A must have for query letters and pitches . First of all, we're going to include a snippet or two from the Penguin Random House website on COMPARABLES, then follow up with notes from a former senior editor at Random House, Caitlin Alexander. Part I Comparison ("comp") titles are books that are similar to yours in one of two ways: either the content is comparable (premise, sometimes with a dose of theme, and/or plot) or the sales trends are expected to be similar. For your publishing team, comp titles are extremely important . The comps help those editors making acquisition decisions figure out who and how big the audience might be for any given title . Editors also look at the sales trajectories of comp titles: will Book X be the type to backlist forever, like Book Y, or go strong out of the gate and then fade fast when the publicity dies down, like Book Z? Marketing teams also find comps useful when putting together marketing plans for individual titles. Addi...