Blog for Bristol Services Intl.

QUESTION (from one of my editing clients):
Do I look for endorsements before I submit the book? What do I tell these folks? Will they want to endorse something that isn’t printed, or accepted? I am sure having their endorsements will help get it accepted, but which comes first…the chicken or the egg?!

ANSWER:
Getting endorsements is a great idea– it adds great impact, when you send in the proposal, if the publisher recognizes either the person or their organization. Find someone whose knowledge and ability in that fiction genre or on a subject withing the book is known and respected. Then write to them.

Whether or not it is published is not important to the prospective endorsee. You just explain why you think they are so great (you love the book they published which is similar in some way–but not competitive; you heard their super speech at a recent seminar; you’ve read all their theories on the subject; whatever fits), your background, what you’ve written and ask if there is any chance they could look over what you have … and if they like it how it would mean so much if they could let you know so you could use their endorsement.

Basically, this is a sales pitch letter to them, but you need to make it sound very personal. Which it is! Because you are asking them a really HUGE personal favor–to take time from their busy life to help you, a complete stranger, out! How will they respond? They agree (of course!), read what you have and simply love it (how could they feel otherwise?) and then send you a note about how great it is (surely!). Which you then use as part of your marketing to publishers. Ahhh … doesn’t that make it all sound so easy!

Okay, so maybe they won’t agree. They may not even answer! But you’d be surprised how often I hear that someone versed on a subject or known in a field of writing IS willing to read and endorse a manuscript from a first-time author. Sometimes, even if they don’t have the time to read it all, they will make helpful suggestions. Even that is a huge bonus for you.  

The worst that can happen is you never hear from them or they say “no.” The best? That you make a special contact and get a useful endorsement. Anything in between is still ever so useful. So plunge on and ASK!

A synopsis is a bit different (awkward, at the least) for a memoir because our lives don’t fit a neat problem/complications/solutions package like a fiction piece does. However, if you are facing submitting your memoir to a publisher or agent, and they want a synopsis, you’ll want to follow the standard synopsis format as much as possible.

FORMAT:
Remember to use present tense and the general rule for length is 2 to 5 double-spaced pages, but be sure to follow whatever length is required by the specific publisher you are submitting to.

ORDER:
Your synopsis does NOT have to follow the chronological order of your book (or life) at all. It is the focus, impact and overall aspects of your life that the synopsis is highlighting, not the exact order of the years and their events. Sometimes explaining the overall impact in your life simply may not fit a neat chronological order.

WHAT TO INCLUDE:
Also you can (and should) simply omit mention of people in your life who don’t carry through the book as a whole. Yes, they may be important as part of the book but you don’t want to include so many facts and people within the synopsis that it could be potentially confusing. For instance, maybe your grandmother was a part of your life for many years, but unless she had a significant impact on your life, you wouldn’t mention her in the synopsis. However, if your grandmother was influential in molding you as a person, even though you knew her only for a brief time, then you would include her in the synopsis. Again, a synopsis covers the highlights and overall people and experiences that impacted your life.

TIP:
One good bit of practice that will gear you up for the synopsis-writing task is to write the book blurb first. This is the 1 or 2 paragraphs typically printed on the back on a book. Read a few of them on your own favorite memoir books and you’ll see the point: the author needs to solidly introduce their life through his or her problems and traits that will be the focus of the memoir. Then slap in intriguing words and details that show the tough decisions or wild adventures inside. If you can pull off a really sharp blurb (hot and active verbs dripping with promised drama, fun or action) you can then write a synopsis! You just start expanding on the blurb, keeping that same seat-of-your-pants tension. Besides, this blurb is not just an exercise: it will become your “hook” paragraph in most cover letters or query letters you’ll send out as well.

Question from a client/writer:
I have been toying around with my query. I feel like it sums things up pretty well, gets the essence of the main character’s challenge but if all a perspective agent is going to see is one paragraph is that really going to be enough to make them want to see more?

Answer:
How to write a query letter is always a tough call. But if you can’t make a snappy enough presentation in a short paragraph (the size of what is called the blurb on the back cover of a book), then agents/publishers figure that author can’t create a “fast-paced” book either. So a short paragraph that grabs the reader is a great idea.

I suggest picking up several paperbacks you have lying around and reading the back covers of the books. There is normally one to three very short paragraphs that sum up the entirety of the book. Count the words on a few of them. See how few words they use? How much tension/action/drama/promises of danger and excitement needs to be packed in those words? That is why I would personally go for the “shorter is better” angle when you write the paragraph in the query that sums up the book.

HOW TO WRITE A SNAPPY QUERY STORY SUMMARY:
Practice by mimicking a couple of what you think are the snappiest, most interesting of those book back blurbs. For instance, I’m looking at the back of James Patterson’s “Beach Road.” It starts, “Welcome to Beach Road–expensive, exclusive … and explosive. Tom Dunleavy has a one-man law firm in the wealthy resort town of …” Etc.

Okay, now write in that format for your fantasy book, weaving in the facts of YOUR story into that concept. “Welcome to Planet Sim-B–where engineered perfection masks a dark underbelly of corruption. Angela Jones has a one-woman personal transport service for the weathly and priveleged in the city of …”

Keep going until you have used the concept of that whole blurb. Then try a couple more other blurbs, again editing in your own story into the basic format. In the end, you’ll have the feel for how to create that snappy query paragraph you need. And by then you can create your OWN format (probably using a few sentences from each of the blurbs you write) that will feel perfect for your own story. Short, snappy, interesting.

Remember, the query paragraph is not an abbreviated outline of the whole book. Just (hopefully!?!) intriguing enough to make them want more.