How, When & Why to Write Synopses
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- Опубліковано 7 вер 2024
- We've talked a bunch about synopses, but here is a one-stop shop video about How, When and Why you need to write synopses.
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Jessica Faust’s love for books is what first brought her to open BookEnds Literary Agency. It is her desire to be an advocate for all authors that pushed her to create her blog, the BookEnds UA-cam channel and to maintain a vibrant presence on Twitter.
Jessica is proud to have grown BookEnds to an agency that represents authors of all genres for children and adults, allowing her to reach more readers and help more authors and illustrators achieve their dreams.
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Since interning at BookEnds as an undergrad in the summer of 2015, James has (basically) never left. He's just continuously level-up-ed inside of BookEnds. Now he is the Literary Assistant and Social Media Manager for the team. He’s been a reader since his mom gave him the first A Series of Unfortunate Events book and ordered the sequels regularly through Scholastic book orders.
James is currently growing his own list and is actively seeking submissions in adult literary and upmarket fiction, mystery, thrillers, and suspense. He is also accepting submissions in all sub-genres of Young Adult fiction, and is actively looking for Picture Books that make him laugh.
Connect with BookEnds!
Twitter: bookendslit
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Website: www.bookendsliterary.com
Connect with Jessica: bookendsjessica
Connect with James: jmcgowanbks
I love writing my synopses. For me it's like re-living the story (and I always enjoy my own stories) in fast forward.
I love the way you guys interact, which is a huge factor in absorbing the info as a viewer (if that makes sense?). Also very important: the Wonder Woman tumbler.
I second writing the synopsis while writing the manuscript. I find it helps to refer to the synopsis during revisions to help trim the fat
I really appreciate it when agents ask for an synopsis because it feels like they are giving your book every chance they can. Maybe your book has a slow start but an awesome big Finnish the synopsis is giving the agents a chance to see this with there limited time. Think of your synopsis as your second chance for your book. If the agent still rejects it’s okay. At least you have peace that your has had every chance and your book is not a fit for them.
I truly appreciate what Jessica said about writing the synopsis while writing the book. Writing a summary of each chapter when they it's finished, and later compiling them all together, might lighten the burden to some extent. I was writing mine for my chapter book while listening to you guys. I'll query you pretty soon with the synopsis and all! 😀
I really appreciate the "write your synopsis as you go". I'm a tried and true "pantser" and I HAVE to write my synopsis as I go in order to keep up with what I've written so far. It helps keep me focused on (or adapt to) the core themes and story arcs in the story. I think it saves me a lot of time and heartache to do it that way. :)
Very helpful!
One extra question on top of what you just said: when you say I should put my voice into my synopses, does that mean I could (or perhaps should) write it as would write part of the book? What I mean more specifically is: could I write a synopses using the lens of one of my main characters? Their mannerisms, their own way to describe the story - or would that be a bit too much flavour and would conflict with the purpose of it?
Thanks, you folks are grand!
GReat question-- we should have addressed this. No, it should be in third person about the book and characters.
@@BookEndsLiterary I see! Thank you =)
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I literally just rewrote my synopsis right before this video was uploaded. I believe my synopsis was too long at 1100 words (2 pages). Then I saw an example that it's mostly the beats of the story. So I took out my beat sheet out and married the two and knocked that bad boy down to 600 words (barely over a page). I also did some research that book synopsis was recommended to be about 500-800 words long. Is it just your agency that wants the synopsis to be 2-4 pages long or have you found other agencies to be the same?
I thought that the 2-4 pages seemed a little long. I whittled mine down to less than 800 words too.
Thanks for the great info. I dreaded it but once I finished the rough, I was able to condense it enough that it helped me see that my stakes just weren't high enough and I tweeked my story to include it, which led to what I hope is a better query. A nice bonus was that once I had it, without worrying over word count, I could then edit it down to something reasonable.
Love, these videos. So much help. Thank you, please keep them coming.
What helped for me is not calling it a synopsis, but a book treatment. It can then be used as a tool in the writing process. If i have an idea for a book, i write a treatment with pitch, themes arcs and plotlines, getting my idea on paper. Then after finishing each draft i update the treatment. Sometimes, i may even write a treatment (synopsis) for each draft if the changes are significant. Thinking of it as a tool, significantly reduces the pressure.
