: Seeking Comp (Comparison) Titles for my Work-In-Progress Seeking comp titles for my WIP. Can you recommend books that meet one or more of these criteria? Soft sci-fi Space setting with fantasy

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I believe you want to find comparative titles that augment your query, not repeat it. A novel has a plot, but also characters, tense, style, stakes, tension, forces-at-play, setting, age limit, and so on. Some of these will be indicated in your query. Some will not. If your query describes your plot, for example, you may wish to comp a book that is similar in another way.

Also, you can comp to a movie according to agents on twitter, or to an author or to a character.

Example: "My book may be thought of as 'Atticus Finch on the International Space Station'" <- evokes a bizarre science fiction and crazy feel without either of those 'comps' being a book per se, or in science fiction.

Agents also seem to ask for recent comps, to ensure you 'know the market.' This is not as high of a hurdle as it initially sounds. Have you visited your local library? Ours has a new book shelf with titles acquired from the last six months (published in the last year or so.) There are about thirty titles under science fiction on that shelf in our library.

It took a scant forty five minutes for me to read the blurb on each of these thirty new science fiction titles, set aside the ones that could possibly fit my WIP in some way, any way, and check those out to look through at home. Of those six, three work as comps.

My best answer is to look through new books at your local library and pull any that have any comparative value at all to your WIP. Broaden your view of what a comp can accomplish, and tailor your comps to the agents you query.

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