What do publishers look for when reading a synopsis

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A good synopsis can be the difference between your work being published or your work being rejected. If you want to have your novel published, writing a good synopsis is vital to achieving this. In this article I’ll look at the keys things a publisher looks for in a synopsis for a novel, helping you to understand how you can write a successful synopsis.


Publishers and literary agents don’t initially make the decision to consider publishing based on reading a whole novel, instead they usually decide whether to follow up on a prospective book based on a synopsis, which is often accompanied by a covering letter and sometimes an example chapter. This means the synopsis acts as a sales pitch for your book, and must both grab a publisher’s attention whilst succinctly giving them all the information they want to decide if it is worth considering your novel. It is your chance to give the publisher an overview of your story, and allows them to get a taste of your writing style. Similarly to reading a job application, the publisher should not have to work hard to get the information they want and need.


Genre

This can sometimes be tricky as you may not have had a specific genre in mind when you began writing. However, some publishers may specialise in certain genres meaning that they already have a target market in mind, so saying which genre you consider your book to part of is important. It’s great if you can work this into a short 70-80 word summary of your book with which to start your synopsis.


Set the Scene

Whilst a synopsis is a summary of your work and you shouldn’t include every single element of the plot, you do need to set the scene for the publisher – is your book set on another planet? Is it a dystopian fiction set in time where the state has total control over the populace? Or perhaps it’s a historical novel about a starving family living during the Irish potato famine. Whichever it is, the publisher needs to know the context of the story to fully understand the plot. Doing this often means condensing the information given in the first couple of chapters, which is probably (although not always) where you have set the scene for your reader.


Explain your Narrative Arc

Tell the publisher what happens throughout your story – make sure you include what happens at the end. An easy way to make sure you don’t miss any important elements of your plot is to go through your story chapter by chapter making a note of the key events in each one. The publisher doesn’t want to know every minor plot detail, but be sure to include enough to give a thorough and interesting overview of your story. This should all be written in the present tense and in the third person.


Focus on Central Characters

The publisher wants to know what is it that makes your protagonist/protagonists interesting? How do they develop as the story unfolds? Remember to include your characters in your explanation of your narrative arc.


Keep it Short and Succinct

The publisher is probably receiving lots of submissions so doesn’t want to spend a long time reading through a synopisis. Make sure your synopsis is clearly and logically written. However long the novel is, a synopsis should not be more than three pages long, ideally shorter.


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What do publishers look for when reading a synopsis