What order do I paste query, synopsis and pages into an email?

Put it in the order they list it in their submission guidelines

The query absolutely comes first. Check their guidelines for the other two. If they don't list which comes first, put them in the order they list them.

Sage said:

Interesting. If they don't specify, I've always put the synopsis after the pages because it is the least likely to hook the agent.

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That's a good way to look at it, I suppose. Jumps straight from the query to the opening line of the MS. But it feels 'wrong' to me because it's not the order they usually list it. It always seems to be query, (bio), synopsis, pages.

I would suspect that it's probably best to put them in length order. If they want a one page synopsis and one page for your manuscript, you can go either way. If they want a whole chapter, though, you're probably better off doing synopsis first, because they can always quickly scroll past the shorter synopsis if they want to see your work.

At least some agents (this is from their own words) don't read the synopsis until after the pages, regardless of the order. The query piques their interest, the pages show whether you can or can't write, and the synopsis gives the arc of the whole novel.

Again, with what I've read agents know synopses are hard, and their boring, but they aren't meant to be interesting. They are simply designed to tell what happens in the novel as concisely and clearly as possible.

All of which is to say that I was greatly worried about the order of the synopsis/pages when I was querying, too, but I don't really think it matters. The pages matter most, and that's what the agents want to see. (All IMO of course.)

I always do synopsis last because I despise them a secrety hope the agent will love the query/pages enough to request without the synopsis lol. While this probably doesn't work, I'm fairly certain it won't ever lead to a rejection because of the order I submitted the material. If they REALLY want to read the synopsis they can scroll down and find it.

Tromboli said:

I always do synopsis last because I despise them a secrety hope the agent will love the query/pages enough to request without the synopsis lol. While this probably doesn't work, I'm fairly certain it won't ever lead to a rejection because of the order I submitted the material. If they REALLY want to read the synopsis they can scroll down and find it.

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Got a good laugh out of that. Hate writing those darn Synopsis...

I think agents don't expect synopses to hook them (and I think this because of the agents who are like "no, it's okay. A synopsis is supposed to be boring. Just tell me everything that happens, it's cool.") So, I agree, in the order they specify, or Query letter - pages- synopsis. Just seems like a way that makes sense.