you don’t explain how the story ends, but rather retain intrigue and suspense. ![]() When I’m instructing at a writers’ conference, occasionally someone will raise their hand and try to point out flaws in my instruction. Here are some common examples regarding fiction:
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