Marketing. I noticed that almost all of the query letters had some sort of paragraph after the blurb that told a little more about their book. Marketing, a twist on something, a comparison to published books. Something. So I crafted one of those for my novel.
Not just another ghost story, the Shadows in THE MIRROR bring a magical twist to life beyond death. THE MIRROR will appeal to readers who enjoy the paranormality of A GREAT AND TERRIBLE BEAUTY, and also to those who fell in love with the romance of TWILIGHT.
Tip: When using another title, make it all caps, but a smaller font—usually two points smaller, so size 10 instead of 12.
Here’s another example:
A dystopian novel for young adults, CONTROL ISSUES is complete at 84,000 words. Fans of Scott Westerfeld’s UGLIES series and Suzanne Collins’ THE HUNGER GAMES will enjoy similar elements, and a strong teen voice.
This one has the name of the novel and the word count. In the first example, that information was given in the introduction paragraph. It’s completely acceptable to move the parts around, as long as all the information is included.
Note: If you haven’t actually read the books you’re comparing your novel with, don’t use them. You really have no idea if they’ll be the same unless you’ve actually read the book.