Comp Title Challenge

Madeline at Short and Snappy created this tag over a month ago, and when I saw it on some other blogs, I had so much fun doing some mental gymnastics to figure out comp titles for some of my own WIPs. Then Savannah over at Scattered Scribblings tagged me for this and now I actually get to complete it - and you guys get to see my "creations" - and some of my WIPs!

So, without further ado, I present -

For those of you not familiar with the term, a comp title is short for "comparison title." When you make a comp title, you chose a few different titles of other, already published (and probably well-known) works that you think your book is similar to. And these works don't have to be limited to books - TV series and movies work well as comp titles, too. Basically, you're trying to bring together the feel of the novel by comparing it to other works.

I'm picking four of my WIPs to craft comp titles for. Some of these I've edited, some of them I haven't even finished the first draft of. But here they are. (All the links lead to Goodreads pages for the books).

Soul Snatcher // Coraline meets Inkheart meets The Hobbit

Soul Snatcher

So . . . confession: I haven't actually read Coraline. I watched the movie when I was ten and it scarred me for life. But the feel of the movie, the horror and pacing and thrill of it, is what's pertinent to this book.

As for Inkheart - the characters and the style and maybe just a teensy bit of the storyworld? Storyworld is really why I picked Hobbit - the setting is supposed to be comforting and cozy even when it's trying to kill you, and the Hobbit is pretty much the epitome of that in my opinion.

Smarts, Hearts, and Courage // Wizard of Oz meets Seraphina

Smarts, Hearts, and Courage

In case the title wasn't a tip-off - this is kind of a Wizard of Oz retelling. (You know - the brain, the heart, and the courage.) I'm in the writing-the-first-draft-as-I-plot stage, and I'm not 100% sure if this project is going to succeed, but it's so much fun to write that I'm sticking with it for now.

So I chose Wizard of Oz for obvious reasons, but Seraphina was a bit more of a struggle. In the end, I chose it because of the storyworld - it's not quite a steampunk fantasy, but it's getting there. That's what I'm (currently) planning my Oz to be - a lot of jewelers and clockmakers and Victorian era-esque stuff (And yes, Victorian-esque is totally a world. Absolutely.) The idea of dragons morphing into humans also has a few parallels with certain things in my book.

Theater Ghost // Saint Anything meets Hamlet

Theater Ghost

In a nutshell, this is "modern theater ghost." This is the idea that's been rattling around in my head for a long time and has been dying to be written. Right now, the idea is "What if an actor died and came back to haunt their small-town theater?" Honestly, I think this one was the hardest comp title for me to come up with, and it's one of my weakest.

I chose Saint Anything because of the style and the tone of the book - it's a modern book, about characters grappling with coming of age questions, and it's tone is just slightly darker than a "gumdrops and beaches" book.  (You know what I mean. One of those light and fluffy modern YAs.)

I chose Hamlet because one, it's a ghost story and two because it's a play (that counts for something, right?), since this does take place in the theater.

Shattered // Lunar Chronicles meets Keeper of the Lost Cities

Shattered

This is an older project of mine that badly needs a rehaul and almost got it pretty recently. I've pulled up this little one and started working on rewriting the plot and fixing potholes that little twelve-year-old me thought weren't a problem at all. Basically, shapeshifters live in a world connected to this one by portals that humans call mirrors. mirrors. They're always guarding these portals, and when we try to go through the mirrors, their cold hands press back, to keep us out.

I'm choosing Lunar Chronicles because of the characters and the cool, slickness of Meyer's writing. Keeper of the Lost Cities is a little bit more light-hearted, which is one reason I chose it. The other reason is because it has a "group of people hides from humans but influences the humans without them knowing" thing going on.

And there we are! And I tag: 

Catherine @ Rebellious Muse

Danielle @ Snapper 

Ivie @ Ivie Writes

And anyone else who thinks they want to give this a shot. ;)

So what do you think? And do you have comp titles for your WIPs?