📖 First Readers: Comp books

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This is a First Readers post, an occasional update on the book I’m writing about the human experience of illness. If you aren’t interested in the behind-the-scenes book updates, here’s how to turn off First Readers emails but keep all the other Odyssey of the Body emails.

Hello, dear friends! It’s time for a book update. If you are just tuning in, I have an idea for a book, tentatively titled: The Intimate Experience of Illness: Navigating the Journey You Never Wanted to Go On, a practical companion to serious illness, half comfort, half practical tips, not saccharine, not too clinical book. I’ve written a book proposal, but not the full book yet, which is how traditional publishing for nonfiction works.

So today, let’s talk about comps.

What are comps?

“Comps” is short for “comparable books” — books that are similar, but not identical, to the book you plan to write.

Comps are included in a book proposal to show there’s a demand in the marketplace for this kind of book and how it fits in with the others.

I’ve also heard comps described as the books that sit next to yours on a shelf in a bookstore.

Bonus: It occurred to me that my comp list might be helpful to you. (How lovely to make this work useful in another way.)

My list of comps

Here are three books that might sit alongside mine in a bookstore:

Side note: Most advice says to pick books for comps that have been published fairly recently, in the past few years.

The Comfort Book by Matt Haig — The bestselling author of such books as Reasons to Stay Alive and the marvelous novel The Midnight Library shares his assemblage of comforting notes, lists, and stories collected during difficult years. Matt has had serious spells of depression, as well as anxiety and tinnitus. The Comfort Book is stocked with encouraging words, like “Nothing is stronger than a small hope that doesn't give up.” It’s a treasure of a book, a hug of sorts.

How to Be Sick: A Buddhist-Inspired Guide for the Chronically Ill and Their Caregivers by Toni Bernhard — Toni was a law professor and long-time Buddhist when she became seriously and mysteriously ill. In this combination of her own personal stories and practical tools grounded in Buddhism, the work of Byron Katie, and her own inventions, Toni shares common challenges of chronic illness and what can help: “A recurring theme in the book is that, although one’s body may be sick, one’s mind can be at peace,” she writes.

The Invisible Kingdom: Reimagining Chronic Illness by Meghan O’Rourke — This bestseller is both a memoir of Meghan’s own troubled health and a deeply researched investigation into chronic illness across history and medical advancement. She focuses on chronic illnesses that are devastating and not well understood, such as Lyme disease and Long Covid.

I recommend all three of these books. They are each stellar in their own way, and one might be helpful to you.

The shelf of illness-related books is very long!

Here are a couple more:

Long Illness: A Practical Guide to Surviving, Healing, and Thriving by Meghan Jobson, MD, PhD and Julie Morgan, MD — Books are coming out all the time: I found this book by two doctors today. The blurb says: “This book will help you build your recovery tool kit, reclaim your identity, manage your symptoms, and become empowered to get the care team you deserve.” I am tempted to pick it up. And perhaps I could interview the authors, too … hmm!

The Creative Act by Rick Rubin — This is a wild card. It has nothing to do with illness! But it is about the human experience, the act of creating. I love this book. What I’m particularly inspired by (and why it might make its way into the comps section anyway) is the format: many, many very short chapters; no anecdotes from the authors’ life; universal principles. I love how easy it is to dip into a little section and get a lot out of it. Many illness books are dense and take work to get through. I want my book to be help and hope. I want a paragraph to help provide a handhold of companionship, a flashlight of guidance. I want it to be a tiny bit of joy to read in a dim time.

Sometimes “The Creative Act” has just a few lines on a page. Like this.

No Cure for Being Human by Kate Bowler — Kate is as human as they come in the illness genre. As her publisher says: “With dry wit and unflinching honesty, Kate Bowler grapples with her diagnosis, her ambition, and her faith as she tries to come to terms with her limitations in a culture that says anything is possible.” If you are trying to find wisdom about the experience of illness, most of what exists are memoirs. Truthfully, though, it probably shouldn’t go in my comps, because … I’m not writing a memoir!

What do you think? Do any of these books sound interesting to you? Do you have any suggestions for books to add to my comp list? I’d love to hear!

To our journeys,
Brianne

Read the past issues of First Readers:

• I’m writing a book!

• What should I call this book?

• Keep calm and query on