crowdsourcing

[nnozomi]

So as you may have seen I spent some of my last post grumbling about the (emotional and practical) difficulties of starting to look for a publisher for my original thing (or rather, starting the Rube Goldberg process of finding an agent who... etc.). With helpful advice from qian and others, all much appreciated, I am trying to take some more concrete steps, but right now I'm stuck on finding comparative titles for my query letter. The thing is, a) I don't have access to all the books coming out in English (there are SOME in bookstores, and if I know what I want to read I can order it, but I can't just go down to the store or library and read everything that comes out) and b) I am a very fussy reader and I just don't read that widely among new books! I don't know what there is out there lately!

so please let me know if you have any ideas about books that partake of the following:
Essential:
-- published within the last three to five years (sigh)
-- SFF
Any of the below:
-- AU early 20th-century England or Europe
-- New magical system
-- Multiple protagonists who are friends but not lovers
-- M/M romance which is plot-relevant but not the main focus
-- M/M romance involving strangers/quasi-enemies to lovers
-- Male/female friendship between colleagues
-- Colleagues from wildly different backgrounds who share a passion for their work
-- Political machinations, preferably against a monarchy
-- Get-out-of-jail subplot

...that's all I can think of at the moment. Possibilities I have right now are Freya Marske's The Last Binding series and, although it's older than they're supposed to be, Zen Cho's Sorcerer to the Crown. I want to say Emily Tesh's The Incandescent, because it chimes with my mind so well, but I can't actually think of any directly comparable points, oh dear.
(For the record, don't worry, I am not going to name a book in a query letter without having read it! I can get hold of promising possibilities if I need to, but I have to know what to look for first...).

Comments

[halfcactus]

Lol your list made me realize that I've barely read anything that was published in the last 5 years and even if I had I wouldn't remember a single thing about them. Like, the only thing I could think of at the top of my head is Witch Hat Atelier which is... not a book... Anyway, good luck with your query! And congrats on taking this step! I may not have known you for long but I'm so happy to see you put yourself out there!

[nnozomi]

thank you for good wishes! much appreciated. (and yeah, I read fewer and fewer new books as I get older, oh dear). gosh, I feel like we've been DW friends for ages at this point (a good thing). ;) <3

[cyphomandra]

Hmm how about KJ Charles? She started with supernatural historical m/m but the ones in your time period will all be historical m/m, and again her best political book (A Seditious Affair, fantastic on class in a way I haven’t seen another m/m do ever) is older than your cut-off, but she does do male-female friendship, historical setting, strangers to lovers etc.

I can think of a couple of self-published authors who would fit but that might not work for you - AJ Lancaster’s Stariel series and Celia Lake’s books, but on looking back at your list possibly I am too hung up on the historical setting. Also I really hated Babel but sadly it would probably work as a comp for people who liked it more than I do.

(I just got Katabasis off the hold list and am trying to decide how much I want to be irritated by my reading material :D )

Oh and also CL Polk’s Even Though I Knew the End is f/f but might work?

[nnozomi]

Thank you very much! I always forget about KJ Charles. I think she errs a little too far on the romance side for my personal tastes, but she sounds very promising for these purposes. I will definitely look up the others you mentioned too (maybe I'll find a new author I love, who knows). Unfortunately I felt just the same way you did about Babel, oh well.

[landofnowhere]

My first thought was Marie Brennan's Memoirs of Lady Trent, but that's outside the time window. On the other hand, the Rook and Rose trilogy by M. A. Carrick (a joint pseudonym of Marie Brennan and Alyc Helms) was published 2021-2023, and it has a new magic system, political machinations, and characters from wildly different backgrounds working together.

[landofnowhere]

Oh, also The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett (which just won the Hugo!) Has a new magic system (or is it science?), a male-female detective team who are not romantically involved, POV character has an M/M romance on the side though it's not a major part of the plot.

[nnozomi]

Thank you! I'll look up the Carrick and the Robert Jackson Bennett--I think I've read a couple of his earlier series books, but not this one. Sounds promising!

