I've been negotiating with a publisher for 3 years (yep, three) and today they turn around and say my Synopsis lets down the story. While I have a bunch of issues here, my question is: are there examples of good synopses out there? Because I've written three novels and this is proving almost impossible. Basically, I could really use some help. My synopsis was a list of 35 chapters, with each specific action bullet pointed. For example: Chapter One * Basil drives to work and sees Sue. * John finds out there's a bomb in his toilet. He's really not happy about this. * Daniel's head spins off and the gaming club uses it as a bowling ball. Comments? Regards Stuart
Do what I just did - Google "Synopsis for Publisher", and look at links like the following: http://www.writing-world.com/publish/synopsis.shtml http://www.writergazette.com/linksletters.shtml I haven't tried submitting anything for publication, but there are other members here who have. I would have posted this under the Publishing subforum rather than Plot Creation. Let me know if you would like me to move it there.
Thanks. Super useful. Well, actually not really. Because this is exactly what I've done. So I've NO idea what the publisher wants. Thanks
first of all, i can't believe you've been 'negotiating' with a publisher for 3 years and they haven't even read the ms yet!... so, what's been going on all this time?... next, what you describe is NOT a synopsis... it's a chapter outline... a synopsis is a narrative in present tense, introducing the important characters and laying out [concisely] all the plot elements of the beginning, middle, and end of the book... definitely not done in bullet points, the writing should be compelling and demonstrate your talents/skills as a writer and ability to hold the readers' interest... a synopsis can be as short as a single page or as long as 10 or more... you need to ask how long a one they want... but i doubt this is a legit publisher, or they wouldn't be bothering with you for such a long time without even having requested your ms... what's the name of this infinitely patient press? love and hugs, maia
Hey. Thanks for the comments. I totally hear what you're saying. This is one of the world's largest publishers of mainstream fiction - BUT they have a reputation of taking an incredibly long time to respond. It can take two months just to hear back from an email. I submitted this last draft to them in July... Also, what you're saying is really useful and makes things very clear. I've actually not done that at all, so I should do that tomorrow. I've done quite the opposite to a synopsis and submitted an outline, which is pretty much what I do for other publishers. So thanks! Amazingly useful stuff.
submitted an outline, which is pretty much what I do for other publishers. ...unless those are for non-fiction, an outline is not what they want... you really need to study up more on the business end of being a writer, so you won't be wasting time and energy heading in the wrong direction...
A chapter-by-chapter outline is what they asked for. Now they want a synopsis. Which I think when you've already ascertained the story in the most minute detail, is a bit pointless. But what do I know?
sadly, they're in the catbird seat, so if you want to do business with them, you'll have to kowtow to the idjits and act like you like it...
