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What makes the perfect synopsis?
Asked by Peter Humphries
1. How much of the plot should you give away in a synopsis? Should you give everything? Won't that damage the agent's 'pure' reading of the novel, especially if there's a sting in the tail?
2. Do agents want a purely 'nuts & bolts' account of your novel, or is the writer expected to embellish for effect, as they might when selling it to potential readers?
3. Should writers highlight the ways in which their novel might be marketed, or leave this to the agent?
From the horse's mouth: for purposes of this conversation, I am the horse.
How to write a good synopsis seems to plague writers. It’s a part of the job that makes even the most able writer quiver: "How can I get the story of that beautiful long novel I’ve written into just a few paragraphs?"
Well, I’m not an agent, so I can’t say exactly what an agent might be looking for – and so I asked my agent, Jon Elek (see his answers below). My advice is a bit more airy-fairy; I know that the end goal is for your synopsis to woo the agent or editor, and so, being a romantic, I’ll talk about that.
I reckon that half the time an agent only knows what he/she is looking for when it lands on their lap.
When I got my first agent following a chatty email, ( despite reading “do not send an email" on the agency's submissions page), he jumped at the chance because he wanted a writer like me; and I wanted an agent like him. I told him that. He told me that. Simple. Then when I went for a different agent, I also knew what I was looking for, and so did he. I was more mature, and was on the look out for something with commitment.
This writer/agent union is vague. If I were to pose a similar question to: "How can I woo an agent with my synopsis?" it would be: “How do butterflies have sex?”
So I reckon this union just happens: it’s a bit like attraction, which is why your synopsis is so important.
Your big love is your book, you want to ignite the passion in someone else, and the only true way of doing this is by submitting something that is honestly representative of you. If they like you, brilliant. If they don't, someone else will.
Occasionally, I’ve pretended to be someone else (like…erm… a bit of a smart arse… posh and clever…intelligent) and it hasn’t worked. When I am true to myself, it does.
Also, there are heaps of books on What You Should Do:
RULE 1. Read the submission guidelines.
RULE 2 Kiss ass.
But, well, I think the only rule you can follow (aside from not submitting on purple paper in vomit) is “What do you think is the best way of representing your book?”
I do believe that only you will instinctively know the course of action to take for your book: seriously you do, don’t you? Pay attention to that little voice in your heart, be a little bit fearless, and do it. (Says the woman who takes three weeks to make a phonecall.)
Other things I’ve learned so far, and can be filed under common sense:
Think of the synopsis not as the great selling tool to get the best agent in the world, to get the biggest book deal ever known to mankind, and become the biggest bestseller known to mankind. It’s too much pressure.
See the synopsis as a conversation between you and a potential agent or editor: you love your book, and this is your chance to make them love it too. By this point you should have done your research, and so you’ll know the kind of book your recipient (agent/editor) champions. Don’t look at his/her list and think: ‘You can’t sell chillies to Chileans.’ (ask this man if he does), and don't send your historical fiction to a science fiction fanatic because you think he/she could do with a change.
I wonder if writers are a bit scared of agents (I know I used to be), but they are just people, doing a job, like you. They aren’t Greek gods about to strike you down. They're pretty nice, and will take you for dinner when you are starving and want to get pissed. It’s quite like matchmaking, you’ll find the perfect match, but only if you know what you are looking for.
So, the secret is to know... what, why and how you want Agent Zeus to represent your book.
So, the secret is to know... what, why and how you want Agent Zeus to represent your book.
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| Starving writer will be yours for ample portions |
by Jon Elek (literary agent at AP Watt)
1. Keep it brief and simple. You want to be tantalized in the way that, say, good jacket copy is tantalizing. If it has a sting in the tail, don’t reveal it.
2. I wouldn’t want to speak on behalf of anyone but myself, but no, I don’t want a ‘nuts and bolts’ account of anyone’s submission. You end up glazing over when you’re reading about what’s happening to characters you don’t know and don’t, as a result, care for, in some overlong (i.e. anything over than 250 words) synopsis of a novel.
3. Comparisons can be useful but use them sparingly. If you are up to speed on publishing language, then use it, I guess. But only if you really know what you’re talking about. Oh, and try not to talk about the themes of your book – talk about the story.
2 comments:
Many thanks SMOTV!! And to Jon the agent. Seems the whole submission thing can be an emotional process which, when it meets the practical nature of the biz head-on can lead to tears or (worse) despondency in the more sensitive of us kind. Will try to go forward with a fearlessness that matches the best (and possibly worst) of my writing.
Very interesting advice. I don't much like writing a synopsis either, but I think that's partly because I see it as trying to sell the novel. However, once I changed my atttitude, I found them easier to write.
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