Instead, you have to query publishers. A query is a small packet containing a brief query letter, a short bio, two or three sample chapters (usually, chapters one through three) and a synopsis of your novel. So I worked on the synopsis of my novel all day today. Sheer tedium. I had seven pages of single spaced writing. Then I did some research on writing a synopsis and discovered that, in general, a book synopsis should never, ever be longer than seven double spaced pages. Preferably, you want 1 page per 50,000 words. Holy crap!
So I went back to the drawing board and wrote a much shorter synopsis. It came in at about 4 double spaced pages. Basically, the synopsis needs to answer, in as few words as possible, these questions:
- What's the setting?
- What's the hook?
- What's the tone of the story? That is, its feel, its authorial voice, its approach to the story. Is this a light-hearted book, a dark book, or a funny book?
- Who are the main characters?
- What are their motivations?
- What are the key scenes?
- What is the prime conflict?
- What are the main characters' blackest moments?
- What is the main character's big crisis?
- What is the story's climax?
2 comments:
First) Never say never. Some day when you're rolling in the green and your publisher is hounding you for a new manuscript and you've been too busy sitting by the pool drinking rum punch swizzles, you can pull out Deep Water, dust it off and send it to your publisher who will be over joyed because he knows that your adoring fans will buy anything with your name on it.
Second) Oh, that was it.
Deep Water needs major rewriting, is the thing. But you never know. I still recall it fondly. I should say, I recall the characters and situations fondly. I do not recall the crude and unpolished prose fondly.
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