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july 2015 the published author july 2015 the published author search recent posts writer s block and how to reconnect with the muse the basics of a bad novel writing the basics of a bad novel plot the basics of a bad novel characters a solid start the first 10 pages of your novel recent comments no place for bystand on the basics of a bad novel ch lark on the basics of a bad novel ch anirwrites on the basics of a bad novel ch the uncertain scribe on the basics of a bad novel ch chris l owens on the basics of a bad novel wr archives october 2015 september 2015 august 2015 july 2015 january 2015 march 2014 february 2014 january 2014 categories literary agent manuscript query letter self publishing self publishing synopsis writer s block writing tips search recent posts writer s block and how to reconnect with the muse the basics of a bad novel writing the basics of a bad novel plot the basics of a bad novel characters a solid start the first 10 pages of your novel recent comments no place for bystand on the basics of a bad novel ch lark on the basics of a bad novel ch anirwrites on the basics of a bad novel ch the uncertain scribe on the basics of a bad novel ch chris l owens on the basics of a bad novel wr archives october 2015 september 2015 august 2015 july 2015 january 2015 march 2014 february 2014 january 2014 categories literary agent manuscript query letter self publishing self publishing synopsis writer s block writing tips blog stats 39 582 hits search widgets search the published author menu skip to content home blog about monthly archives july 2015 literary agent manuscript query letter self publishing synopsis top tips for submitting your manuscript july 31 2015 anirwrites book proposal book publishing book synopsis fiction manuscript query letter self publishing 3 comments top tips for submitting your manuscript the 3 pillars of a good submission you have spent months and maybe though hopefully not years writing and polishing that perfect manuscript you send it out and it gets rejected considering the many and most of them aren t true horror stories about publishers that are available on the internet you pass off the rejection as that was bound to happen you blame the out of sync publishing industry old fashioned bad practices or the presence of some sadist editor who loves tossing scripts into waste baskets and you could be right however it is worthwhile to consider and look for lapses on the author s side as well this involves 3 key elements that are part of your query proposal these 3 components will take some effort and thinking but they are critical to your success in getting a publishing deal and it is not uncommon to hear of authors who get professional help for the 3 pillars of a good submission the query letter what is a query letter it s your novel s resume points to remember give enough reasons on your book s resume the query proposal for it to be liked talk about the things that are good don t highlight problem areas if your book is too long short or if it doesn t fit into a particular genre this is not the space for you to air your self doubts you may think you are being clever but don t mix genres to show wider possibilities of readership calling your book a vampire zombie romance isn t the glowing endorsement you think it is query letters are about the book make them about the book most publishers editors have a far better understanding of the market than you do and will know about the viability of your book from reading about your book let them figure out the market tell them about your book don t make claims or hand out marketing advice like it appeals to all ages from 8 to 80 or the war drama market has been waiting for this it is probably wrong and it puts off more people than it attracts it s a business letter seeking representation or a publishing opportunity keep the language formal it has to be professionally written keep it concise and stick to the objective for god s sake no smileys it goes without saying that like your resume it cannot have typos it cannot be too long no more than one page the author biography should be 50 70 words do not include unnecessary details like your hobbies family history or personal struggles unless they relate directly to the book distil the essence of your novel into two short sentences and remember to include it in the query as the starting point of the snapshot of your novel the synopsis of the novel should be a riveting 150 200 word story it should be a small story not a dry cliffs notes of your book more on that in point 2 if you plan on writing follow up books mention it at the end of the query make sure you mention the title of your work and the genre if you are not 100 sure of the title mention that it is a working title but don t call your work untitled make sure you mention the word count of the manuscript the book synopsis this follows from point 1 above it is the bulk of your query letter if you are going the traditional publishing route you will need a brilliant book synopsis you won t like this but you should ideally have around 4 6 versions of the synopsis ready start with this one a chapter wise summary moving from event to event give each chapter one paragraph of 20 50 words at most this will help you understand your story trim down a above to 300 400 words this is your best chance to pitch trim it down further to less than 200 words or the one page synopsis that is the industry standard make each of the three count apart from these you could look at a synopsis that moves from the perspective of character rather than events some simple points to remember write your synopsis in the present tense the synopsis should be as tight as possible but must cover the entire book beginning middle and end the synopsis cannot be dry it is a mini novel keep it dramatic here s a look at the synopsis of harlan coben s six years six years have passed since jake fisher watched natalie the love of his life marry another man six years of hiding a broken heart by throwing himself into his career as a college professor six years of keeping his promise to leave natalie alone and six years of tortured dreams of her life with her new husband todd but six years haven t come close to extinguishing his feelings and when jake comes across todd s obituary he can t keep himself away from the funeral there he gets the glimpse of todd s wife he s hoping for but she is not natalie whoever the mourning widow is she s been married to todd for more than a decade and with that fact everything jake thought he knew about the best time of his life a time he has never gotten over is turned completely inside out as jake searches for the truth his picture perfect memories of natalie begin to unravel mutual friends of the couple either can t be found or don t remember jake no one has seen natalie in years jake s search for the woman who broke his heart and who lied to him soon puts his very life at risk as it dawns on him that the man he has become may be based on carefully constructed fiction it s only 200 words and makes quite a compelling case for reading the book once your query letter is done with 1 2 above you need to focus on formatting your manuscript manuscript formatting one of the leading reasons and the worst one too for rejections is not sticking to the ms format guidelines what yes it is silly maybe even unfair not really but it is one