The Word Cloud

4 Comments

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  by Busypen 2 years ago

  HI
  
  ALways find the script is easier to write than the synopsis. If you have FINAL DRAFT there is an outline example which gives a rough idea of what to put in a synopsis. But length will depend on where you are sending it. Usually have two, one a full page, and then a detailed one which can ramble on forever, but contains the complete plot, action, and location details.
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  by AlanP 2 years ago

  I think the reason why it is prefereable to get an agent rather than a publisher is very much to do with what is possible. An agent can be induced to look at your work, consider it and help you with it, including interesting a publisher. Generally speaking publishers no longer review work sent in to them by authors they don't already know (known as the slush pile). They listen mainly, if not only, to agents.
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  by anaisnais 2 years ago

  An agent kind of adds persuasion to putting your work to a publisher. They have regular contacts and good reputations at stake so a publisher is more assured of taking work from them than the lengthy alternative of trying to get them to view your own work. An agent will also work with you to get the best you can out of your work and then to promote your place int he market to publisher. If more critical areas show, an agent usually will point you to good editor for further work. Have just mailed my own work (Poetic Whispers by A-M Docherty) to Publishing agency on Thursday and waiting for them to come back to me, in the meantime they have given me biography and synopsis to work on...oh yes and word counts. Hope this clarifies a little for you, nd helps you find a way through to suit your own specific needs. Good luck!
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  by EmmaD 2 years ago

  "I've missed so much out already"
  
  The key to writing a synopsis is not to think in those terms. The detail doesn't matter. What you're trying to convey is the main journey of the main characters. Who are they, what sets them off, what are the MAIN things which happen, and how, roughly, does it finally resolve itself. The sample chapters are about showing that you can write and create characters. The synopsis must show that you have a plot, all the way to the end, and that everything that happens is powering the characters through it.
  
  One way to get at it is to start from the other end. Describe the book in a sentence: who the main character is, what they want, what gets in the way. Then do it in a paragraph. That'll probably mean you introduce the MC's beloved, the main enemy, and something about where the story goes. Then do it in two paragraphs... By the time you've done that, having a whole page to do it in will seem positively lavish.
  
  As far as why get an agent is concerned, there are lots of reasons. Some are:
  
  Many of the big publishers, or certainly most of their imprints, no longer accept un-agented submissions of fiction and memoir.
  
  Publishers get even more submissions - their slushpiles are even bigger - and have even less time to read them, than agents get and have.
  
  Even thought your MS must be as oven-ready as you can make it before you submit it, an agent will help you polish it even further, and in the direction of saleability. They know what editors are looking for at the moment - that's their job, and what they spend a lot of networking time finding out.
  
  An agent knows which editors are likely to like your work: and so the editors will read it quickly, because they know that agent would only be sending it if it is likely to be the right thing.
  
  Agents consistently get bigger offers from publishers than individual authors do.
  
  Agents know how to negotiate: would you know how much more the advance should be for World Rights, than for UK and Commonwealth? And how about subsidiary and translation rights - the publisher will want them, and if you're on your own you can't sell them. But an agent can, which is more money for you, and sooner (for reasons I won't bore you with now).
  
  Agents know about publishing contracts. So do the Society of Authors, of course - in fact you should get them to look over your agency contract, but after that you can rely on your agent.
  
  An agent will keep an eye on whether your publisher is doing their stuff. Books live or die by marketing and promotion: would you know what to expect, what to try to argue for, what to roll over and die with gratitude for? Your agent will.
  
  Editors move and change and leave. Your agent is the longest-term relationship you'll probably ever have in the book trade, and the one whose interests are closest to yours.
  
  You need to have, if possible, a friendly, creative and supportive relationship with your editor and through her with your publisher. This is not so easy to do if with the other hand you need to beat them over the head to get the cover changed or sort out distribution. With an agent, they can do the beating, you can do the friendly thing...
  
  Fundamentally, unless you're exceptionally savvy, positively like reading the Bookseller, and can cut a terrific deal without losing your cool or wasting time and angst which would be better spent writing more and better novels, you need an agent. Worth anyone's 15%, I'd say.