I can write my synopsis in my own voice? That's the best news I've had all week!
Wow! This is extremely helpful information! Thanks so much! Any chance you two know were we could find an example of a synopsis that’s what you would consider “ideal”?! 🤓🙏
Looking forward to your next video!
It _does_ make sense that creating the synopsis (as you write the book) to help keep you in check and track key plot points as you write-even if you’re a pantser. I didn’t consider this. Never saw it as part of the process, only as an afterthought. Dang! Good advice :)
"I'm smellin' what you're steppin' in"????? 3:59 Too funny, but alas, I agree with that statement.
Thank you for this I never thought about writing a synopses during the writing. As a pantser I always did it at the end ( and hated it), but I totally was blown away by how it was summed in this vlog. I think in all honesty doing it through out would probably make it way easier and less painful at the end. Thank you!
Working through synopses' these past few days I actually got into writing them. ^_^ Thank you for this video *bows*
I'm about to go through my last synopsis as to what I can keep. A large chunk of the story changed, so that means the synopsis changes. Got all different blurb versions to compare, too.
Could y'all do a chat on authors wanting to write in different genres and whether or not "branding" really impacts sales (like if you debut with a fantasy can you later publish a romcom, etc). As someone who enjoys writing in multiple genres, I'm curious if this would be a benefit or a draw back for an agent. Thanks for these! They're so helpful.
Normally you would use a pen name for a different genre.
Love watching your subscribers count go up and up. It’s inspiring
Thank you for the useful tips, as usual! Any advice on writing an ensemble cast synopsis?
I don’t understand why some writers hate writing a synopsis. I feel like it’s easy! Queries are harder!
Maybe you have skills.😄
Write Heroes haha 🤞🏽
Thanks for doing this topic! I feel like everybody talks about query letters but relatively few people talk about synopses. I've noticed some agents ask for a "brief synopsis", while some say "detailed" or "full" synopsis. I'd love any info on the difference between those terms, and what agents want to see in a brief vs a full. Thanks!
I love writing blurbs.
So many useful tips. Thank you very much for one more amazing video!
I'm lost here. You said 2-4 pages, but I've never once been asked for anything other than a 1 page synopsis (prob. 6 or 7 times so far). And putting everything into one page, including my voice, seems impossible to me.
Yes, it's difficult to put a synopsis into one page .But that's what they ask for. I don't know why.
He says, "Yes, I'll NEVER open a synopsis first (5:30). Later says "If you wrote a dynamite synopsis, I want to read the book (7:57). You were absolute you never open the synopsis first, so How can a dynamite synopsis drive you to read the book, if you wont read the synopsis before the book? I'm kind of slow - explain please.
Hi there! I think James is saying that he will either start with the query letter and/or the sample pages (for example, the first chapter or X number of pages of the manuscript) and not the synopsis. Then, after reading the query letter and sample, if he is still interested in seeing where the book goes, he will open the synopsis to see how the book unfolds beyond the sample pages. If that synopsis really wows him (perhaps he finds out that there will be twists that he likes, or it has a trope he enjoys), he will want to read the book in full, and therefore request a full manuscript. I hope this clarifies!
Why can nonfiction books be queried incomplete but not fiction books?
I just saw that u basically asked my question, but in a succinct way. I rambled forever 😂. So thanks for asking this!
Yes I watched the video.
Great tips. I always thought a synopsis was supposed to be just a page. Does it go by agency preference?
Do picture books have synopsis? They’re so short, would the synopsis just be a paragraph?
Do u need synopses for picture book?
Hey I really liked your video, quite informative. However, I noticed that most of the discussion was related specifically to a fiction book's synopsis. It would be really great if you can shed some light on the importance, form, and structure of a synopsis when it's written for a non-fiction book. Thanks :)
That is great information. I don't think it is general knowledge that the synopsis is needed not only for agents but for editors and cover designers as well.
On my first edit I write the synopsis to keep details in check. If you wait too long it gets too hard to harness your plots
How should you best write a synopsis featuring alternating multiple (3) POVs? Would you suggest to write each POV’s story separately or intertwine them as it would be in the book?
I'm writing my synopsis now. When you say it should be written in our own voice, do you mean the author's voice or the voice of the book? Because I'm writing in my protagonist's voice (third-person, limited) throughout the novel. But the second MC has a very different voice. And I, the author, have still another different voice. 🤣 Would you prefer the synopsis to mirror the voice of the book or show the author's personality? I feel like I know the answer, but you know what they say about assuming...
