Almost accurate, yet utterly useless

[rj_anderson]

When giving advice on how to write a good query letter, I've often heard agents and editors recommend that authors compare their ideas to something that's already out there. For instance, I've heard one paranormal romance author describe her books as "Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets James Bond". Well, I just came up with a description of Wayfarer (the sequel to Knife, which I am currently brainstorming) that amused me greatly:

"It's like Thomas Covenant meets Watership Down. With faeries."

Hee!

Comments

[jcobleigh.livejournal.com]

If I heard someone describe a book to me like that, it wouldn't make me excited to read it. I've read Thomas Covenant and am glad for the experience but can't say it was altogether pleasant.

[rj-anderson.livejournal.com]

This is why I said it was an essentially useless description, and really only meant it as a joke. You can say something is "like" something else, but in what specific way? I'm currently reading John Wright's Orphans of Chaos and there's a quote on the cover comparing it to the Narnia books. So far, I don't find it anything like Narnia at all, apart from a few superficial details. But apparently that reviewer thought otherwise.

I'm really not a big fan of the Covenant books either; but they were the first thing I thought of to describe my hero's skepticism in the face of the fantastical.