Another Query Question

Angela said:

If this topic has already been covered, please forgive me. I did look, but I didn't see anything that specifically addressed this question.

When you send a query letter to a publisher or an agent, would it be a good idea to send the complete synopsis IN ADDITION TO the query letter?? I know that in most cases, it would be hard to submit the complete synopsis in the one-page generally recommended for the query letter, so would it be acceptable to submit your query letter, limiting it to one page, then also have your 1 - 2 page synopsis included?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!! (Should I have stuck this in the Uncle Jim thread??)

Angi

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Angi- From everything I've learned on this board, I think you only send what the agent(Editor, publisher) asks for. look to see what their guidlines are and send only that. Annie

I wouldn't ever send a synopsis, unless requested.
With a novel, you should send a query and the first three chapter. With non fiction you would send a proposal.

Or do what I did, and send a bio, back jacket copy, and one page excerpt.

Follow the guidelines precisely. Anything more will make it look as if you've failed reading comprehension. My agents says that one of her biggest pet peeves is when people don't follow the guidelines when querying. Be professional.

Guidelines can be found in several places: 2006 Writer's Market book, online publishers or agency web sites, Jeff Hermann's guide book (can't remember the title).

Good luck!

Hi, Angela!

The best way to look at this is to remember that query equals question. The question you're asking an editor or agent is "May I please have permission to SEND a synopsis?" So, no -- generally speaking, you should not send a synopsis with a query. If they are asking for a synopsis in their guidelines, then you're NOT sending a query. You're sending a cover letter with a synopsis. A cover letter states your contact information so the editor or agent can then request a full manuscript. So, the order is:

1. Query letter, with nothing else in the envelope

2. If requested, a synopsis, sample chapters and cover letter.

3. If further requested, the full manuscript and cover letter.

Does that help?

Cathy C said:

Hi, Angela!

The best way to look at this is to remember that query equals question. The question you're asking an editor or agent is "May I please have permission to SEND a synopsis?" So, no -- generally speaking, you should not send a synopsis with a query. If they are asking for a synopsis in their guidelines, then you're NOT sending a query. You're sending a cover letter with a synopsis. A cover letter states your contact information so the editor or agent can then request a full manuscript.

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Your first contact with an agent or editor, whether it be with or without a separate synopsis, is a query. Cover letters don't really come into play until you are sending specifically requested material following a successful query. A query provides an overview of the work and the writer and inquires as to whether or not the recipient might be interested in considering that work. Any query letter you send should include a one- to two-paragraph summary of the book, which can serve as a mini synopsis of sorts. If the recipient's guidelines (agent or editor) say to include a synopsis and/or sample chapters with your query, do so. Keep this synopsis short: 2 - 4 pages.

That said, I know several writers who bend the rules a bit by crafting a one-page synopsis and including it with every query letter they send out without a "full" synopsis. One page isn't overwhelming to the person receiving the query and can often provide said recipient with a much better feel for the work. Of course, this one-page synopsis must be as engaging and compelling as possible (the writers I know who use them often spend weeks developing and honing theirs) and leave the reader wanting to know more. If interest is expressed by the recipient, a more extensive synopsis (the 2-4 page one) should be readily available.

Of course, there is always the risk of angering an agent or editor by including this single page synopsis if a synopsis isn't mentioned in the query guidelines. To be honest, I'm not sure I'd want to be represented by someone with the kind of hair-trigger personality necessary to summarily dismiss a work simply because I included a one-page synopsis with my query, but that's an individual choice.

Beth

A query provides an overview of the work and the writer and inquires as to whether or not the recipient might be interested in considering that work.

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This is actually why I'm saying that the letter that accompanies a synopsis is not a query as that term is understood by writers. The synopsis takes the place of a query, by providing an overview of the work. You normally wouldn't do both -- have a query letter with a summary and then ALSO a synopsis with a more detailed summary. A cover letter encloses a synopsis and provides information for further contact. I think that calling both a query confuses an awful lot of new writers, so they don't know end up knowing what to do.