Can my synopsis be an excel spreadsheet?
Authors have to write them for editors/designers/bookshops? Wow. I had no idea
Have a synopsis I like ready to go, BUT the problem is it’s a series; most of what I’ve read says keep the Synopsis to ONE page and I’ve only been able to winnow mine to 1 3/4 pages....should I just synopsize Vol I and do the others as just 1-2 sentences?
I'm late to the game/vid but curious: I've heard/read that novels should have manuscript finished, but that for nonfiction book proposals it may not be necessary. Reason given was that proposals convince agents/publishers that you *should* go ahead and finish the entire manuscript. Does this nonfiction category include memoir or should memoir be approached more like a novel since it's a story? Or does it mean nonfiction like self-help, historical topics, cookbooks, etc? Curious cuz i just finished my entire book proposal (marketing strategies, targets, chap summaries--the worst!) and now it occurs to me that that's not what the advice meant at all! Regardless, I'm glad I did it because it helped me structure things and see what my real story was, beyond the situation. Okay, end of long winded question 🎉
Memoirs are nonfiction.
Hi! Great question! Memoirs and other narrative nonfiction are actually best queried similarly to fiction novels-with a query letter (including comps and a blurb, which should sound like cover copy) and sample pages. Proposals are more for the other types of nonfiction you listed above!
@BookEnds Literary Agency Thanks! Can't wait to tell my mom she was wrong lol (but for the 1st time in ever).
How long should the synopsis be?
What about outlines? Do you need to show an outline?
Unless it's nonfiction, you shouldn't need an outline! A synopsis does the same thing, just in a way that's not broken down chapter by chapter.
You must get a ton of "Faustian deal" puns.....
A writing coach suggested I write a proposal. What does that consist of?
A proposal is for non-fiction. It tells your promotional strategy and platform and book.
That’s what I thought. I couldn’t understand why she wanted me to write a proposal for my novel.
@@patriciagallant8133 I know some big name authors can do proposals, and perhaps if you've published a few books with a publisher there editor may want to discuss the next novel. But a first time author will need a full manuscript.
@@ClintLoweTube I considered that she might be suggesting that I write my intentions for future novels as this is my first novel. I do think I can use the same characters in future novels. I have some ideas. I think working on a synopsis is my first priority now.
Question for you guys, or anyone in the comments. Whoever can answer.
Do you know of eco-friendly agents and publishing houses? I want to go traditional publishing, yes, but I know I'm asking too much if my dream is for my books to go ebook and audiobook first, with a few rare copies on hardback as a kind of price for fans who really want the physical copy. But I wanna go green. Even those physical copies should be made with recycled materials.
I don't hear any agents or publishers speaking of these. So, I ask around. Guys, I'm blind, I miss a lot of information. So, do you know of anything remotely similar to what I'm describing? I'll query them right away.
Thank you! :)
Self-publishing.
the dog said, 'it's more important to have bacon than to know kevin bacon. check out my memoir at - tenderbastard.com"
There was a discussion amongst writers on Twitter about foul language in their own work. Most of them said they do use a lot of swearing. I informed them that most agents and editors do not like a plethora of foul language. I curse like a sailor in my personal life but keep cursing to a minimum in my work.
Any thoughts on this?
:o
Hated it. Hated it big time. It hurt to compress the complex story in 600 words 😳
Sorry, I had to give this a thumbs down. I'm not a fan of the conversational, fly by the seat of the pants discussion. I stopped the video at the halfway mark. After 4 minutes, I learned:
A. Don't ever submit a manuscript without a synopsis;
B. Some people like to have the synopsis written earlier and that's okay.
I got all that in the first 30 seconds. I kept waiting for you to move on, and finally gave up.
I hope you can take this as constructive criticism; you clearly have a wealth of experience between you, and knowledge worth sharing. But please, look at your video before you post as if it were a submission from an unknown author and ask yourself "Do I want to read more, or send it back?"
wow. hundreds of likes, and yours is still the only dislike marring the video. that means you're either a genius or an a-hole!
@@kardsufur2966 not agreeing or disagreeing with ur comment. But that made me literally laugh out loud😅❤