Comp Titles

 I'm Robin Currie, January Author for Mighty KidLit.

The point of comp titles is to answer for yourself and the potential publisher: if your book sits next to this (comp title) book on the bookstore shelf (or comes up in a similar online search), why would the potential buyer choose yours?

GUIDELINES:

     1 must be published in the last 3-5 years

     2 must be original work from established traditional publisher

     3 must be related to one aspect of the manuscript (but not necessarily the main one)

Preparing the proposal for Just Enough room for Christmas required 10 comp titles (per my agent). A glance at Amazon told me nobody else had written a picture book about a stable full of noisy animals! So where do I get the comp title if I have such an original idea no one has written it before? 

I did an Amazon search for “Lizards” and “rainforest” there are pages and pages of them! How do I know which are comp titles for How to Dress a Dinosaur

Publisher

Behold the Chameleon by Susanne Slade 

Holiday House, 2023.

Accepted

 

Lizard Stew by Ashleigh Gray

No publisher listed

Rejected – no publisher

 

We Need the Amazon Rain Forest by Robert E Wells

Albert Whitman, 2023.

Accepted

 

Camille the Chameleon on Masking: How to Stop Masking and Discover Your Awesome Autistic Self by Gloria Dura-Vila

Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2025

Rejected – after much digging this turned out to be a hybrid (author pays for services) publisher

 

Alternative topics: talent show

Puddle & Lettuce: The Talent Show by Ilaria Ranauro

Happy Yak, 2025.

Accepted: Happy Yak is a subdivision of Quarto, a UK publisher

 

Alternative topics: color idioms

I'm Tickled Pink! (Understanding Idioms) by Cynthis Amoroso

Wonder House Books, 2023

Accepted – Wonder Books is Wonder House Books, an overseas publishing company

This is how a final entry looks:

Behold the Chameleon by Susanne Slade

Holiday House, 2023. ISBN: 978-0823453238

This reptilian superhero can alter the pigments in its skin cells to change color, operate its eyes separately, capture that dinner by lashing out its long, super-fast, sticky tongue at speeds up to 13 miles an hour, and use its prehensile tail as an anchor.

            Similarities: Both teach the attributes of chameleons.

Differences: Amazon Lizards Got Talent uses humor to discover the chameleon’s most interesting talent.

For a query letter, the three very best titles are enough and for a full proposal, eight to ten are needed. It is a lot of work, but in the end, you and the publisher will see how unique your book is!