What is a synopsis?

I can forgive a lot of faults with submissions: query letters that ramble on, query letters that don’t introduce the work or the writer properly, the odd typo… However, one of the most frustrating things with a submission is when the synopsis is simply not.

So, what is a synopsis?

For a start, it is not a blurb.

• A blurb is that teaser piece of writing that appears on the back of books to entice readers to want to read them. This is a piece of marketing writing aimed at readers.
• A synopsis is also a piece of marketing writing, but it is one aimed at introducing your novel to agents and editors. We don’t want to be “teased”. We want the facts.

A synopsis must:

• be no longer than a page, about 500 words (my preference – some agents and editors prefer longer synopses)
• include the main plot turning points
• introduce the main character(s), their goals and their “problem” (which the story will “solve”)
• include how the story is resolved i.e. how it ends

A great synopsis will:

• read like a story in its own right
• give a flavour of the style and pace of the story
• show the main character(s) growth arc / emotional development
• leave out the names of the secondary characters
• leave out the secondary plots (unless they are essential to mention to explain the main plot)

How authors get paid

A great blog post from author Kate Hardy explaining how authors get paid.

SWWJ Summer Festival

Yesterday I had a lovely time at the SWWJ (Society of Women Writers and Journalists) Summer Festival in London. Lunch was so delicious, it’s worth sharing the menu! We started with an asparagus and goats cheese tart, followed by salmon with a tomato dressing, and then for pudding, tropical fruits with sorbet.

I was very honoured to be on the top table which such luminaries as Peter Snow, Sir Tim Rice, Baroness Williams, and former editor of Granta, Alex Clark. Over coffee we listened to a very interesting talk by Peter Snow highlighting some ups and downs of his broadcasting career, and then it was time to award the various annual SWWJ writing prizes of which I was there to award the novel writing prize.

I gave a very short talk about what made great novels – in my opinion it’s having outstanding characters and great drama. Not even knowing the names of the winners I’d picked until yesterday, it was super to be able to meet them face to face and congratulate them.

Unfortunately, as timings were running late I wasn’t able to stay for the drama presentation as I had planned. Mary Rensten was debuting a short play, and having met Mary a few years ago at a workshop she gave to Verulam Writers Circle in St Albans, I was delighted to bump into her and have a brief chat.

The SWWJ appear to have a thriving new novelists group organised by Silja Swaby, and as they are open to as yet unpublished novelists, they could be group worth considering if you are looking for support with your novel writing.

Dead Like Her / Murder in Bloom

Dead Like Her by Linda Regan is published by Creme de la Crime today to coincide with Marilyn Monroe’s birthday. Dead Like Her – because the victims are dead ringers for Hollywood legend Marilyn Monroe. Congratulations, Linda, on your third novel!

Meanwhile, on the 18th May, Lesley Cookman’s fifth novel, Murder in Bloom, was published by Accent Press. This is the fifth outing for middle-aged amateur sleuth Libby Serjeant. Congratulations, Lesley!