Thousands of writers submit their books to literary agents every year, but only very few are chosen. Why is this, and how can you give yourself the best chance?

Part Two: The Synopsis

A synopsis is the second part of your submission to an agent in that if you nail your submission letter (discussed in Part One) they will next read the synopsis of the story of your book.

For this series, I am discussing fiction books, as there is a completely different type of synopsis for a non-fiction book, specified in detail on each agency website.

However, a fiction synopsis is pretty much the same for each submission, and it is possible to nail a one-size-fits-all if you really work on it.

What are the basics of my synopsis?

  • A synopsis should not be more than one letter/A4 page long, double-spaced, in a decent font such as Times, Times New Roman, Garamond, or Caslon.
  • Use a ‘serif’ font, that is, one that has little bits coming off the letters like this one, compared to a font like Arial, that does not, and is known as ‘sans serif’. The synopsis should be written in 12pt size.
  • The synopsis should be easy to read and quick to understand.
  • You’re looking at not more than 350 words for the whole thing. Daunting, huh?

How do I structure my book synopsis?

1. All stories have a beginning, middle, and an end. Now you have to define them. Write one sentence to describe the beginning of your book, naming your main protagonist (this is a fake book I just made up now):

“Jessica, 17,  a student, lives by the sea in New England. She loves mermaids, and wants to be a marine biologist.”

2. Then define the inciting event. To define what the inciting event is, ask yourself ‘what happens that changes everything’. So:

“One night after a huge storm destroys Jessica’s beachside study, she salvages her research only to find a handsome merman, Algo, trapped in her nets.”

3. Now, what happens next? Define the main issue or challenge arising from the inciting event, as well as main challenging characters in that scenario.

“As Jessica and Algo fall in love, Jessica must keep Algo’s magical secret of his legs changing to a tail in the water, as her football-playing ex Brad gets suspicious.”

4. How does the challenge come to a head?

“When Jessica brings Algo to the end of term dance, Brad and his gang tip water over Algo, turning him back into a merman on the dancefloor.”

5. How does your main protagonist get out of it?

“Jessica’s mom Anita arrives, driving Algo back to the sea, chased by the townsfolk in vehicles, wanting to examine Algo. Algo, slightly injured, dives into the sea and escapes.”

6. Now we want the low point of the tale.

“Time passes, and there is no sign of Algo, and Jessica is forced to hide from the reporters and police knocking at her door.”

7. How does the story resolve? This is the ending.

One night, she sees a meteor shower, and goes to the beach to view it. Algo dives out of the water, and they are reunited, making a promise to always meet on the nights when there are meteor showers.”

What should I leave out of my synopsis?

  • You’ll note there are no emotions here. They don’t belong in your synopsis, and should be evident from the plot points.
  • Don’t leave the agent guessing about anything. Never use ‘…’ as a mystery, e.g. “and then…The End”. The agent needs to know everything about your story. Spoilers are moot here.
  • We don’t need to know absolutely everything that happens, only the events that drive the story along.
  • This is not the place to sell the genre, so we don’t need to know “In this mermaid YA romance adventure…”. This will be evident alongside your letter.
  • Don’t try to sell your book here. It should be basic and concise and only discuss the story points.

Synopsis Presentation

  • Once you have the basics, you can now work into it, adding any more detail you think is important, and finalize the document.
  • You should also bold or capitalize the names of the characters.
  • Use a fresh sheet and make sure you have justified-aligned your text, and that your paragraphs are spaced and flush to the side with no indents. Paragraphs are indented in narration, not when you are presenting a bulleted document.

Mermantic by Adele Prees – Synopsis

JESSICA, 17,  a student, lives by the sea in New England. She loves mermaids, and wants to be a marine biologist. One night after a huge storm destroys Jessica’s beachside study, she salvages her research only to find a handsome merman, ALGO, trapped in her nets. As Jessica and Algo fall in love, Jessica must keep Algo’s magical secret of his legs changing to a tail when they are in water.  Her football-playing ex BRAD, 19, gets suspicious when he notices she spends all her time at the beach.

When Jessica brings Algo to the end of term dance at her college, Brad and his football team tip buckets of water over Algo, turning him back into a merman on the dance floor. Jessica’s mom ANITA arrives, and confesses she knows there are mermaids in the bay. Anita drives Algo back to the sea, chased by the townsfolk in vehicles, wanting to examine Algo. Jessica tells him he must leave for his own safety. Algo, slightly injured, dives into the sea and escapes.

Time passes, and there is no sign of Algo, and Jessica is forced to hide from the reporters and police knocking at her door. One night, she sees a meteor shower, and goes to the beach to view it. Algo dives out of the water, and they are reunited, making a promise to always meet on the nights when there are meteor showers.

When you are happy with your synopsis, make sure it looks right on the page, and save it as a separate document to attach to your submission.

Read Part Three of this series – The Book Sample

Read Part One of this series

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