Gold3:

Golden Rule No. 3

The power of a synopsis

The synopsis for your book is one of the most important things you will ever compose. I cannot stress enough just how vital it is to get the synopsis right.

Never, never, never send a full typescript to a publisher without first of all letting them read an outline. It should consist of something like a 1,000/2,000 word summary of your book, and then a one paragraph chapter-by-chapter breakdown. Publishers do not have the time or inclination to wade through a full manuscript, particularly from unknown authors.

You may feel that you wish to include the first two completed chapters, just to convince the publisher (and yourself) that you know how to grab the attention with the all-important opening to the book.

If you send me the price of a meal, I will post to you a guidelines synopsis for one of my books which persuaded a publisher to pay an advance of more than £200,000 ($300,000).

Remember that your synopsis is your shop window. With this you must prove that you can capture and hold interest with your words, and that you have a full grasp of the story you wish to tell.

Present it neatly, a maximum 12 A4 pages packaged in a folder, or treble that if you are including the first two chapters. Make sure all facts are correct and that there are no spelling errors.

Packaging and presentation are all-important. The better it is presented the more the publishers will feel they are dealing with a professional writer. Again, if you send a donation to this hungry writer, along with the guidelines synopsis I will include invaluable advice on how to present your work. All for the price of a meal.

You can use single or one-and-a-half spacing on the outline, but double-space any chapters you may choose to include.

Chisel, chisel and chisel away at that synopsis until it is word perfect. You should not only be conveying the facts of the book but also the feel. Whatever you do, make sure it is not boring. If you bore the publisher with 2,000 words he will fear that you will send the readers to sleep if let loose with 100,000 words.

Give the anticipated final word count and the proposed delivery date of the finished copy. It is etiquette but not essential to include a stamped-addressed envelope.

It is usual these days to present your final work on disk in a word-processing text format as well as in typescript (manuscript) with double-line spacing and a one-inch margin either side. Type only on one side of the page. If your idea is good enough, the publisher will happily accept just the manuscript. But it will make life easier for your Editor if you can also submit it on disk.

To protect yourself, put a copyright notice on the title page and end page, and make sure you keep a copy for yourself. Don't forget to add your name, address, e-mail address and a daytime telephone number. If you have a particularly hot and unique idea, it will make sense to send a copy with a postmark to your banker or lawyer/solicitor just in case a plagiarist attempts to steal it. Send it to the publisher by special delivery to underline the fact that it is special.

First of all, of course, you will have cleared the path to a publisher, as you will learn from Golden Rule No 4.

Golden Rule No 3 is to keep your synopsis brief and to the point, and to present it in a professional way. If you are sloppy with your synopsis, the publisher is unlikely to want to see your full m/s.