The Dreaded Synopsis & Query Letter

The dreaded query letter. The dreaded synopsis. Many a moon ago I had a go at writing both but it was pointless because I didn’t send them anywhere. Life got in the way. I had work, three kids and a small online sales business that was growing more and more, keeping me forever flat out. My writing took a back seat to everything else because I felt guilty sitting down to write when I had orders to complete for customers who had paid me money for products they were expecting in a timely fashion. I had three kids to raise, an early childhood education qualification to obtain and a house to keep in order.

Then late last year I said to myself ENOUGH! Enough spending every second of my time taking and making orders for people. I needed to take back my time for ME. So I stopped taking the orders and started writing again. I re-opened a file for a manuscript that I wrote TWO YEARS AGO. A story I wrote 300+ hand written A4 pages of in ONE MONTH, edited it to near perfection and let it sit there for so long because life was too busy.

I felt good sitting down to the computer again to type something other than order forms, ‘Thank You for Your Order’ notes, labels and the like. I gave my manuscript one final polish and it was ready to send out. There was still the matter of the query letter and synopsis, however fortunately I was saved with some very helpful information in writing both, sent to me by a friend.

A good friend of mine, also a writer and a master of fantasy fiction, received an email back from one of her queries with two links provided for a guide to writing a stand out query letter and synopsis and they honestly contained the clearest and best explained information I had read to date. (You will find the links to both websites at the bottom of my blog post.)

So in the end, I managed to write what I am fairly confident is a good synopsis and a very professional, well written query letter and now I am ready to go full speed ahead and work towards achieving the ultimate goal in my writing career in gaining representation for traditional publishing. I have really enjoyed self-publishing and will continue to do so with short stories simply because as well as writing I also love doing the cover designs and interior layout and all that, but with so many other obligations my spare time is best spent writing.

So if you are struggling to find the time to write, just do it. Even if it is for thirty minutes a day. Even if it’s only ten. Just try and find the time to write and don’t let life get in the way of doing what you love. And if you have got that book ready to send off and you are dreading that synopsis and query letter, please check out the links below and give it your best go and remember, rejection is really just inspiration to keep trying.

Until next time, ta-ta for now but not for long.

#queryletter #synopsis #writing #life