Nathan Bransford - The Forums

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!

Hi Cas,

Nathan has blogged about both the query and the synopsis.
Hope that helps.

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:)

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.