Kroniikles- The Spear Prophecies-Synopsis

[BSCVadhan]

[FONT=&quot]Hi all,

I started writing a synopsis of my book, a honest to God piece of writing explaining the book. It was based on the advice in books, past masters and wizards et all. I did not like the result. I did not know if a publisher or an agent would even be interested in looking at it. I took a chance and wrote to a few. I was proved right. I went back to the drawing board and this is what I've come up with. Honestly, I do realise it sounds like a blurb or a brief at the back of a book, but then, that's what readers see before they buy a book, that's what a publisher ought to see or an agent for that matter.

So its short, just two paragraphs, but I have a feel about this. Tell me if I am right or wrong!
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Synopsis[/FONT]
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[/FONT] [FONT=&quot]Aswathaman failed to kill the royal foetus at the end of the war. When he was captured he expected to be executed. He was wrong. They made him live an unnaturally long life; worse, his wounds from the war never did heal. The only thing going for him was self loathing and hate. Thus, he roamed like a wild animal from cave to cave and marsh to mountain, hiding from the world and killing the few he chose to; that was until ‘the other’ broke free from a hellish prison. [/FONT]
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His name was Kroni, a beast more powerful than all the worlds of power put together. He wanted to destroy them, his revenge for being held a prisoner, for being turned into a bloodless anaerobe, a creature surviving without air and water. No one’s seen Kroni inside his cloak of shadows, no one knows he exists and absolutely no one can stop him, except Aswathaman that is. He stands between Kroni and certain destruction. Succeeding in saving the worlds assures his redemption, if Aswathaman fails we die and fail he will, unless he finds the Spear of Kanda, the one device that may slow down Kroni.[/FONT]
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The rest is Kroniikles- The Spear Prophecies.[/FONT]

 

[chopper]

yep, that's a blurb. very different to what publishers and agents expect from a synopsis. a good synopsis is hard to write, but a good starting place might be to say: can you condense each chapter of your book into a single sentence?
eg: [these bits as reference only, not to be included in the synopsis].

[prologue] Surrounded on all side by enemies hungry to strip her of her newly-inherited lands, the Fifth of Ash casts a deperate summons for a guardian and protector. [chapter one] John Reever, a young luckless thief from the council estates of Leeds, suddenly finds himself alone in an abandoned crypt, with only a long-dead corpse for company. Stripping the corpse of the ancient sword and gauntlet it carries, not realising that they have properties both magical and cursed, [chapter two] he falls in with Aelia and the Grey Cliff Markers, and helps save them from an attack by the ragbaggers that are pursuing them.

of course, you also need an introductory paragraph before that, introducing the story: what genre is it, who do you think it will appeal to, what are the most important themes, is it a standalone work or part of a series, etc.

you really need to sell it in detail. publishers have a marketing department to create the blurb (as much fun as it can be to write it yourself!).

obviously, other opinions are available

 

[BSCVadhan]

Hey,
Thats part of the query letter. My query letter, that goes with the synopsis has the genre, the number of words, the kind of authors et all. for one, my book has 104 chapters.

Secondly, the first para is the synopsis, the second para is a condensation of the rest of the book.

Thanks a ton for the input!

 

[chrispenycate]

A synopsis carries the entire story of the book (with spoilers); this introduces two of your characters, in slightly greater than necessary detail. Generally, a synopsis contains so much condensed information that is almost pure datadump; not exciting or interesting to read for the general public, but telling a professional reader almost everything that goes on in the story, although this doesn't imply it should be badly written.

This stops before most of the players have reached the stage, before the action starts, or the first lines of dialogue are spoken. I'm convinced I saw a couple of stagehands scuttle into the wings after doing some final touches to the scenery. In the same length you must concentrate love and death, quest and discovery, the assembling of the company and the fractures within it; you can't afford to wax lyrical, but must never bore, or preach (boy, am I going to have problems when my first book is organised enough to need a synopsis.)

You haven't space in this for marshes, caves or planes of existence; if you can Manage "accursed, immortal Aswathaman" as a character description, that gives the reader a pretty good basis. Remember how much more he needs to know to before he can get a faint idea of what your multiverse is like; you're not writing a romance novel set in a known environment, like sixties Manhattan, you've deities, enchanted weapons, six spare universes, cosmic dissolution and hip-hop to explain and integrate into a very small space.

See, I can do a post without correcting your punctuation.

 

[chopper]

you've deities, enchanted weapons, six spare universes, cosmic dissolution and hip-hop to explain and integrate into a very small space.

most of which i'm fine with, but the hip-hop might take some explaining...

 

[BSCVadhan]

Chris,
I am at my wits end here. If I write a good old synopsis, I dont if I will attract a single agent in this universe, let alone the other six. Since the book revolves around these two central characters, I thought I should focus on them. But you are right. If I'd known this I would not have included nine heros.

Ok....lemme get right back to the drawing board. We did write a synopsis between the both of us. I'll see how I can perk it up.

thanks a ton! this is your first post on my writing without commenting on my punctuation, it means either that I am improving or you've given up on me!

Cheers,
Sai

A synopsis carries the entire story of the book (with spoilers); this introduces two of your characters, in slightly greater than necessary detail. Generally, a synopsis contains so much condensed information that is almost pure datadump; not exciting or interesting to read for the general public, but telling a professional reader almost everything that goes on in the story, although this doesn't imply it should be badly written.

This stops before most of the players have reached the stage, before the action starts, or the first lines of dialogue are spoken. I'm convinced I saw a couple of stagehands scuttle into the wings after doing some final touches to the scenery. In the same length you must concentrate love and death, quest and discovery, the assembling of the company and the fractures within it; you can't afford to wax lyrical, but must never bore, or preach (boy, am I going to have problems when my first book is organised enough to need a synopsis.)

You haven't space in this for marshes, caves or planes of existence; if you can Manage "accursed, immortal Aswathaman" as a character description, that gives the reader a pretty good basis. Remember how much more he needs to know to before he can get a faint idea of what your multiverse is like; you're not writing a romance novel set in a known environment, like sixties Manhattan, you've deities, enchanted weapons, six spare universes, cosmic dissolution and hip-hop to explain and integrate into a very small space.

See, I can do a post without correcting your punctuation.

 

[BSCVadhan]

One of the characters is an ageless sage who loves rap music. Unfortunately, he is a bad singer.

most of which i'm fine with, but the hip-hop might take some explaining...