Samhain Publishing Ltd. Weblog

Six impossible things before breakfast

Like the White Queen in Alice Through the Looking-Glass, I can believe all sorts of things.
I believe the earth is round, despite being able to see perfectly well that it’s flat.
I believe that one day I’ll be able to write a blurb without taking all day over it.
I’m willing to believe in the existence of telekinesis and photons and love at first sight, even though they all sound equally unlikely.

Within the pages of a book, I’ll believe—temporarily—in things that are even more far-fetched.

The synopsis: ugly sister of the submission package.

In my pre-Samhain life, I was never a fan of synopses. After all, they’re not much fun—either to read or to write. Unlike blurbs, they’re not interesting. They tell rather than show. They have no cliff-hangers, no unanswered questions, no lyrical language or delightful bits of humour. Half the writers I know say that writing the synopsis is harder work than writing the story itself.

Even after starting work as an editor for Samhain, I’ve found that when I receive a submission I always open the book file first. And often I don’t look at the synopsis at all.

Nevertheless, in the past few months, I’ve developed a whole new appreciation of synopses—and for Samhain’s policy, which is to ask for a 2 to 5 page synopsis with each submission.

So, why have I changed my mind? And why am I pro-synopses, even when I’ve admitted to not always reading them?