What Are Comps? And What Are They For?
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You may have heard the word "comps" while looking into marketing your book. Comps is short for comparable titles. Comp titles are books like yours, that cover a similar topic or theme and are in the same genre. Length is also a factor, though books that are longer or shorter can still be good comps.
When looking for comp titles you want to focus on books that have been published within the last two years, as these will be the most relevant. Books that have come out within the last few years are going to reflect the current market better than older books. If you have a book that is very specific it might be necessary to look further back.
Another consideration when choosing comp titles is the author. If you pick a book from a well known author with an audience they will likely sell more books. If this is your first book you won't have fans that buy your new book because they liked your last one. You can start to build an audience before you publish, and you absolutely should. Social media is a powerful marketing tool, and the only investment you need to make is your time.
Comp titles are helpful when you are in the marketing stages. A comp title can be used to roughly estimate sales and the size of your audience. If possible, you want to pick books that have been out for a year, as these are going to be better when estimating sales. If you are self-publishing make sure all of your comp titles were self-published. Publishers have more money invested into a book than most self-published authors do, which increases the marketing budget.
An easy way to find comp titles is to look on Amazon. Search for the themes your manuscript covers in your genre. You can also use the overall ranking to calculate the estimated sales with this calculator: https://www.tckpublishing.com/amazon-book-sales-calculator/. Note that sales estimates are more helpful when books have been out for a year or more just because they have had more time to sell and get noticed.
Choose a few books to use when predicting sales. A lot of publishers use a profit and loss statement (often called a "P and L") to get a general idea of what they can expect for sales. Publishers use this estimate when they are considering acquiring a manuscript, but when self-publishing you can use them to help you market your books. You can also look at the way your comp titles were marketed—where they ran any ads, what their social media posts looked like, and what platforms they used. Use this info when creating your own marketing plan. If you aren't sure where to start check out my post "A Timeline for Marketing Your Book" to get some ideas.