The Process: Submitting
Submitting
By the time the book is done and edited, it usually does not resemble the short synopsis from my prewriting at all. I’ve made discoveries in the drafting process and the editing process, fixed the places where the plot didn’t work, and made the characters more real. But now I have to write a real synopsis.
I write a two-page synopsis, and I make a great deal of effort to think of the book in Big Picture mode so as not to do a scene-by-scene synopsis. The other thing I think really hard about is getting my two main characters’ points of view integrated into the synopsis, and let the style of the book shine through in the synopsis. It’s hard. It takes a loooooong time. I edit ferociously. Then the synopsis also goes to the fantastic Skye and I edit some more, based on her suggestions.
From the synopsis, I create a 100-word blurb that I will use in my query letters. 100 words is not a lot, and it takes me almost as long to write those 100 words as it did to write the whole synopsis. I’m still trying to give a good idea of the tone of the book and the characters’ voices in 100 words. It’s hard.
After that, I submit. I always prefer query letters to in-person pitches. Some people are fabulous at in-person pitches. I hate those people. I’m very jealous of them. I completely suck at in-person pitches, and I don’t do them anymore for that reason.
So the letter goes in the mail, I wave goodbye, and I begin again.
What about you? How does your process work?
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