PUBLISHING TIP: Best number of comps.

In a pitch to agents.

• Five is good.

• Seven is too many.

• Six seems authentic.

• Each comp should bring to your query a different element of the book. For my novel, the travel adventure of a sexual trauma survivor who uses Tai chi as a way to healing, I highlighted the sexual trauma (The Lovely Bones, Bastard Out of Carolina), travel, (The Beach, Losing Gemma), and a survivor’s spiritual search (She’s Come Undone, Gods with a Little g).