Synopsis critique - please help beat sense into it

[terry j]

actually, pysloke, im not sure it would matter too much how WELL anyone rewrote someone else's synopsis. my prob is getting rid. it wouldnt be the quality of writing that might help but the revised choice of content/what they threw out? if someone picked out the mainstream story better, then i could revamp to taste from that.

so it might be a better challenge to edit down to between 1-2 pages, for the original author to see what gets cut? terry

 

[Psyloke]

Yes you're right. I'm not saying I would take someone else's synopsis of my work and run with it, no matter how good a writer they were; I'd no doubt feel compelled to re-write/edit it to make it my own. But as you say, to get another person’s POV on what they would take and condense from your story, which parts they'd focus on and how they'd succinctly get the main plot across would, I feel, be very beneficial to help get some objectivity back after being saturated with your own material.

 

[TheEndIsNigh]

Psyloke: I think you will have to let go at some time. Let's face it, if a publisher does have a sniff at your book then you will be handing it over and they will be tinkering in all sorts of areas including the actual story and the back cover synopsis from what Teresa says (who even as we post is considering wisely the merits of a synopsis critique section in aspiring writers).

Course you should worry, as you'll be lying on some coral island having grapes peeled by some scantily clad young thing as you relax and collect the royalties.

Any worry about the hunk of your soul you put into the work will have long gone

Or so we all hope

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

(who even as we post is considering wisely the merits of a synopsis critique section in aspiring writers)

You should really take up the matter with dustinzgirl, as a more suitable recipient of your blandishments. She and littlemissattitude are in charge of the Aspiring Writers forums, but LMA is a bit overwhelmed with personal matters just now, so dusty would be your best bet. Of course the final decision would be Brian's.

Of course I'm perfectly happy to accept the chocolate and flowers on their behalf. I'll ... um, be sure they get them.

 

[Psyloke]

Psyloke: I think you will have to let go at some time. Let's face it, if a publisher does have a sniff at your book then you will be handing it over and they will be tinkering in all sorts of areas including the actual story and the back cover synopsis from what Teresa says

It's not about me letting go of what I've written, hey if a publisher offers me a contract but also wants to change a bunch of things that wouldn't bother me in the slightest! This is just about how to design the best presentation of a writer's work (covering letter, synopsis, first however many pages etc) so it'll grab someone's interest.

I've sent my samples off to a few publishers/agents now, and although I did get a good response from one publisher in particular, most returned my work so quickly I dont think they read beyond the initial letter. Which is my point: if the novel itself is awful, fine, that sucks but it's life and I can move on.. but if it's just my sample letter/synopsis that sucks, how do I improve on that to get them interested enough to read the actual novel?

Anyway there's been some great advice here and I plan to try again with a rewrite at some point.