I’ve always wondered if there was a good reason for including a section in a novel proposal where a list of currently available novels similar to yours is provided along with explanations as to how they are similar and dissimilar to yours.
Just recently I submitted a proposal to a publisher for a novel I’d written a couple years ago. A few days later, the editor advised she couldn’t take the story because it was very similar to one that was published last fall by another publisher. She then listed at least seven or eight plot points in the other novel that were an exact match to my story. I expected to hear the theme song from the old TV show The Twilight Zone tuning up in the background. It was that similar!
