Query vs. Synopsis

Ugh. You got stuck writing a synopsis. Help is on the way.
Post Reply
casnow
Posts: 159
Joined: December 7th, 2009, 1:51 pm
Location: Cairo, Egypt
Contact:

Query vs. Synopsis

Post by casnow » December 31st, 2009, 12:14 am

So, I'm at that point of starting up the rejection machine again (i.e., list of agents and their requirements in hand), and many of them have say to send a letter of query and a brief synopsis - however, it seems like most of the query examples I read are basically just that.

Are they requesting a a query that basically contains the plot of the story (as mine does) or are they requesting a separate synopsis (which almost seems like what they query is giving them)? I don't want to send more than requested, but I also don't want to leave out something they are requesting.

Thanks!

User avatar
BransfordGroupie
Posts: 98
Joined: December 6th, 2009, 6:10 pm
Location: Australia
Contact:

Re: Query vs. Synopsis

Post by BransfordGroupie » December 31st, 2009, 8:39 am

Hi Cas,

Nathan has blogged about both the query and the synopsis.
Hope that helps.
Last edited by BransfordGroupie on January 1st, 2010, 1:34 am, edited 3 times in total.
Image
REVELATION: The Book of Angel - First draft complete :-)
Facebook

Krista G.
Posts: 192
Joined: December 7th, 2009, 4:47 pm
Contact:

Re: Query vs. Synopsis

Post by Krista G. » December 31st, 2009, 1:27 pm

Casnow, the query and synopsis are definitely two different things. In general, the summary in the query is more of a hook or pitch - you don't want to give everything away, you just want to entice the agent to request the pages.

If an agent wants a synopsis, they're usually looking for a blow-by-blow account of all the major plot points and characters in the book. In a synopsis, you always give everything away, or as much as you can in the allotted number of pages. Nathan suggests two to three pages for a synopsis, and I don't think an agent is going to flinch if it's more in the five-page range. Occasionally an agent wants a one-page synopsis, which is even more difficult to write. The Knight Agency's Nephele Tempest has a great post on writing that one-page synopsis at http://nephele.livejournal.com/2009/06/05/.

Hope that helps. And good luck with that synopsis - it's a monster:)
Author of THE REGENERATED MAN (G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers, Winter 2015)
Represented by Kate Schafer Testerman of kt literary
www.motherwrite.blogspot.com

r louis scott
Posts: 118
Joined: December 14th, 2009, 7:36 pm
Contact:

Re: Query vs. Synopsis

Post by r louis scott » January 2nd, 2010, 6:20 pm

Ugh.

I am trying to write a synopsis now.

Two out of the five agents I intend to query first desire one included with the query. If there is anything more subject to interpretation than a synopsis, I must not yet have stumbled over it. My first attempt was one paragraph per chapter, and with sixteen chapters that seemed much too long. One page seemed ridiculously short. I've done my homework on these agents, yet finding information specifying what they want to see in a synopsis is maddening.

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 6 guests