You’ve made your decision. You want to pursue traditional publishing, a literary agent, a publisher, the whole thing. That’s a legitimate and worthwhile path, and knowing what you want is half the battle.

Traditional publishing has a specific process, and understanding it before you start will save you a lot of frustration. It’s not just about having a good book. It’s about knowing how to position it, how to find the right agent, and how to put together a query package that actually gets read.

Your one action step this week:

Before we talk about querying, a quick check: has your manuscript been edited by a professional editor? Have you gotten beta reader or critique partner feedback? If not, that’s actually your real next step. Agents pass on good ideas with weak execution every day. Getting your manuscript to its strongest possible version before you start querying is what separates the “close but no” rejections from the “yes, let’s talk.”

If your manuscript is in strong shape and you’re ready to move toward querying: don’t start with the query. I know that sounds counterintuitive (the query feels like the “real” next step because it’s what agents actually read), but starting with the query before you’ve done the groundwork is why so many writers end up rewriting it four or five times.

Start with comps instead. Comps (short for comparative titles) are books that feel similar to yours, the same audience, similar tone, comparable premise. Agents use them to quickly understand what your book is, who it’s for, and where it’ll sit on the shelf. Good comps are the foundation of a good query.

Good comps help everyone in the acquisition chain say yes, because ultimately, they help convince the retailer buyer (the person who orders for brick and mortar stores) to say yes too. Comps give them something they can point to and say “this is why it will fly off the shelves.”

This week, find 2-3 books published in the last 5 years or so that feel similar to yours. For each one, write down: the title and author, the year, who it’s for, and what your book shares with it (tone, audience, premise, emotional experience, themes). Then write 2-3 sentences about what makes your book different from those comps, because comps work by being “the same, but different.”

You’ll know you’ve nailed it when you can finish this sentence honestly: “My book will appeal to readers who loved ___ and ___ because ___.” If you can’t, either your comps aren’t right yet or your positioning isn’t clear. Both are useful to know now, not after 30 queries.