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August 2006
The Writer's Quest, part 7
I thought I would discuss two aspects of the submission package this month; the synopsis and the author biography. Yes, indeed, I am really putting together the submission instead of just talking about it. No, really! Why are you laughing?
The synopsis is supposed to be a short, two or three paragraph outline of the basic plot of the story. It needs to convey enough of what the story is about for an editor to know how to class the manuscript, and hopefully to interest him or her in reading it.
I think it was easier writing the entire story than trying to figure out the synopsis. Summing up 26 chapters of a manuscript in 3 brief paragraphs without either being too vague or too wordy is tricky at best. After all, we could sum up many stories with the simple, "Boy meets girl, they fall in love, they get married." That is brief and accurate, but it doesn't do much to generate interest in reading the whole story.
The synopsis has to be something between the teaser and the chapter-by-chapter outline. It's part of the sales-pitch. The submission package isn't just trying to convince someone to read the story. It's trying to convince someone to invest in the manuscript. Whether it's an agent or an editor, the synopsis has to give them a reason to think the book is marketable; that enough people will want to buy it and read it that it's worth spending the money to edit and publish.
It's subjective, too. The same synopsis may appeal so little to one editor or agent that they don't bother to even read all three paragraphs, while for another it will make them ask for the entire manuscript. There is unfortunately no "set formula" that guarantees success.
At the same time, they want to know something about the author. They get a feel for the person based on the past experience and education the writer has, and perhaps as well by how he or she comes across. I would not be surprised to learn that editors have made the choice between two otherwise comparable manuscripts based on one author sounds easier to work with than the other.
The biography, of course, has to be serious. Taking the same kind of light-hearted attitude as I took with my bio here on Collector Times is not a good idea. Editors also want to know that you're serious about your writing, and when they ask you for something you're not going to blow it off as a big joke. Good humor is one thing, but again, publishing is a business. If an author doesn't take the business of getting a manuscript ready to print seriously enough, he or she may be wasting the publisher's money needlessly.
I hope to have my first submission package sent out by the time you read this. It will likely be 2 to 3 months before I hear anything back, and it won't surprise me to receive a rejection letter. In fact, based on the experiences of many successful writers, it would surprise me more to receive an acceptance letter right away instead. The odds are my submission package is going to be revised and (hopefully) improved over time, and tailored as necessary to the intended recipients.
It's going to be an 'E' Ticket ride, and those of us old enough to remember know those were the most fun and the most thrilling rides.
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