Help! Someone has the same book as my work-in-progress!

I had a panic last week. I’ve been working on something for AGES. Then I saw a book announced on the same theme and I went into a total tailspin about it.

In my defence, I still have trauma from what happened with my very first book. A publisher wanted my story (Egmont - this shows how old this story is because Egmont became Farshore, which is now part of Harper Collins). It was a chapter book (I still love that story) and it looked like everything was ON. My first book! I was crazy excited. Then, while we were waiting for the offer, my editor called to say another publisher had a book coming out on too similar a theme. So similar, on such a core element of the story, that it was like we’d copied each other. Egmont turned down my one. I cannot tell you how devastated I was.

I have since learned that it is actually quite rare for a similar book to completely scupper your book.

But, what do you do if you see a book announced that’s like the one you’re working on right now?

1. Research the rival book

Ideally, read it. Search on Netgalley and ask for it. Ask the publisher for a review copy. Ask friends with that publisher. Ask your agent.

If you can’t get the book, look at all the reviews: Netgalley, Goodreads (shudder), Amazon etc. Look for similar elements, then…

2. Work out what is CORE

We all know the saying ‘there are no new stories’. There are themes or situations that appear over and over again in storytelling. There are loads of stories about a wizard/witch going to magic school, for example, and yet I saw a new chapter book announced with that exact premise only the other day. So don’t panic if the similar element is broad eg the books have same magic system, they both have a love story between a vampire and human, kids find a magic land etc (hey, you can tell I write fantasy).

What you do need to look out for is the detail. It’s fine if your characters go to dragon school but if they go to dragon military school in a dystopian world then fall in love there MIGHT be an issue.

But STILL don’t panic. At this stage, just write a list of where the books overlap.

3. Look at the audience

In my panic last week, although my book and the newly announced book have similar magic systems, the rival book is for adults. Mine is a chapter book for young readers.

If your dragon military love story is for YA readers, audience age needs to go on your overlap list.

4. How big is the other author/book?

I know this sounds like a mad one to add into the mix but a few years ago I was working on a story where a girl discovered a magic island with fantastical creatures that needed looking after, and then a book was announced that had a very similar core setting. Although I knew my story would be different in vibe and plot, I also knew the rival book was going to be MASSIVE in terms of marketing spend, publicity and review space because the author was so very well-known.

Although - counterpoint to this - if there are trends, publishers love to jump on them. So if llamas appear in a massive book, and you have one in your work-in-progress, funnily enough you might be MORE likely to get that book through.

Ahhh publishing.

5. What do you do if the books ARE too similar?

If your overlap list is really growing, talk to a friend/agent to see if they think the two books are similar.

If they are … can you tweak yours? It doesn’t take much to make it different. Instead of dragon military school, try mermaid military school (that’s actually good, I might write that one). Can you change the characters a bit and still stay true to what you wanted to write?

For now, I’ve put aside my ‘girl finds magical island with fantastical creatures’ one. But I might come back to it. If I do, I’m going to tweak it a lot.

6. What is this panic really about?

For me, there is always panic that SOMETHING will blow out my fragile candle of an idea. It might be that my agent or editor doesn’t like it. It might be that I can’t initially get it to work. Or it might be that there’s another book with the same idea. I think my panic last week was about that feeling of ‘will I ever get this right?’

Try to remember that so much of story is in the voice, the detail and the stylist choices you make. Your voice is YOURS. Your book WILL be different because you wrote it.

It DOES sometimes happen that two books are too similar but that’s quite rare. Even if it does happen, you might be able to repackage your book in the future. You might think of a brand-new twist that changes it, maybe makes it better than the rival book.

And no time developing your craft is ever wasted.

7. Warning! Danger

There IS danger with looking too much at rival books. When I’m in a full-on writing phase (like now), I don’t like looking at other books on the same theme, in case they put me off or influence me too much. I like to keep my own voice in my head. Plus omg I’ve got enough to do with that distraction. Last week, I really should not have stopped my own work in panic to read an adult book on Netgalley that ended up being very unlike my chapter book.

Let me know if any of this has happened to you. I’d love to hear.

Happy writing,

Abie xx