Query and Synopsis Advice from Treehouse Publishing Group: Stay Focused

During the July Saturday Writers meeting, Kristy Blank Makansi and Jennifer Dunn Stewart of Blank Slate Press and Treehouse Publishing Group spoke to a packed house about “Knocking on the Door: The Query and the Synopsis.”

I’ve been to several presentations on this topic, but I have to say this one was exceptional. What I most appreciated was that they geared their talk toward helping and educating writers rather than highlighting the services their business offers.

 

The duo worked well as a team, each stating their individual approach and preferences, which gave a balanced perspective to what editors look for in query packages.

At the end of their presentation they read and discussed a handful of query letters submitted by audience members. What stayed with me most about the reading of the query letters was one word: FOCUS!

As usual, I took pages of notes. Here are some dos and don’ts from their presentation.   

 

Do:

Focus on the writing and trust your instincts.

Put some distance between completing your manuscript and submitting to an agent or an editor.

Remember that writing is an art; publishing is a business.

Understand your genre: Writing what you love to read will help you understand the market. Writing your query letter will help you understand your manuscript.

Keep your query to three paragraphs, no more than three sentences each. Paragraph 1: Why are you querying that particular agent? What’s the word count and genre? Paragraph 2: Distill your story in three sentences. (Time and space, the hero, the challenge, the conflict, what is at stake, how the hero changes.)  Paragraph 3: Include a relevant, brief bio with significant publications, if any.  

Keep in mind that a synopsis should be one page, single spaced and include: the set up, the character’s motivation, description of main characters (not tall and blond), main plot points, conflict, emotion, action, snippets of dialogue, black moment, climax, and resolution. Be sure to include the story’s ending.

Always follow agency or publisher guidelines.

Keep it real: You’re not Stephen King.

Remember that your query letter has one job: To get an agent or an editor to read more of your manuscript.

Stay calm and keep your chin up!

 

Don’t

Query before you’re ready.

Get too personal in the bio of your query letter.

Leave the ending off of your synopsis. (An agent or editor needs to know how it ends to be able to sell it.)

Ask an agent or a publisher to sign a non-disclosure form. (It's a turn off and a sign of mistrust.)

Have the word copyright all over the pages. (It’s the mark of an amateur.)

Think you’re the exception to the rule. 

Let the end game influence your craft.

Lose focus.

 ***

 

Jennifer’s and Kristy’s talk inspired me to dig out a manuscript I’d started years ago and had stored in the bottom drawer of my desk. No doubt about it, I'd followed their advice on putting distance between writing and querying. In fact, I’d put way too much distance.  

Using their boilerplate, I wrote a query letter to help me understand my manuscript better. Now I’m inspired to finish my manuscript by the end of the year and edit it early next year.

 

Stay tuned while I try to stay focused!

My Notes from "Book Proposals that Sell" by Dakota Banks

Last Saturday, February 27, Dakota Banks (aka Shirley Kennett) gave an educational presentation to a packed room of Saturday Writers on “Book Proposals That Sell.”

Here are some notes I took during Dakota's information-packed presentation:

· You need an agent to stay out of the slush pile

· Query Letters must be perfect
o No grammar or punctuation mistakes
o Have at least three people read it before sending it out
o It is the first sample of your writing an agent sees
o It is the teaser to entice the agent to ask for more
o Personalize – send to an individual at the agency (not Dear Agent)

· First paragraph – The Hook
o Should have a short, exciting teaser. (Think jacket copy from the back of the book)
o Purpose is to get a reader to request your full manuscript
o Hyped-up mode. Find the “heat” of your story
o Same for nonfiction—exciting, different, new slant on an old topic
o Memoir – same rules apply
o Poetry – rarely uses a query letter, just send the poem

· Second paragraph - for fiction, bio part of protagonist
o Characters sell books as much (or more than) plot
o Here is where it is okay to TELL, DON’T SHOW because you don’t have time to show in this brief space.
o Give the boiled down version of your story
o Tell about characters in an interesting way

· Third paragraph – Business part
o Include your relevant publishing credits
o Tell why you are the best person to write this book
o Mention books the agent has handled
o Include word count, point of view

· Fourth paragraph – Direct request to send more material
o Write: May I send you the complete manuscript or a synopsis and sample chapters?

