Once upon a time, when someone was done writing a book (or even before), they tried to find a publisher, or an agent and then a publisher, willing to take on their book. Of course, that was eons ago – say, oh, five years or so. Now we’re in the self-determining Age of Self-Publishing, and although you can read a thousand blog entries and promo pieces on exactly what you MUST DO to self-publish, the must-dos of the agented sale era have passed into dust as surely as the portrait of Dorian Gray. Such as? Such as writing the perfect book proposal (the what?)
You know – the synopsis that MUST NOT exceed 300 words that would somehow nonetheless summarize how epicly consequential and not to be missed your debut novel was. Only after you had sweated your way through multiple drafts of your perfect pitch could you begin the ancient authorly initiation process of collecting rejection letters.
Today, we’re well past that. Now we have a multitude of progressive ways to go about wasting endless amounts of time without result, such as social media and worse (wait a minute – is there anything worse?) But still, there’s something to be said for making the effort to capture the essence of your genius in an economical, easily digested prose package of, well, about 300 words.
That’s what I concluded after spending some deja vu-tinged time this last weekend drafting a synopsis of my latest book at the suggestion of a publicist friend of my daughter. Bless her heart, she’d volunteered to see if she could score a review or two for me in – dare I hope to think it could happen – the real press. You know, the kind of review written by someone who is actually paid to write reviews. Reviews that might even be printed on paper as well as appear on-line. Quaint, yes, but ye Gods! A real review! Lord, take me now….
Anyway, here’s what I came up with. If you’re asking someone to review your book, you might decide that writing something a bit more serious than the traditional blurb to pave the way might be a worthwhile investment of time as well. If you do, here’s a good article on how to go about doing so.
Spoiler alert: If you’re planning to read The Lafayette Campaign, you probably don’t want to read this synopsis.
* * *
THE LAFAYETTE CAMPAIGN
A Tale of Deception and Elections
Andrew Updegrove
The Lafayette Campaign provides a satirical take on American politics and our infatuation with technology that will make readers pause and wonder: could this really happen? The story begins at precisely where we are now in the current presidential election cycle, but without reference to a specific year.
Yes, life can imitate art. Or so it seems, with Donald Trump leaping to the top of the presidential polls, just as each implausible candidate does in The Lafayette Campaign. Those unlikely events lead a secret government agency to ask Frank Adversego, a brilliant but asocial, middle-aged cybersecurity expert, to find out who is hacking the polls. Adversego has just left his lonely bachelor life behind to write a book and find a better future. Finding no success in either venture, he signs on. He also encounters a young French hitchhiker named Josette who both beguiles and torments him.
As the election season progresses, Adversego discovers how the polls are being hacked, and also that a group of idealistic young French women, led by Josette, is behind the hack; their goal is to startle sensible American voters into voting for sane candidates before the U.S. elects another Leader of the Free World that does more harm than good. But their efforts fail, and persons unknown continue their poll tampering.
But there is worse to come. Josette becomes convinced that the primaries are being hacked as well, and manipulates Adversego to find out who – or indeed, how many different groups – are trying to steal the election. With the contest in a dead heat between a conservative candidate backed by a Cheney-esque political Dark Lord, a democratic president with lagging popularity, and a surprise Native American candidate attracting centrist Americans sick of partisan politics, time is short to discover and thwart the hackers before Election Day.
Adversego’s path to Election Day takes him across the country, through kidnapping and rescue, and betrayal by Josette as he unravels the complex skein of deceit and technical trickery that confront him. Ultimately, the election is saved, his book (co-written and co-opted by an aspiring author) is a success, and his personal life takes a more positive turn as he is taken under the wing of the French professor that unwittingly inspired the Josette and the Fils de Lafayette to embark upon their exploit. And the country celebrates the election of its first Native American president.
Find out how to stop Donald Trump while there’s still time! Read The Lafayette Campaign
Read sample chapters here
A great intro to your book as well as some more general writing advice. And a nice reference to some of the more traditional approaches too…
Thanks – it struck me as I wrote the proposal over the weekend how much new writers today have turned their backs on the old ways, for better or for worse.
When I finished book one, I went through the whole routine of researching agents (who likes thrillers? who’s taking on new authors? who has represented thriller authors that have done well?) – very time consuming; learning how to write a proposal – very time consuming; writing the proposal and sending it out – very time consuming. And of course when I got any response at all (maybe half the time) it was the usual two sentence “sorry.” So with book 2 I didn’t bother at all.
It also reminded me, though, of the whole, “the more things change, the more they stay the same” thing, since now we go through all manner of new rote exercises, most of which are equally fruitless.
Oh well. With experience comes wisdom, and a measure of peace. Writing, like virtue, must be its own reward.
