One of those most important things you can do during your publishing process is to research and identify your comparable titles. What exactly does that mean, you may be wondering? Well, read on! This post is all about finding your comparable titles, what they are, and why it’s important.
What Are Comparable Titles?
Comparable titles, or comp titles, are books that share things in common with your book. In the case of using them for marketing purposes, they’re books that would be of interest to the same audience. Now, this is different from your book pitch where you compare your book to other known titles. It’s not what you’re telling the world about your book either. This is information YOU use to find your audience by finding the audience for those books. Does that make sense?
Finding your comparable titles is important for a few other reasons if you’re pitching to an agent, or going the traditional route, but I’m just going to cover the stuff you need to know as a self-published, or indie, author.
Why is Finding Your Comparable Titles Important?
Because finding your comparable titles, in this context, is for marketing purposes it becomes a very important element of your book’s success. Comparable titles help you find your specific audience. Because if you don’t know or can’t find your audience, how can you market your book to them?
Comp titles also help with positioning your book, and things like the cover design process, pinpointing your genre and subgenre, and other important parts of the publishing process, such as your Amazon categories, BISAC codes, and keywords.
Together these are the things that go on behind the scenes, making sure your book ends up in the right hands—with your future fans!
Finding your comparable titles also informs your marketing strategy. They assist in finding the right reviewers, or influencers to collaborate with, for example.
Where Do I Start?
Before you start doing the research and finding your comparable titles, there are a few things you should be aware of!
I know it can be tempting to compare your book to a classic, like Wuthering Heights, or something of that standing. But don’t. No matter how similar your themes and characters and settings, your comparable titles should be books written within the last three to five years.
But if you have identified an older title, that’s okay. Do an Amazon search for that title, then see what Amazon recommends in the “Products related to this item” section farther down the page. Then use one or more of those books(if they fit) as your comp title.
You should also avoid using best-selling books and anything that’s been translated to film. Why, you ask? Because at that point they’re so big that the audience for them is too broad to define. Not to say your book isn’t also amazing, it’s just that using the above examples as your comparable titles will make them fairly useless as far as serving their purpose. You’re looking for a more specific audience.
Finding Your Comparable Titles Begins with Research!
Where does this comp title research begin, you ask? Well, platforms where books are sold are a good start. If you’re an avid reader (and frankly, you need to be reading books in your genre) you probably already know some potential comparable titles. So, start there!
1-Do a keywords search
Use the power of search engines to help you get started. Type your book’s themes, settings, and genre into the search bar and see what pops up! Do these search results yield books that seem like your book? Explore them and see which ones fit best. If you’ve found your book’s keywords, then use them in this search.
2-Explore related reads
If you don’t already have some ideas, then you can simply start your research by browsing platforms like Goodreads, Amazon, and other platforms where books are reviewed. Find reviews and summaries that sound similar to your book. Knowing your genre and/or subgenre and some keywords is kind of essential for this step.
3-Find your comparable authors and influencers
When you start finding your potential comparable titles, look up those authors on their social platforms and dive a bit deeper into exploring their audience, their other books, and their marketing strategies. Pay close attention to how their audience engages with them. Also, be sure to read the five-star reviews for that book so you can see what your audience is connecting with; then, and this is probably the most helpful for you, read the one-star reviews too. Look for what is missing in that book’s message—perhaps your book answers a specific question or provides value that other books in your space are lacking. This could be the thing that sets you apart from your competition!
So, now that you’ve identified your comparable titles and done some digging into who the audience is and what they need, do you feel like you and your book resonate with their general brand and their fans? Remember, all this will help you with your marketing strategy, which is a big reason for finding your comparable titles in the first place.
Doing all this will not only help you find your comparable titles, it will also prepare you for your future marketing efforts. Once you have about 3-5 comp titles on your list you can really use the above strategies to get to know your audience and future fans. You’ll also need them before you begin the publishing process, so why not get a head start?
