tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23051453.post4890147006729651830..comments2023-11-02T06:57:11.400-04:00Comments on BookEnds Literary Agency: How I View a SynopsisBookEnds, A Literary Agencyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06287278822065839469noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23051453.post-88040167560824881492007-06-01T00:58:00.000-04:002007-06-01T00:58:00.000-04:00I'm with Kris Flethcher on this one. You don't nee...I'm with Kris Flethcher on this one. You don't need to do a chapter by chapter breakdown of your book. Just the turning points and story arc. And lol--yes, you have to tell all.<BR/><BR/>It gets easier. Why don't you just carry a notepad with you and think of nifty phrases during the course of your day? It spreads out the time-investment.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14553958040386480998noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23051453.post-38565358233266200112007-05-31T21:59:00.000-04:002007-05-31T21:59:00.000-04:00I've also joined the "write the synopsis before th...<I>I've also joined the "write the synopsis before the book" camp.</I><BR/><BR/>After the trouble I went through trying to come up with a synopsis after finishing my latest novel, I decided to join that same camp on the next one. I also came up with a query letter.<BR/><BR/>We'll see how it goes...<BR/><BR/>I pulled a no-no and didn't give away the final ending of the book...I guess it's a good thing BookEnds doesn't take sci-fi. :-)T. M. Hunterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04315726033990784930noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23051453.post-12899068995886683912007-05-31T13:34:00.000-04:002007-05-31T13:34:00.000-04:00Aimless:I'm not going to help you at all here beca...Aimless:<BR/><BR/>I'm not going to help you at all here because I don't care how long the synopsis is. Send me whatever you've got. I think the synopsis should tell the story and reveal the ending. How long it takes for you to write that is up to you.<BR/><BR/>--jhfBookEnds, A Literary Agencyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06287278822065839469noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23051453.post-69157519083130515472007-05-31T11:05:00.000-04:002007-05-31T11:05:00.000-04:00Dear aimless, I try to write my synopsis based on ...Dear aimless, I try to write my synopsis based on the agent's preferences. I've written one paragraph, one page, two, page, and three pages. I've read that two pages, double-spaced is standard when no preference is given. But, I could be wrong. This business changes daily it seems! Writing a good synopsis is tough and that much is certain. I'm still learning!<BR/><BR/>Thanks for the agents' perspective on this!Kimber Lihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03982239712083114488noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23051453.post-48755175471030278362007-05-31T09:47:00.000-04:002007-05-31T09:47:00.000-04:00Aimless Writer, I can't give you any answer on len...Aimless Writer, I can't give you any answer on length - and it seems every agent/editor has their own preferences on this - but I can tell you that synopsis writing becme a LOT easier for me when I stopped thinking of it as a sequential summary of the action. Instead, I try to focus on:<BR/>- the turning points in the story, giving just enough explanation to show how they fit together<BR/>- making sure I follow up each turning point by showing how this impacts the character, forcing them to change & grow<BR/>- showing how the plot & subplots fit together, playing off each other to echo/enhance/support the overall theme of the book.<BR/><BR/>I leave out LOTS of details.<BR/><BR/>Remember, the whole purpose of your plot is to make your character grow, so all you need to include are the big steps in that growth.<BR/><BR/>I've also joined the "write the synopsis before the book" camp. Not that I can come up with a fully-fleshed synopsis, just like that. But I find that if I sit back and just WRITE for about 200 pages - taking myself out of the equation, letting the characters reveal the story to me - then, at that point, I understand what this book is really about and can write a synopsis. From there I can pitch/revise what I've already written & go on to finish the book with far more purpose and direction.krishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06935764958247625983noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23051453.post-36188416984115418982007-05-31T09:15:00.000-04:002007-05-31T09:15:00.000-04:00I struggled and struggled with my synopsis to matc...I struggled and struggled with my synopsis to match the tone of my book, and get everything (well...all the good stuff anyway...) into it in as little space (one to two pages as I could. Then the first time I talked to a real editor at a conference, she asked for a TEN page synopsis.<BR/><BR/>Yeah, knock me dead. That was hard.<BR/><BR/>But the good thing is that you can use that bit of writing for everything from blurb stuff, to cover material, to pitching. It's not just an overview, it's a very important tool.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14553958040386480998noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23051453.post-77839372096707775982007-05-31T07:20:00.000-04:002007-05-31T07:20:00.000-04:00How long should the synopsis be? One paragraph for...How long should the synopsis be? One paragraph for every chapter? One or two sentances for every chapter? I'm prepublished at this point but I take my book and go through the finished product chapter by chapter to write the synopsis. This is almost as hard as writing that query letter. <BR/>:)Aimlesswriterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03012050763172251381noreply@blogger.com