JMHO, though -- as always!

Beth, the agents I've met, and several more that I've encountered online, use assistants, interns, janitorial staff... just about anyone they can find, to screen their query letters.

Wouldn't you be afraid of encountering an unpaid intern with instructions to automatically reject anything that doesn't match the agents guidelines? Even a happy-go-lucky agent might have an anal retentive assistant.

cwfgal said:

Of course, there is always the risk of angering an agent or editor by including this single page synopsis if a synopsis isn't mentioned in the query guidelines. To be honest, I'm not sure I'd want to be represented by someone with the kind of hair-trigger personality necessary to summarily dismiss a work simply because I included a one-page synopsis with my query, but that's an individual choice.

Beth

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I don't think it is so much a "hair trigger" thing as it is a "if they can't follow simple instructions, what next?"

Cathy C said:

This is actually why I'm saying that the letter that accompanies a synopsis is not a query as that term is understood by writers. The synopsis takes the place of a query, by providing an overview of the work. You normally wouldn't do both -- have a query letter with a summary and then ALSO a synopsis with a more detailed summary. A cover letter encloses a synopsis and provides information for further contact. I think that calling both a query confuses an awful lot of new writers, so they don't know end up knowing what to do.

JMHO, though -- as always!

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I always include a synopsis (a 2 - 4 page one) with my initial queries whenever the guidelines say you can OR don't specifically say you can't. I also include a one-paragraph summary of the book in my query letter (and there are some who advocate repeating that one-paragraph summary in any subsequent cover letters as a quick reminder of what the work is but I haven't ever done that). I also throw in the first 3 chapters with my queries anytime I can. If the guidelines don't specifically say not to send them, I send them. I think the more you can give an agent or editor of the work, the better the chances are that they'll want more, assuming the work is up to par, of course. It's worked for me so far.

When I found an agent for what became my first published novel, I included a synopsis with every query I mailed. Out of 29 queries, I had 7 requests for the full manuscript. By comparison, I sent out 50 queries for the novel before that one and didn't send a synopsis to anyone but those whose guidelines specifically requested one (as I recall, this was a handful or so). I had one request for the full ms. Of course it may have been a difference in the quality of the book, the writing, the query...whatever, so I can't say with any certainty that is was the synopsis that made the difference.

Now that I'm once again looking for an agent, I'm still getting better responses to the queries that are sent with a synopsis (this one is two pages long) and sample chapters than I am with queries alone. Two of the queries that went with a synopsis and sample chapters went to agents who said "query only" in their guidelines and both requested the full ms.

Please understand that I'm not advising anyone else to do it this way, just sharing my experiences.

Beth

MarkPettus said:

Beth, the agents I've met, and several more that I've encountered online, use assistants, interns, janitorial staff... just about anyone they can find, to screen their query letters.

Wouldn't you be afraid of encountering an unpaid intern with instructions to automatically reject anything that doesn't match the agents guidelines?

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Not really. If an agency is so overwhelmed with admissions that they must use this as a culling method, I'm not interested in being with them. If I can't pique their interest with the first few lines of my query letter, chances are they'll pass whether I follow their guidelines to the letter or not. And if I do pique their interest, I doubt they'll pass on the work simply because I included a brief synopsis with my query letter.

Beth

Never send a synopsis until they request it. Sell them on the query alone, or on the query plus the first three chapters, or fifty pages, or whatever. But don’t send that synopsis. That’s just another way to reject you without reading the work.

Safe sucks.

No synopsis with a "query." However, if you're sending a partial (sample chapters, etc.) then include a brief (1-2 page) synopsis.

Well, maybe my situation is different. Instead of sending the whole manuscript, I am sending a cover letter to children's publishers with a two page synopsis. I figure I'll save us both time and money if they don't like the story or are not impressed with my writing style. If they do, then they can request the manuscript. I cringe at the thought of sending out a bunch of copies just to have them sit in a slush pile.

