Critique Section...
The Current Synopsis—Does it
intrigue? Does it explain the story fully and uniquely?
The synopsis is a concise tool to help sell your stories
to prospective publishers or agents. The synopsis
is the first thing publishers will read when they look at your
submission, so
make sure it’s grammatically correct and that everything is spelled
correctly.
Basically, it’s a master summary of
all chapter summaries—the who, what,when, where,and how of your story (leave out the why—this
is not the place to cite
purpose or inspiration). You’ll want to keep it brief (less than a
page), attention
grabbing, and crystal clear.
Because publishers receive so many submissions each day, they rely on
the
synopsis to give them a detailed peek
into the manuscript in order to quickly determine whether or not
this is
something their reading market would enjoy and whether book sellers
would want
to order the book.
This is not a time to 'tease' a reader with what might
happen. This is a time to tell the publisher what will
happen.
A synopsis should always
contain the following:
1. A great hook
to entice readers and make your manuscript stand out from the thousands
of
others in the same genre.
2. Your book’s beginning.
3. The specific conflicts
your lead characters are facing.
4. How they resolve
and survive those conflicts.
5. How your book ends.
Always write a synopsis in the present tense, and
remember: no
flowery prose; no long descriptions;
no secondary characters; no character studies. The synopsis is used to
sell
your plot.
Will the book appeal to children
in the target age range? Are the vocabulary and length appropriate for
the
target age range?
Dialogue (if any)—Describe and
comment.
Mechanics—Grammar/Punctuation/Style:
Conclusion (illustrations, length,
formatting, other):
