How do I find the right comp titles?
- Good comps are recent (last 3-5 years) and in your category.
- They should be realistically scaled — not mega-bestsellers.
- Shared tone, hook, or audience matters more than identical plot.
- Reading widely in your genre is the best source.
- Retailer also-boughts and category lists surface candidates.
Find the right comp titles by searching your own category for recent (last three to five years), similarly scaled books that share your tone, hook, or audience — not necessarily your exact plot. The best source is reading widely in your genre; retailer also-bought sections, category bestseller lists, and bookstore shelves surface more candidates. Verify each is real, recent, and comparable in scale, then keep the handful that genuinely match.
Chapter i·Why it matters
Comps anchor your query and positioning, so finding the right ones proves you know your market and helps an agent place your book. The common mistakes — naming mega-bestsellers, dated classics, or books outside your category — all come from not knowing how to source comps well. A deliberate search through your genre for recent, similarly scaled, tonally matched titles produces comps that strengthen your pitch instead of undermining it.
Chapter ii·What to include
- Recent titles from the last 3-5 years.
- Books realistically scaled to a debut.
- Shared tone, hook, or audience.
- Wide reading in your genre as the main source.
- Retailer also-boughts and category lists.
- Verification of each comp before using it.
Chapter iii·Example
A writer finds comps by reading recent releases in her subgenre, checking the also-boughts on books like hers, and scanning category lists. She gathers a dozen candidates, drops the ones that sold in the millions or came out a decade ago, and keeps three recent, similarly scaled titles that share her book's tone — comps that signal she knows exactly where her book sits.
Chapter iv·Related questions
WriteLoom's Pitch studio keeps your comp research in one place, so the titles you find are easy to verify and use.
See the Pitch studio