On a slightly connected note -

For a particular publishing house, I followed their directions exactly as they printed in the 2006 Writer's Market and sent a one page query letter.

In response, I got (in my SASE) a form letter reply describing how the publishing house wanted manuscripts to be submitted to them. It wasn't in any way the same as what was listed in the Writer's Market book.

So....I guess it wasn't a rejection letter!

Of course, it made me wonder if all query letters got the same treatment at this place and if so, then why state to send a query letter when they could have said 'this is how you get manuscript submission guidelines'. Or, better yet, why not put THAT info in the Writer's Market?

<still in the process of trying to juggle five balls and a chainsaw while blindfolded and balancing on one foot on top of a giant red ball as it rolls across a thin wire line...also known as trying to find a publisher for my book>

Just follow the publisher's submission guidelines - what, if you'll forgive my curiosity, makes your situation different?

sarah s said:

Well, maybe my situation is different. Instead of sending the whole manuscript, I am sending a cover letter to children's publishers with a two page synopsis. I figure I'll save us both time and money if they don't like the story or are not impressed with my writing style. If they do, then they can request the manuscript. I cringe at the thought of sending out a bunch of copies just to have them sit in a slush pile.

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thanks for the laugh, my immortal. I know how you feel.

I've always assumed that a Query letter was distinct from a Manuscript, so what was the problem?

Maybe those who were rejected received a rejection and not instructions on how to submit a muanuscript.

Just an observation, based on your posting.

My-Immortal said:

On a slightly connected note -

For a particular publishing house, I followed their directions exactly as they printed in the 2006 Writer's Market and sent a one page query letter.

In response, I got (in my SASE) a form letter reply describing how the publishing house wanted manuscripts to be submitted to them. It wasn't in any way the same as what was listed in the Writer's Market book.

So....I guess it wasn't a rejection letter!

Of course, it made me wonder if all query letters got the same treatment at this place and if so, then why state to send a query letter when they could have said 'this is how you get manuscript submission guidelines'. Or, better yet, why not put THAT info in the Writer's Market?

<still in the process of trying to juggle five balls and a chainsaw while blindfolded and balancing on one foot on top of a giant red ball as it rolls across a thin wire line...also known as trying to find a publisher for my book>

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My-Immortal said:

For a particular publishing house, I followed their directions exactly as they printed in the 2006 Writer's Market and sent a one page query letter.

In response, I got (in my SASE) a form letter reply describing how the publishing house wanted manuscripts to be submitted to them.

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Treat that letter as a request for your ms. Send it to them, thanking them for their interest.

Bufty said:

I've always assumed that a Query letter was distinct from a Manuscript, so what was the problem?

Maybe those who were rejected received a rejection and not instructions on how to submit a muanuscript.

Just an observation, based on your posting.

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I did think that, but the general form letter read more like a generic manuscript guideline (including such things as making sure the text was typed, included a SASE etc).

Perhaps in my naivete I assumed that a positive reply to a query letter would have been something more than a form letter reply (again, it really seemed like the manuscript guidelines you would request via mail if you couldn't find them online) - perhaps something that actually had my name on it (instead of 'Dear Author') and perhaps some reference to the name of my book.

Of course, it doesn't hurt to follow the manuscript guidelines and send them something - it just would have been nice if they had been just a bit more specific.

Julie Worth said:

Treat that letter as a request for your ms. Send it to them, thanking them for their interest.

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Okay - sounds good. Thanks a lot for the advice.

Hmmmm....do they have a smiley that blushes? I feel a bit silly....(but darn it, if it really is a request then they shouldn't do it in a form letter!)

My-Immortal said:

Okay - sounds good. Thanks a lot for the advice.

Hmmmm....do they have a smiley that blushes? I feel a bit silly....(but darn it, if it really is a request then they shouldn't do it in a form letter!)

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I've gotten form letter requests for partials; I think it's not that unusual. I've also gotten terse emails, like, send it to me. Send what? But I always read these in the most liberal way: Of course she meant the ms, what else! In any case, here you have nothing to lose.