Synopsis (ZZZZzzzzz)

From the "how to" thread in SYW:

LENGTH: Different editors and agents have different requirements when it comes to length (Ref 2), so check the guidelines from the agents you're planning on querying. If an agent doesn't specify, shoot for 2-3 double-spaced pages (Ref 13e, Ref 13a), and probably no longer than five (Ref 15l). Remember: a synopsis shows the broad sweep of your plot, not the blow-by-blow; in general shorter is better (Ref 16).

The reference in the above are live links in the actual thread.

I generally just say the shorter the better, and no more than five.

Usually, an outline is a chapter by chapter outline, but it does not have to be more than 5 or 10 pages long. Even 2 pages might do it. Cheers. Elizabeth

Michael Larsen-Elizabeth Pomada Literary Agents
1029 Jones Street, San Francisco, CA 94109
415-673-0939

Click to expand...

I got this response yesterday. She called it a synopsis at first.

I'm not an agent, but if I were, I think I would be both grateful and somewhat more impressed if a writer could tell me what his/her story is about in two or three pages. It would tell me that the writer has a good handle on exactly what his story is.

There are many agents who want a one page synopsis.

That's hard.

It depends on the agent. For the novel I'm currently submitting, I have three different ones: one page, two pages, and a longer version that clocks in at about three and a half. I send them out accordingly.