Queries, Synopses, and Taglines, Oh My

If the question is are queries and synopses bane, benefit, or both, my answer is yes. All the things. I have a decidedly love/hate relationship with them. 

I've spent months (possibly years, to my dismay) thinking in terms of broad strokes, long arcs, interwoven threads, and the details that build a complete sensory world in a book. It took me way too many words to do so. Now you want me to boil it down into a single page synopsis? This is bane. It's bane because of the cognitive shift that has to happen from writer to marketeer - a shift that apparently comes at emotional cost for a lot of authors, including me. 

However, synopses done well are absolutely a benefit. They really do force you to distill the main conflict, emotion, and themes. From that synopses, a query can be born. From that synopses, pithy one liners about the story and the characters can be used as teasers across social media and ads if you're so inclined. If you'd asked me what was good about a synopses a few years ago, I'd have said, 'when they're over'. But somewhere along the way, a critique partner relayed a message from her editor at a large house - learn to love synopses because it's how the big trad houses sell you and your story. Did you think anyone other than your editor read your book? Doesn't happen. The cover art skims the synopsis. Marketing skims the synopsis. If that synopsis is a toss off, it shows. Love that impossible quest to write a synopsis. It's what gets you where you want to go. 

I'm aware of a couple of schools of thought on synopses. One is that synopses are nothing more than a point by point logical flow through the plot. The second says that synopses are a story in and of themselves that should reflect the voice and feel of the book. My synopses tend to fall into that second category. I want the feeling in the synopsis. I want all that character angst sitting on some marketing person's chest, staring into their eyes. That means I select for melodrama when I undertake a synopsis.

Don't think there aren't several false starts, hair tearing, and wails of 'why is this so hard'? I usually end up with a couple of half done versions full of stilted phrases around what happens in the book. Then I get mad, say 'melodrama, stupid' and go for a paragraph describing the heroine and her goal, one for the hero and his goal, and then the rest is how those goals collide and how everyone's gonna die if the two of them can't get it together. It's not a patented formula or anything, but it does seem to work well. 

I also only speak in terms of the synopsis because for me, the query is the teaser for the synopsis and is derived from it. Some authors start with a tagline and then build longer and longer focused content until they hit synopsis length. I go the other direction. Long form that boils down farther and farther until I have a single tagline. But by the time I'm done, I have a query, a synopsis, and a back cover blurb all ready to go in a media kit that I can pull from easily. 

But ye gods, I still dislike having to stare at a blank page and a flashing cursor after having written 'The End' on something else.

An Author's Bane: Writing a Query & Synopsis

 

This week we’re talking about a common bane to all authors…writing queries and synopsis. 

The topic actually asks if these are a bane, benefit, or both—but if you’re a writer, and if you’re honest with yourself, they’re both stressful and challenging. Writing a query or synopsis does not use the same mind-tools as writing a novel, you need to switch gears and view your book from a marketing standpoint and how best to leverage its saleability. Thus, bane! 

If you’re scratching your head right now, I’ll give you some background:

Query: a query is roughly one page in length and its purpose is to entice an agent or editor to want to read your work. 

If a writer desires to work with an agent there’s a high chance they will contact them with a query letter. And if an author has an agent or wants to sell their book to a smaller press they will need to present a query—which equates to a proposal if your agent is sending it—and synopsis. 

the Guts of a Query:

• a hook, one sentence that summarizes your book
• title in all caps
• genre and word count
• comp titles (list a few books that are comparable to yours)
• one to two paragraphs describing your plot/characters
• writing credentials, if you don’t have these, don’t make any up
• thank you, the most important thing to remember is be respectful
• complete within 300-400 words

Please do not blanket copy your query letter. You are sending it to different people, right? Does everyone like the same kind of pizza? Nope, and they’re definitely not going to be hooked by the exact same query. Personalize, at the very least address it with the correct name, and stick to their listed requirements. If you do not have any stated requirements, go with your gut, but be respectful. 

Are your palms sweaty and your stomach cramping? It happens because: stressful writing here! If you’re struggling with writing a hook check out Publishers Marketplace, they list book deals with their one sentence hook, or peruse Goodreads, sometimes the blurb starts out with a one sentence hook. 

I honestly can’t recall anyone ever saying they enjoy writing a query, but I’m sure there is someone out there that loves it! Though I have heard a few authors say they like writing the synopsis. 

What’s a synopsis?

Synopsis: an overview of a book from beginning to end that reveals the entire plot. 

Include in a Synopsis:

• present tense third person narrative
• capitalize your characters’ names the first time you introduce them
• only use Main Characters’ names
• emotions!
• simple writing—don’t get wordy, you don’t have enough room
• pages: 1 (short) to 2 (2-4 is considered long)

Yes, you must include your entire plot and the ending. Twists and all. Agents and editors read the synopsis to ensure your story has structure and is free of plot holes. And they need to know how everything comes together at the end. Why? Well, you don’t want to be pitching a romance that ends in one of the characters dying or a sci-fi that wraps up with an out-of-the-blue, magical miracle.

#WritingTip: write a short and long synopsis because, like pizza, 

different people will require different lengths and you don’t want to be unprepared.

The thing is, love them or hate them, suck at it or excel, there’s pressure when you write a query or synopsis. Work at it and perfect it. It’s worth the time because you get one shot to hook someone. So, writers. Embrace the bane and go sharpen those hooks.