Cookbook Comp Titles: What They Are
why they matter, and where to find them
When we planned an episode about cookbook comp titles, we thought for sure we had already done one. That’s because they naturally come up when we talk about writing proposals and getting book deals. But we hadn’t, and it was about time we dug in deeper.
Comp titles mean “comparative” or “competitive” titles. In other words, they’re published books that share something in common with the one you want to write.
In her book The Business of Being a Writer, Jane Friedman calls the comp title section of a nonfiction book proposal “competitive title analysis.” Essentially, you identify books that are out in the world and comparable to yours in some way. They might appeal to the same readers or cover similar topics or show the tone or scope of what you hope to publish. They are both your competition and proof that a market for your idea exists.
And they seem to be more important than ever. When a potential author sends Agent Sally Ekus a proposal, the comp titles section is the first thing she reviews. It shows that an author has an idea on where her book fits in the marketplace. It shows the author has done her homework.
Before writing this post, I went back to the first proposal I wrote to see how I handled the comp title section. That proposal became my first book, A16 Food+Wine, and guess what? I didn’t include a single comp.
In the years between writing that proposal and my next, I must have learned more about comp titles, but I still didn’t get them right. Instead, I wrote the comp title section in a style I’d call “High School Book Report.”
Example: “Although dozens of books exist on the subject of xyz, many of them are too xyz for the new generation of xyz….Fortunately, new books are emerging that offer more contemporary approaches…”
Oof. Agents and editors are busy people. Think of the mounds of material they sift through. They don’t have time for book reports.
Here’s how I’d do it differently if I were writing a book proposal today. For the comp section, I’d create a list of five books published within the past 3-5 years that have something in common with the book I’m pitching.
Then, for each book, I’d include the following:
the title, maybe a cover image
author name
publisher & year published
Price & page number
A brief note about the scope or style or voice of the book
A brief note about what the book I’m pitching has in common and what the book does differently.
That’s it.
When curating these comps, I’d also keep in mind that a good comp will follow a book from acquisition to launch and beyond. Publishers use comps to project sales and pitch and explain the book internally to marketing and sales teams. Art directors use comps to design compelling covers. Sales teams use comps to sell a book into accounts, including bookstores and specialty markets. That’s why it’s worth spending time to find the best comps for your project.
How to find comp titles
Comps aren’t only for sales. They’re about understanding the market you want to publish into and respecting the books that came before—what Kristin Donnelly referred to in episode 133 as the “cookbook canon.”
To get started, do some research at bookstores and online of books that have been published in the past few years. See where books sit on the shelf in brick-and-mortar stores and how they’re categorized online. Are all your comps in a baking section? A South Asian section? How are they structured? How complex are the recipes?
Browsing in cookbook-only shops, like Kitchen Arts & Letters, Omnivore Books, Book Larder, Now Serving, and Bold Fork Books is an even more targeted way to find comps. When I go into one of these shops, I like to ask for what they have in the category I’m researching and what they like about certain books. They’ll also know what’s selling well, and that helps too. (I’ll circle back to sales in a moment.)
If you don’t live near a cookbook-focused shop, subscribe to their newsletters and see what books they’re stocking and what events they’re hosting. That will also help you get a sense on what books are getting made.
Back to sales. Agents use comps that have a good sales record when they pitch editors. Some have access to Circana Bookscan, which provides the number of titles sold through certain retailers. A subscription to Bookscan is too expensive for authors, so instead, use Amazon’s sales rankings and reviews to gain insight into how well a book is selling.
If a book is a bestseller in a specific catagory on Amazon, that’s a good sign. Also check out Goodreads (which is powered by Amazon). While Goodreads is not nearly as important for cookbooks as it is for fiction, it may give you a sense of how a book is resonating. You can also sign up for a free account on Edelweiss, which lets you look up books and see if booksellers have left any comments about it.
What are a lot of reviews? It depends. Books used to get a lot more ratings on Amazon a few years ago, and now it’s less likely people will leave reviews. But anything that has 15 reviews or fewer will probably not be a strong comp. And anything that is ranked one million on Amazon may not be the best, either.
Next, note what it is about that book that is similar to yours in some way. Is it the same vibe? length? Is it also about baking or home cooking? Is it single-subject or restaurant-driven? Is it classic or new terrain? Is it short or long or somewhere in between?
You can also pick books from different categories. If I were doing comp titles for A16 Food+Wine today, I’d probably pick a regional Italian cookbook and a book like Wine Food, to show the style of food and the role wine information would play in the text.
When you’ve identified a handful of books, get each book and page through it. Request it from the library. Buy it. Borrow it. See if it really is a good comp for your idea.