I like the more serious description, and was surprised how much it revealed of the story. Was the latter a hard decision to do, Andy? Are you going to use this to approach folks like newspapers? Either way, very interesting, thanks!
Oh NO! I used to like Josette and now I hate her (and I’m only halfway through your wonderful story)!
I stopped reading part way through as I’m enjoying The Lafayette Campaign too much to know what happens in advance. I shall read your synopsis in full once I’ve finished the book.
As for writing the ‘selling synopsis’, I hate that process with a passion but am, nonetheless, going through it at the moment. It’s a surprisingly testing process that makes me reflect on just what are the essential elements of a novel. Perhaps my difficulties with synopsis-writing are linked to my seeming inability to write well-crafted in depth reviews …
I find it quite testing as well; to winnow down a whole book to something short and concise requires sacrificing the story and replacing it with something more thematic. Quite a different exercise entirely, but rather revealing, especially if it’s written after the book is done rather than before you start.
I certainly see your parallel with in-depth reviews. Keep in mind, though, that the type of review I expect you’re referring to is simply another convention, and one that I question (which is one reason I never follow it). Does a potential reader really need to know who the characters are and what they will do? Especially in genre fiction, that’s all somewhat predictable to begin with. What I focus on instead when I write a review is what’s different, or what the author does particularly well, rather than the story line. And when I read a review (at least with regard to fiction), I tend to look for the same thing.
A final thought is that when you look at traditional reviews in newspapers and magazines, they rarely go deeply into the story line at all. Instead, they focus on something the reviewer finds intriguing. Indeed, the more prestigious the venue (e.g., the Sunday New York Times Book Review magazine), the less likely it is that the reviewer of a non-fiction book will spend any real time on the book at all! Instead, the review usually ends up being a bully pulpit for the reviewer to write whatever she wants that’s directly (and sometimes only indirectly) associated with the subject matter of the book under review.
So the good new is that although the form of a proposal/synopsis is pretty confining, I think you can feel free to write a review any way you want to. And I bet it will end up being as useful, or more so, than an “in depth” review.
Adan, Marcus, Julia – my apologies for not including a spoiler alert (now added) above the synopsis. I should have thought of that, and I hope that I haven’t lessened your enjoyment in completing the book. Suffice it to say, there’s lots more that I haven’t revealed in such a short piece, but still, I should have explicitly flagged the risk.
Adan, the reason for the increased level of detail is because the intended use of this type of synopsis is not to tempt a reader to buy the book, but to persuade someone (reviewer, agent, publisher) that there’s a good chance the book will tempt and please readers, and therefore that it’s worth the recipient’s while to accept a copy of the book to see whether that is in fact the case.
In order to do that, it’s necessary to set and then resolve the scene to the synopsis reader’s satisfaction (what is the goal that the character(s) are seeking to achieve and do they achieve it; what are the internal weaknesses or flaws the protagonist has that she must overcome; and so on). By definition, that means revealing enough of the “good stuff” that the hook is sufficiently baited to persuade the synopsis recipient to take the next step.
In this case, yes, the synopsis is intended for possible reviewers, who should be used to the convention of telling all.
By the way – a related artifact is the publicist’s come-on letter, which would be shorter and usually less revealing – more like a book blurb. In a future blog entry, I’ll post the letter my daughter’s friend comes up with that pairs with this synopsis.
Forgiven 😀 – I stopped reading before I got too much idea of what’s to come. I’m enjoying it very much, though reading more slowly than if I’d stuck to my original plan and saved it for my holiday …
That’s no problem at all, Andrew. Frank seems like a forgiving sort of a guy and on his behalf I remain hopeful that romance might visit the camper . . .
No problem re the spoiler Andy. It was but a momentary shock. Then it itself raised all kinds of questions, esp knowing what I know 1/2 way through. Like how the heck did THAT happen! 🙂
The info on reviews from newspapers etc is something I’ve been needing since late last year. I’ve been wanting to contact my local newspapers, who do a lot of local arts reviews (painting, dance, books, film, etc), and just couldn’t get a handle on how to present my book beyond the usual blurb.
Hearing that the thematic points, which is what I was hoping would intrigue them, is probably what matters anyway, is very encouraging. Enough to risk the usual non-response or one or two line rejection reply 🙂
Thanks Andy!
Adan, I think for a local paper (depending on how local you mean) the author can provide as much of a hook as the book. So you’re email might include something about your own relationship to what you right (geographical, or focus on family, or whatever else might come most naturally). That gives the reviewer two possibilities to be tempted by rather than just one.
I like that idea. Gonna see what I can come up with. Thinking of approaching the Austin Statesman.