[marycrawford]

I haven't got any comps for you off-hand but I'm very into your list of things and want to read the book! Your list makes me think that perhaps it would be useful to also mention a, hmm, tone maybe? Style? Vibe? Not sure what the right term is.

I'm thinking of Becky Chambers' robot books: SF, no romance, there's like a single line where the protagonist has sex with a random person iirc, and nothing much happens plotwise except robot-human discovery, friendship, and extended discussion of philosophy, still feels vaguely queer, very low key and comforty/cozy vibe.

And then, counterexample, Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir which I just read: SF, no romance but some yearning, a LOT of queer/lesbian undertones but no realized relationships, a ton of action, a lot of death and sacrifice, and the protagonist's voice is very vivid, casual and (imo annoyingly) slangy, like the most tumblr speak person you could imagine.

I don't think either of them is a good comp for you which is so frustrating :( but if for example Becky Chambers' tone was similar, you could have something like "the cozy warmth of Becky Chambers' A Prayer for the Crown-Shy, with the political intrigue and gay romance of Different Title."

edit: And if Tamsyn Muir's style was similar (which I am thinking Likely Not) it would be something like "the unhinged gothic melodrama and sardonic humor of Gideon the Ninth, mixed with the slowburn gay romance of Still Another Title". (...and now I want to read this imaginary book also? hmf)

[nnozomi]

Your list makes me think that perhaps it would be useful to also mention a, hmm, tone maybe? Style? Vibe? Not sure what the right term is.
I see your point! And you're right that neither Chambers or Muir matches in that sense (going by osmosis), but I'm having a hard time coming up with what does. Need to keep thinking about that, you're so right.

but I'm very into your list of things and want to read the book!
at the risk of being annoying, if you want to read the current manuscript I will send it to you any time! No pressure, you probably have more than enough on your to-read list already <3

[marycrawford]

Not annoying at all, would love to read it! I'm like you that I don't read a ton of new books these days, but fandom friends take precedence over random authors any day. will dm <3

[extrapenguin]

The only thing that comes to mind is R.F. Kuang's Babel (late 1800s England, new magical system, colleagues from wildly different backgrounds, they overthrow magic imperialism) ... but I haven't read it and I know enough about it to know I do not want to read it (assumes the reader has never heard about imperialism/realized that imperialism is bad, lectures accordingly). So, uh, not really a rec, sorry. Good luck?

[shewhostaples]

The thing with R. F. Kuang (based on having read Babel and seen reviews of some of her other books) is that she has these brilliant premises which she then fails to deliver on because she's too busy lecturing the reader about how Bad Things Are Bad, and she also can't be bothered with the research. So a politer version "R. F. Kuang but I actually respect my reader and have put the work in" might not be a bad way to go.

[nnozomi]

So a politer version "R. F. Kuang but I actually respect my reader and have put the work in" might not be a bad way to go.
I am not sure I'm up to walking that tightrope but it's a very interesting idea!

[rachelmanija]

It was very successful, so that makes it a good rec.

[nnozomi]

You are, unfortunately, right on all counts; it does have some relevant similarities, but I did read it and did not like it at all. Need to come up with "like Babel but not Babel" lol. thanks for good wishes <3

[naraht]

Possibly Witchmark by CL Polk? Too old but that's the best I've got.

[nnozomi]

Second CL Polk rec here, so I will check them out! Thanks.

[rachelmanija]

What do you mean by "new magical system?"

Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi, by Shannon Chakraborty.
-- M/M romance which is plot-relevant but not the main focus (borderline, there's some M/M but it's mostly background)
-- Male/female friendship between colleagues (lots of this)
-- Colleagues from wildly different backgrounds who share a passion for their work (lots of this)
-- Get-out-of-jail subplot (well, this happens in one chapter)

Emily Wilde's Encyclopedia of Faeries, by Heather Fawcett
-- AU early 20th-century England or Europe
-- Male/female friendship between colleagues
-- Colleagues from wildly different backgrounds who share a passion for their work

I haven't read it yet but I think one or more books in Adrian Tchaikovsky's City of Last Chances series are likely to qualify on at least one of these based on the setting/premise and the sort of thing he tends to write:
-- AU early 20th-century England or Europe
-- New magical system
-- Multiple protagonists who are friends but not lovers
-- Male/female friendship between colleagues
-- Colleagues from wildly different backgrounds who share a passion for their work
-- Political machinations, preferably against a monarchy

Tchaikovsky frequently hits these points, so worth looking at an assortment of his recent books:
-- Multiple protagonists who are friends but not lovers
-- Male/female friendship between colleagues
-- Colleagues from wildly different backgrounds who share a passion for their work
-- Political machinations, preferably against a monarchy

[nnozomi]

Thank you very much! Trust a bookseller to come up with suggestions in useful detail. I've read a little of Robert Jackson Bennett, though not the ones you suggested, but none of the others, and will see what I can find, much appreciated.

What do you mean by "new magical system?"
Um, how do I explain, let's see. A more structured, in some ways more academic, less harmful, and more experimental way of using the existing ability to do magic, with practitioners who themselves don't know where the edges of their abilities are in the new context and are working to find out? I hope that makes some sense.

[rachelmanija]

The Tainted Cup and its sequel, A Drop of Corruption, by Robert Jackson Bennett
-- New magical system
-- M/M romance which is plot-relevant but not the main focus
-- M/M romance involving strangers/quasi-enemies to lovers
-- Male/female friendship between colleagues
-- Colleagues from wildly different backgrounds who share a passion for their work
-- Political machinations, preferably against a monarchy

[qian]

My first thought was of Freya Marske and The Last Binding has been commercially successful, so it would be a good comp. IIRC Last Binding was originally comped to Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, so that might be another good comp if the vibe is a match. (The "recent books only" rule doesn't apply to huge bestsellers/iconic books like JS&MN.) I wouldn't go with Babel, even though it was a big seller, unless colonialism is a big theme in your book, really front and centre.

Good luck!! And don't get too hung up on comps. You don't need loads, just a couple of titles that convey something of the vibe. marycrawford's suggestions for how to approach it are great.

[nnozomi]

(I wish I liked The Last Binding as much as I like Freya Marske's fic, but oh well, I did enjoy it and it's still on my shelf, close enough for jazz.) I tried Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell some years back and couldn't get through it, but maybe I should give it another try in this light. Still thinking about mary's good advice as well. Either way, thanks as always for advice and encouragement! <3

[scytale]

I don't have any advice, but <3 <3 <3. Best of luck!!!

[nnozomi]

Thank you! <3 <3 <3

[chestnut_pod]

My immediate thought is Katherine Arden's The Warm Hands of Ghosts, which hits each of those points in ways I am happy to elaborate upon. My hesitation is that it is very intense and dark (WWI), and I am not sure if that is an appropriate tonal comp.

[chestnut_pod]

Fantasy published '24.

Set in France in during WWI. (Though MC is Canadian.) Slight AU elements regarding the end of the war and its key players. Vaguely folkloric magic system with deals and memory magic.

Three primary characters, two of whom are women who are friends but not lovers (imo they SHOULD have been, but well). There are further friendships between women and women and men. Many of these happen in a workplace setting between individuals of very different class backgrounds and nationalities.

M/M romance are the B plot, they are literal enemies and definitely strangers who eventually become lovers.

WWI, it's all political machinations, nearly all of which technically involve monarchies at that point, though they're not front-and-center.

TWO "get out of X" subplots, one a bunker and one a horrific amnesia palace of the underworld related to the magic.

[nnozomi]

Detailed suggestion much appreciated! I've read a little about it but not actually picked it up; I will see what I can find.

[tinny]

Yohoo, steps! *keeps fingers crossed*

I don't read nearly enough to be able to answer your question, so I'll just be over here shaking pompoms!

[nnozomi]

Much appreciated! <3 (Sadly a ton of day-job work has fallen on my head this week, but I'm trying to keep moving on both tracks.)