Anyone Else Detest the Dreaded Comparable Titles Request?

Yesterday I got a wild writing hair and polished off chapter 53 with Rowan Layne once again visiting Loch Ness in my eighth Other Worldly novel, Alien Origins. It turned out be a tad humorous, which makes me feel pretty good about my ability to maintain somewhat of a sense of humor in the insane world of fools we’re currently suffering in the USA.

Only 30 chapters left to go, because my OW novels all have exactly 83. A literary-license quirk I worry about having to relinquish—like breaking the “rule” about not having too many character names beginning with the same letter or crossing into too many genres—if I am successful in eventually pitching the series to the traditional publishing world.

Which has been on my mind, especially because this month my revised first OW novel, Alienable Rights, will come back from my editor. Hence, I’ve continued to read more articles and take notes on the oft changing and often stressful subject of publishing in general. That’s what I planned to write about today, and still will, but first can I just say it was nice to get some good and unexpected worldly news this morning.

One vile Russian asset of a South Carolina senator is gone from Earth with how many more to go? Seen on social media: “Imagine being the Republican party and trying to hide the fact that one of your senators died to avoid holding a special election and then a totally different Republican senator died from karma.” Ya think? Racist hypocrites, however, don’t deserve to be the subject of today’s post, but one does ponder if Graham’s having 20-minute phone calls in hell with the diabolical senator from Kentucky.

I’ve written over the past few months about summoning the pluck to take another shot at snagging a literary agent and braving the traditional publishing route after seven self-published novels since early 2020. And then I came across an interview in the online Ingram Spark Blog, Behind the Book: “Helena P. Schrader on Self-Publishing, Staying Authentic, and Building a Legacy Through Books.”

Schrader, with a PhD in history, is an award-winning and bestselling self-published author no less, with novels set in the Middle Ages based on historical record, but also incorporating modern archaeological information. Which sounds interesting, so I plan to check out her novels—especially since I attempted to dabble in a few Middle Ages scenes in Alien Origins.

Schrader was asked by Ingram Spark, “What is your favorite part about being an indie author and the journey of the self-publishing process?” Her answer:

“I love self-publishing because it liberates the author to be creative, innovative and, above all, authentic. The major commercial or ‘traditional’ publishers are in business to maximize profit; they don’t care about literary quality, moral value, or creativity. If I were chasing after a contract from a ‘traditional’ publisher, I’d have to conform to literary fashion and ‘current political correctness.’ In fact, I’d have to strive to write ‘like’ some other author who recently became a ‘best seller.’ But I don’t want to write like someone else. I have my own voice, my own stories, my own style and my own insights that I wish to share with readers.”

She had me at “authentic,” “my own voice,” and “I’d have to conform to literary fashion,” not to mention the on point traditional publishing observation about maximizing profit and eschewing quality and moral value. Ironic, because of many industry folks who sneer at self-published books as lacking in literary quality while they themselves glut the market with utter crap. And as for moral value, traditional publishing houses would do well to recognize that the current political correctness climate is devoid of empathy and common sense. So perhaps they should strive not to be.

But boy howdy did this interview speak to me on myriad levels, some of which I’ve previously addressed in this blog for the past five years. Specifically, I truly detest being expected to provide “comparable titles” when querying literary agents. It feels like a set up in which you compare your work to that of commercially successful authors, only to end up besmirched as arrogant and clueless for boastful overselling. If you don’t manage to pull off a succinct comparative sentence to their highly subject satisfaction, you’re literary roadkill.

Plus, it sure seems to fly in the face of ubiquitous publishing advice about not chasing current trends and instead coming up with something fresh and original. Not to mention it goes against the grain to forage for comparative titles (too many of which I might not actually be interested in reading) simply because the traditional publishing industry can’t or won’t think for itself in how best to promote novels solely so they can make money.

Ultimately, however, the self-publishing problem for me has always been—as mentioned by Schrader—the quest to get my work shared with readers. Publicists tend to be unrealistically expensive in terms of any potential return on investment, and most seem to rely primarily on social media as the promotional medium, which is inevitably skewed toward a younger crowd.

My OW novel series target audience is women over fifty and a few decades beyond, a large swath of which are not active on social media and don’t want to be. But they do buy and read books. Supposedly 75 percent of books in the US are purchased by women of all ages.

Next up, I read one of those online Writer’s Digest author articles that make you simultaneously hopeful while longing to bang your head against a wall: “Finding an Agent and Publication Much Sooner Than Expected.” Is that an annoying title or what?

Nevertheless, I read how Wildflower author Becky Jenkinson wrote her first novel in early 2023, finishing the first draft in just a few months. I can relate to that, as well as that she began querying agents in early 2024 after first compiling a list of agents, researching their requests and values, and narrowing them down to a dozen. Been there, done that diligently. But Jenkinson also got a friend to help come up with the perfect two-sentence pitch to include in her query. Is there such a thing? I’m still struggling.

What I absolutely can’t relate to is, in less than 24 hours, Jenkinson received a response from one agent who requested her full manuscript. Even more unusual, she was then officially represented within two weeks. That is one enthusiastically speedy reader of a literary agent.

Jenkinson explained that, “Since then, there have been times when I feel like things were moving too fast, and times when I had to remind myself to be patient.” She said she was “surprised by the acceptance of the queer nature” of Wildflower, and had “never once been told to tone it down.”

I, however, am not at all surprised by the former—the “nature” of her book is most definitely all the rage among many (younger) literary agents seeking diversity subjects. But I remain skeptical about the latter and would love to know more about this easy-breezy openminded, noncontrolling traditional publishing house.

Yes, I’m being snarky while nonetheless impressed by, and happy for, Jenkinson. And I especially appreciate her view that, if you “write something you are passionate about, truly, to its core, other people will connect with your work.”

This helped me realize and reinforce that  classic adage that all it takes is one. One competent literary agent who is as passionate about my OW novel series as I am, and can sell it to a publisher who won’t expect me to tone down the sociopolitical feminist commentary.

Is it possible? Possible to find those in traditional publishing who realize that a snarky cisgender senior citizen author might actually be its own fabulous form of diversity in an increasingly cruel sexist, ageist world? Here’s hoping, because I might just surge forth and give it a try. After all, I’ve got younger secondary otherworldly characters who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, and intersex from several planets. What would be a comparable title for that?