Are you ready for the challenge? Send us your synopsis and you could receive feedback from one of our editors!
No one really likes to write a synopsis, but it is a useful tool for editors. We refer back to them throughout the publishing process: when writing memos to recommend the stories to senior editors, when filling out the cover art forms, and when writing the back cover copy. We need an organized synopsis that summarizes the story.
We all have different opinions on how long a synopsis should be. Some like 1-2 pages single-spaced, some like 10 pages double-spaced. For our purposes, how about we compromise with 2-3 pages, double spaced, using 12-point size font? Sound good?
In the writing/submission process, you may have faced the blank page and thought, Why do I have to do this? Why can’t I just write the story and let the editor figure out the synopsis? Because it doesn’t work that way. Writing a synopsis guides us so that months after we read your book, we can refer to the synopsis instead of rereading the entire book. Remember how your parents told you to eat your vegetables? Writing a synopsis is a bit like that and will benefit you/us in the long run. It might even help you organize your story.
Here are a few tips for creating your synopsis:
Make a list of all the events that happen. Hero and heroine meet. They both have major issues. He takes her out to breakfast. They fight. She reveals secret baby. He stomps off, she thinks, because he doesn’t love her. He comes back and tells her he just started a trust fund for their child. They live happily ever after.
Those are the main points of the story. Now you can string these sentences together and fill out the main points with a fuller picture of the setting, the characters, and the conflict. While you don’t want to write: This happened, then this, then this, then this little thing, you can provide more minor details to add spice. Bear in mind that the editor wants the highlights. You can also pretend you’re telling an editor the story and just record your words on paper. Before you know it, you’ll be done with those three pages. In fact, it might be much easier than you thought.
One last item to consider: Make your synopsis readable. While it doesn’t have to be edge-of-your-seat gripping, you are allowed to write a synopsis we will enjoy reading. But mostly, make sure you include the highlights.
So, now that you’ve done some pondering, it’s time for you to send us your synopsis. Make us—the editors—excited about your story and the directions it takes. Take us on a journey—a succinct, well-written one you can tell in 2-3 pages (or approximately 500-750 words). Please submit to us at ucanwrite@harlequin.ca by 10:00 a.m. EST Thursday June 18, 2015. Be sure to include in the subject heading: SYTYCW Synopsis Challenge. We’ll randomly pick six to critique June 18 by 2:00 p.m. EST. Good luck!
Join the conversation on Twitter with the hashtag #sytycw, and follow @HarlequinSYTYCW.
3 replies on “Author Challenge! Submit Your Synopsis”
Thanks for the pointers. Loved the ‘eat your vegetables’ reference!
Do you want the synopsis as an attachment or pasted into the body of the e-mail? Thanks!
Hi Mary Jane!
We will accept your synopsis either in the body of the email or as an attached word doc. Good luck!
Comments ( 7 )
I spent the entire shutdown working. Had no time to wind down. I didn’t see my son much when school shutdown. My one co worker was told to stay home for 3 weeks so I picked up her hours. This year has been really crappy.
Ugh, Janell. Here’s hoping the rest of your summer is better.
Thanks for the info, Carol! Everyone is different in how they deal with the shutdown! I stay at home all the time since I don’t work so I haven’t been too effected but my shopping and errands sure have been effected!
Valri, I’ve been doing most of my shopping online. My local Target is still low on some items – mostly cleaning supplies. Grocery store is pretty much back to normal. Most of the dining in our town is outdoor. I can’t imagine have school-age kids!
Wow–getting your creative process on track must have been daunting–especially with “extra-large dog” glad to have you home. You don’t like coffee–I love coffee and have enjoyed my fortifying 2 cups in the morning even more than usual! How as COVID affected your story lines and characterizations? Best Wishes for all releases!
Interesting question, Virginia. You’ll have to tell me if the tone of my “COVID” books changed any! LOL
Life has changed so much! My dad passed Feb 2. The assisted living facility my folks were at went into hardcore lockdown the beginning of March. Mom couldn’t leave her apartment for 4 months! She was on the third floor, Will be 89 in two months & doesn’t use the phone. My husband and I remodeled the lower level completely and moved her in with us July 1. What a life change and difficult transition for the 3 of us! But we’re working thru it!