Comps

The idea that to sell a book an author needs to present a list of comparable works has bugged me since I first heard about it in November. It shouldn't be such a hard thing to do. Unless wholly original, one should be able to say that "you hold in your hands a mystery/romance/thriller/literary novel in the style of..., with a dash of..."

I have not discovered a new genre, thus "Fringe Benefits" should have company. Why is it then so hard to find a comp that I can live with?

Besides what I showed in my jazzed up "elevator pitch," this is what I have written: A story about a woman (Anna) in a career (Human Resources) with romantic attachments (mostly at work) as she evolves through emotional, sexual and professional misadventures. With this premise, I could have produced a mystery, a romance, a thriller, a literary novel or anything else. Instead, all I wanted to write was an easy to read, at times funny at times serious story, using as pillars my years as an HR professional at a small marketing agency that underwent multiple acquisitions.

I'm not exactly sure why yet, but the combo of my goals seems to point to chic lit. I myself went there first. As soon as the question "what are your comps?" was asked, I said Bridget Jones and Fifty Shades. Bridget Jones is a successful movie franchise and Fifty Shades has sold better than Shakespeare. Momentarily, I was quite happy with myself.

But before claiming membership to a group, I should at least read its Bylaws. In the weeks that followed, I have given myself the assignment of either corroborating my selections, or coming up with better ones. I have read since the whole "Fifty Shades" trilogy, and piled up my night stand with Jennifer Weiner's "Good in Bed," Diane Johnson's "Le Divorce," and Madeleine Wickham/Sophie Kinsella's "Sleeping Arrangements" and "Remember Me." I also bought Barbara Rose Brooker's "The Viagra Diaries." And browsed at my local Barnes & Noble through the last Bridget Jones and the follow up to "The Devil Wears Prada."

As I start to go through my pile, I'm getting depressed. And highly confused.

Stay tuned.