· Synopsis
o You may include a synopsis with your query letter
o Keep to one page, as if a movie pitch
o Double space
o Write the synopsis in the PRESENT tense
o Start with conception of the book
o Show some emotion - No “heat,” no story
o Don’t include dialogue or subplots
o Include high points - Peak-to-peak, no valleys
o Include resolution
o Can change when writing the book
o Book should be recognizable from the synopsis
o Reveal end of the story
o Voice – engage the reader to cause an emotional response
o Chapter length – end for suspense or tension
o For non-fiction, the chapter outline serves as your synopsis

· Finding an agent
o Look in dedication or acknowledgements of books you like
o Attend conferences
o Ask friends
o Literary Agent guide books

· Questions to ask agents
o Ask practical questions about fees, extra costs
o Updates: how often do they send updates on your manuscript’s progress
o What kind of rights do they pursue (foreign, movie, audio)?
o Subsidiary rights?
o What happens to book sales after termination of the author/agent agreement?

· General comments/suggestions
o Multiple submissions – start with 12
o If an agent asks for a full manuscript, it’s generally an exclusive basis
o Etiquette - Don’t send out full ms to different places
o Be honest when sending material beyond the query letter
o Putting a copyright symbol at the bottom turns off agents
o Publishers copyright the work in your name
o When in doubt, read the publisher’s guidelines
o The Author’s Guild is a great resource, especially to review contracts, but they are not the negotiators of your contract.
o If you’re unhappy with an agent, you can switch, but do so carefully and contact the Authors’ Guild for advice.


Dakota also has a blog, where she shares tips with writers. Later this month I will post an interview with Dakota. Anyone who posts a question or comment for Dakota will have their name entered in a contest to win a signed copy of MORTAL PATH, the first novel in her DARK TIME series.


Here's what bestselling author Steve Berry has to say about DARK TIME: "Seductive, sophisticated, and imaginative, DARK TIME has a multi-dimensional quality with beguiling concepts and a labyrinth of fast-paced suspense. There's food for thought on every fascinating page. Dakota Banks is firing on all cylinders."


Today in St. Peters, MO: Sunny, high 49 degrees.

Query Letters - What's Your Opinion?

Today's forecast for St. Peters: Mostly sunny, high 31 degrees, partly cloudy this evening.
I'm glad it's not supposed to snow tonight because we're going to see Disney on Ice at the Scott Trade Center. (I won free tickets, Yay!)

Now, on to query letters.

There's a discussion on two agents' blogs--Kristen Nelson's Pub Rants and Nathan Bransford's blogspot--about query letters. Kristen's site shares a successful query letter from one of her writers. That same writer has posted on her blog the query letter in the original version and revisions written with the help of someone else--along with the reasons for the suggested changes. The final version is what led to a book deal. I found it enlightening to read all of the versions to see the changes and what worked and what didn't.

Someone on Nathan's asked how he felt about it. The debate centers on the ethics? of having someone other than the writer compose your query letter, or writing a query letter "by committee" in a critique group. There are more than 130 posts on Nathan's blog, so there are some strong opinions on both sides.

Because I belong to a critique group and know how helpful they can be, I think it's a good strategy to run a query by a critique group (or a trusted reader) before submitting it to an agent or editor. In fact, several members of critique groups I've belong to have done just that before sending out their queries (or synopses).

But . . . while getting advice and suggestions from others, such as members of a critique group, can be helpful, I advise writers to be prudent about which advice they use. The bottom line is: the writer should "own" his query letter, and it should reflect the writer's voice so the agent or publisher knows what to expect in the book.

Anyone care to share an opinion on this?