The first synopsis
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Also make sure the synopsis summarizes the entire story, including the ending. My biggest mistake at first was writing synopsis that were more like jacket blurbs than summaries.
And write it in present tense, no matter how the novel is written.
Also, a one-page synopsis should read more like a back-cover summary (or front-flap summary) than a blow-by-blow description. Don't withhold details, but make it exciting and enticing.
Miss Snark was fond of saying that a synopsis is just a way of checking to see that the story doesn't go off the rails down the line (when "the aliens arrive at the farm in Chapter 14"). I'm not sure she's right--most agents are jerks and may read nothing but the synopsis--but I am sure that what agents want is to be enticed or reassured by the synopsis.
Also, a one-page synopsis should read more like a back-cover summary (or front-flap summary) than a blow-by-blow description. Don't withhold details, but make it exciting and enticing.
Miss Snark was fond of saying that a synopsis is just a way of checking to see that the story doesn't go off the rails down the line (when "the aliens arrive at the farm in Chapter 14"). I'm not sure she's right--most agents are jerks and may read nothing but the synopsis--but I am sure that what agents want is to be enticed or reassured by the synopsis.
This is a mistake many writers (including myself) make at first. A back-cover summary won't describe the entire book including the ending. Your synopsis should. They really are two different animals. A back-cover summary is meant to entice a reader to buy a book. A synopsis to an agent is meant to excit them to read your book but also to show them you can plan and plot an entire story from beginning to end.
At least that's what an editor told me and I started to sell a lot more after I stopped thinking of my synopsis as cover copy.
Though I do I understand your point. It should be written in the same enticing manner.
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My main point is, you gotta tell them how it ends in synopsis. It took me a while to figure this out. 
(Actually an editor told me.)
A synopsis should not end in cliff hanger... (Where cover copy might.)
(Actually an editor told me.)A synopsis should not end in cliff hanger... (Where cover copy might.)
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Right, but I think David I meant was that it shouldn't be a dry blow-by-blow "he does this, and then he does that, and then this happens." It should be written in prose form -- make it engaging. But like John said, the synopsis MUST reveal all major plot points, introduce all major players, and tell the ending. Yes, it must tell the ending.
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