The Other Write Stuff
So you’ve written the great American novel. Congratulations. A lot of hard work, maybe long days or nights went into it. It’s finally ready for the rest of the world to see it. Now what?
The truth is, your work’s not done. You’ve still got to convince someone (or many someones) that it’s worthwhile turning your manuscript into a book.
Sure, you can self-publish, but then how many people will see it or, hopefully, buy it? If you expect to go the traditional route, you’ll need to convince an agent to take you on, and the agent needs to convince an editor for a publisher, who then has to convince the team that decides what the punisher will print and distribute where and when. And there will be copy for the back cover to write, and maybe acknowledgements and a foreword.
Your agent or publisher will also want a cover letter (introduction to your novel/story/project) a synopsis (summary of the story, listing the characters and their motivation, goal, and flaws. The synopsis will probably be the hardest thing to write. You need to condense thousands or words into 150 to 1250 words, not only what happens to whom, but also explaining everything, including the ending (you mustn’t tease “and then, suddenly…”)
And you need a short bio, maybe just 100 words. The bio should be easy as it’s short. It helps if you have publishing credits, but you don’t absolutely have to have them if your story is strong, unique, or fits into the current zeitgeist.
You’ll likely also send a sample of your story. The request could be anywhere from the first page to the full manuscript.
And, chances are, you’ll need multiple samples of different lengths, depending on the needs of the agent or publisher.
Even shorter yet is the logline, often expected to be under 35 words (and sometimes suggested to be even shorter), like this one for Jaws: “A small-town police chief must stop a massive great white shark that is terrorizing the community’s beachgoers.” (17 words
Or this one for “To Kill a Mockingbird: “When an innocent black man is accused of raping a white girl in a depression-era south, an idealist lawyer must defend him against a society certain of his guilt.” (29 words)
