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Jun
20
2010

Going, Going…

It’s been a couple of weeks since I finished my manuscript. I thought I would have sent out queries by now, but alas, the query letter continues to sit in the safety of my laptop. It’s not that I don’t want to send it out, because I definitely do. It’s just taking me longer than I expected to get all the bits and pieces into place.

I started by editing my full novel. I read the whole thing in paper copy and made a ton of edits. I’m still waiting for my husband to finish reading it so I can get his thoughts on the ending, but I’m already happy with the shape it’s in. Of course, I think every time I read any portion of it, I find a little something to fix. A word change, add or remove a comma, or any other number of little fixes. I’m guess I will look back on this book (published or not) and always be able to see a little something that needs tweaking. Isn’t that just the nature of the creative craft?

Next, I wrote a query letter. I think it’s pretty good. Hopefully good enough that an agent/publisher will ask for a partial. I’ll still have to tailor it for each specific person I intend to send it to, but for now it’s finished. I know that the query is the first step to getting an agent/publisher to read your work. I really hope that what I wrote is enough.

Finally, I’m working on my synopsis. When I first thought about writing it, I assumed it would be a breeze. I wrote the outline of the book, wrote the actual book, so I figured it would be easy to do a recap. Wrong! It’s very difficult to summarize your work! I know all the major points that need to be covered from the novel, but summarizing them in a clear, concise, entertaining, and enticing way is challenging. I know my synopsis is very important to luring in the reader to want to read the whole book, which is why I’m trying so hard to formulate the perfect sentences and paragraphs. It’s a lot of pressure! I’ve gotten some great tips from friends, and I’m reading a lot of information online.

I’m trying to finish the synopsis this week so I can send out my first round of queries next week. We’ll see what happens in the end. I don’t want to rush the job and send out something half-assed, but I also don’t want to fiddle with everything so long that it prevents me from starting on my next book. My next idea is brewing and I’m eager to get started on it. I just have to find the time, but that’s a topic for another day!

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Heather Thurmeier

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  1. Shana Brodsky says:

    Oh boy, the dreaded synopsis! Good luck! 🙂

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