of the biggest stumbling blocks there is why do i say it s not really silly or unfair if you can format your resume and make sure its proper why can t you do the same for your manuscript why should anyone consider a work that doesn t meet basic format guidelines editors get at least a dozen manuscripts and a couple of hundred queries a week wouldn t it be easier for them to just reject the sloppy ones after all if the writer doesn t care about giving his manuscript the best chance why should the editor let s see how we can avoid this easily avoidable stumbling block type your document no matter the high praise your teacher from third grade showered on your handwriting don t write your manuscript maintain double spacing between lines it s very easy to do in ms word just select all text and click on the line spacing button paragraph indentation is crucial each paragraph must start with a small indent don t use the space bar use the indent button in ms word if font size is not mentioned it is always 12 anything smaller is difficult to read while anything bigger takes up too much space use a single and serif font throughout it s best to use times new roman cambria garamond or courier new do not use fancy fonts like lucida or helvetica or even sans serif fonts like arial and calibri unless it s specifically asked for or accepted use a white background this might seem duh but you d be surprised as to how many romance writers think it is ok to have text on a pink background the first page is the cover page include your name and contact information at the top left of the first page and the word count at the top right centre the title in a large font in the middle of the page with author name below it do not start the story on that page new chapters start on new pages though i agree no one s going to throw your manuscript if this is the only formatting flaw it is neater to have new chapters on new pages if your submission is digital and not printed then you needn t feel guilty about extra paper used use page numbers why wouldn t you number the pages of your manuscript you could also include a header with title author alternating on pages left justify your paragraphs right margins should be ragged which means you don t justify the text on the right and also there should be a 1 inch margin all the way around the text this is neat for digital copies and essential for editing notes on a printed copy for printed manuscripts if your submission is a physical printout then make sure you use good quality plain white paper and print on only one side of each sheet also unless asked for do not bind spiral bind or staple the manuscript these 3 pillars will give your manuscript a fighting chance and will go a long way in making you view yourself as a professional happy writing share this email a link to a friend opens in new window email share on facebook opens in new window facebook share on reddit opens in new window reddit share on linkedin opens in new window linkedin share on x opens in new window x share on pinterest opens in new window pinterest print opens in new window print share on tumblr opens in new window tumblr like loading standard self publishing the 8 rules of writing short fiction july 21 2015 anirwrites fiction kurt vonnegut short stories 1 comment in my last post on the short story road to the novel i exhorted you to give the short story a try i am a glutton for short stories and i guess my encouragement was a little coloured by my appetite it hardly seems fair to nudge you on to a path without a map so let me introduce you to kurt vonnegut and his eight rules for writing a short story kurt vonnegut 1922 2007 is known to most as the author of the cult classic slaughterhouse five his contribution to short stories is often eclipsed by the success of his work in the long form having written more than 120 short stories he distilled his experience into 8 simple rules use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not feel the time was wasted this is critical in fiction of any form more so for the short story 500 to 600 page novels have become the order of the day and sadly i can easily think of how those books could have been at least 50 pages shorter don t waste the reader s time give the reader at least one character he or she can root for it s so true in the reality shows on tv today all you need is one person who hooks you and have you noticed how quickly you lose interest or forget to tivo the same show once that contestant is no longer part of the proceedings it s true of fiction too authors love the creative halo but the truth is there are only so many plots what hooks the reader is the character to root for every character should want something even if it is only a glass of water the most common problem and tell tale sign of amateur writing is characters galore who serve no purpose in a short story it is suicide every sentence must do one of two things reveal character or advance the action this is the golden rule of screenwriting and is extremely important for fiction of any form especially the short story start as close to the end as possible the closer you start to the main event the better the tension also short stories often cannot accommodate major story or character arcs be a sadist no matter how sweet and innocent your leading characters make awful things happen to them in order that the reader may see what they are made of sometimes as a writer you just want your sweet heroine to escape unscathed or that the innocent kid is able to outrun the wolf but that s death for fiction remember every threat that is neutralised also neutralises the tension in your story and you must quickly find a new threat write to please just one person if you open a window and make love to the world so to speak your story will get pneumonia not everyone loves a happily ever after not everyone enjoys the thrills of a manhunt or finds stimulation in analysing a crime don t mix genres or add stock characters and events to get more people to like your writing give your readers as much information as possible as soon as possible to hell with suspense readers should have such complete understanding of what is going on where and why that they could finish the story themselves should cockroaches eat the last few pages that s pretty detailed advice and i am not very sure that it s a good idea but hey it s a road map take a detour if you don t like where it leads while examples of exceptions to these rules abound they do provide a certain sense of direction what s really cool is that these rules can apply to fiction in the long form and even to screenplays if nothing else these rules should be one less reason to put off writing happy writing share this email a link to a friend opens in new window email share on facebook opens in new window facebook share on reddit opens in new window reddit share on linkedin opens in new window linkedin share on x opens in new window x share on pinterest opens in new window pinterest print opens in new window print share on tumblr opens in new window tumblr like loading standard blog at wordpress com subscribe subscribed the published author join 122 other subscribers sign me up already have a wordpress com account log in now privacy the published author subscribe subscribed sign up log in report this content view site in reader manage subscriptions collapse this bar d design a site like this with wordpress com get started