What if there are too many comp titles?
If your potential book covers a popular subject and you’ve found 100 similar books, it’s time to see what you can do to modify your idea to ensure it is unique to you.
For example, if you are trying to sell a book about Italian cooking, your research will probably tell you that there is a lot of competition out there. You may have to rethink your book and work harder on your angle. And all that will make your pitch stronger.
Examples
Can you limit yourself to a course, such as antipasti, which could have crossover appeal to people who like grazing boards?
If you are known for your baking, what about focusing on a specific baking subject, like Italian bread?
If you live in a world-famous city and have an insider’s view into its kitchens, what about writing a book dedicated to the city’s cuisine?
Could you tackle a specific dietary subject, like the vegan Italian kitchen, because you no longer eat animal products?
What if there are not enough comp titles?
If there isn’t any book that approximates your subject, look for books that are similar in style or scope, even if the specific subject matter is different.
For example, if your book is about the cooking of Mexican grandmothers, offer a cookbook about grandmothers from another country as a comparison. If the book is all about tortillas, you don’t have to include only books about tortillas. You can look for single-subject cookbooks that have parallels, like books about flatbreads, as well as cookbooks that include tortillas as a chapter.
When Andrea Nguyen pitched her single-subject cookbook on Pho, she looked at other books about soup. When Kristin worked on the proposal for Turtle Island, Sean Sherman’s book about the foods and traditions of indigenous communities in North America, the team compared the book to other books that crossed borders and cultures, like Anissa Helou’s Feast: Food of the Islamic World.
If there aren’t any books on your subject, look at ways you can align yourself with successful books that show how the cookbook world is becoming a more diverse place every year.
And never, ever assume your book is so unique that nothing can be compared to it. Here’s how things work on the publisher’s side. An acquisitions editor will not think: “Gosh, we have no cookbooks on gravy. We need to fill that void!” Instead, she’ll think: “Our competitor published a book about gravy in 2010, and it sold 2000 copies. No one has touched the subject since, and there might not be enough interest in this subject for us to focus resources to publish a book like this.”
You’re probably not famous
A side note about platform. If you’re not famous, don’t pick a famous person’s cookbook as a comp just because the topic or voice is a good fit. The way those books sell is often separate from the content. Do not comp to a Chrissy Teigen book unless you, too, are a model and television personality.
And don’t pick a blockbuster bestseller of the Salt Fat Acid Heat variety. It would be like me writing my first thriller and comping it to Steven King’s Misery. See what I mean? (Although, if you’re following the rules and only looking at books that have come out in the past 3-5 years, Misery would technically be too old to use as a comp. So would Salt Fat Acid Heat….)
In other words
Just because there are too many or too few books about your topic doesn’t mean you’re doomed. You might think that every cookbook on Paris has been done, but new ones come out all the time with fresh angles. Finding a good comp is a balance between showing what’s been done before and how you’re adding to the conversation. Knowing what’s out there will only make your book better.
-Kate and the Everything Cookbooks Team
Links from the episode:
Nagi's statement: When you see your recipes in a $4 million book
Circana Book ScanVisit the Everything Cookbooks Bookshop to browse all books mentioned in the show (purchasing books here supports the show, independent bookstores, and authors. A win-win-win! 🏆)
Next week on EVCB:
Next week on the show, we speak with cookbook author Maria Zizka about her solo writing projects as well as the more than forty collaborations she's worked on so far in her career. We chat about the challenges inherent in collaborations and how Maria balances collaborations and solo projects, and the projects she will and won't take on. Tune in to hear about why she celebrates even the little milestones and the advice she has for aspiring authors.
Bye for now. We’ll be back here next week and hope to see you. In the meantime, keep on writing, reading, and cooking. ✍️📚🍳
Lots of ways to support Everything Cookbooks
There is no cost to subscribe to our Substack — and no pressure — but subscribing does help support the show. Please tap the ❤️ at the bottom of the post if you like what you read here. We appreciate your comments and restacks, too. And of course, we welcome paid subscriptions if you’re able and interested in further supporting the show. There’s even a special category for superheroes for our super fans.
Shop for EVCB merch on our website and any book mentioned on the show can be found at our affiliate shop at Bookshop.org. Every bit of support helps!
Great post, Kate! So much good info here!
Good analysis here. My book on food writing, Will Write for Food, covers book proposal writing in depth and includes information about the competition section. You mentioned Amazon. It's helpful to look at the sales rank to figure out whether the book is selling. The lower the number, the better. Re complementary books, it's best to keep those to a minimum and focus on books that inspire -- just a few.