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The Synopsis -- An Editors View by Laurie Sanders
Imagine for a moment that you have just been
hired as an acquisitions editor a small publishing company that
publishes romance. Your task is to find a romantic suspense novel
to fill a gaping hole in the publisher's schedule. You are excited,
thinking you have just landed your dream job. After all, you'll
get to read all day, something you love to do anyway, and you'll
get paid!
You're shown to your office and logged onto your computer system.
You open your email and are pleased to find several submissions
already waiting for you. Books you get to read and don't have to
pay for! Does it get any better than this?
You open the first email submission and click on the single attachment
to open the file. The file that opens has the author's name address
and phone number, but there is no letter and no synopsis. You think
this is a bit odd, but figure that you were hired to read manuscripts
so you settle into your chair and begin to read. The story opens
strongly and you are drawn into the world of the heroine who is
being chased down a dark alley. You're on the edge of your seat,
hanging on every word, wondering what will happen to the heroine.
Will she escape the man who is chasing her? You turn pages, faster
and faster, remembering that you're supposed to be finding a romantic
suspense novel. Now you are on page 60 and though the story has
kept you on the edge of your seat and turning pages, there is no
hero in sight and your heroine is still running for her life. You
begin to wonder where the hero is, and when he'll show up. You begin
to wonder whether this book is a romantic suspense at all. Maybe
it's a straight suspense, there was no synopsis to tell you. You
decide to read a few more pages to see if the hero turns up. A few
more pages down the road there is still no hero in sight, and you
decide that this manuscript really doesn't work as a romantic suspense
so you draft the rejection letter informing the author that the
piece doesn't work as a romantic suspense because it lacks a hero
and a romantic element.
You're now on to submission number two. Your boss has stuck her
head in the door twice to see how you're doing and to inquire whether
you've found any promising candidates to fill that looming spot
in the schedule.
You open submission number two and are pleased to find that this
submission has a cover letter and a synopsis. The cover letter gushes
that you'll love the surprise ending the author has crafted for
her heroine. You read through the synopsis and find that the hero
and heroine meet early in the story, they have both a strong attraction
and a strong conflict which keeps them at loggerheads through most
of the story. You are just about to jump for joy thinking maybe
you've found the piece to plug the hole in the publishing schedule
when you read that the hero gets shot and the heroine goes off with
the bad guy in the end. So much for loving the surprise ending!
You open Word and craft your letter to the author telling her that
though you loved the first part of the story as she'd described
it, you weren't blown away by the ending. You suggest that the heroine
ending up with the hero at the end might be a better ending for
the story and suggest that she resubmit if she decides to revise.
Well, it hasn't been a grand day. This acquisitions stuff is harder
than it looks. Your boss is getting jumpy now. She's stuck her head
in the door twice and keeps casting meaningful looks at the publishing
schedule thumb tacked to your cubicle wall. You know you have to
find a piece, and find it fast.
You open up submission #3, scan it quickly. It's another submission
that jumps straight into chapter one. You'd love to read it, but
you wonder if it'll be like the other one, start off great but not
really work for you. You decide that you don't really have time
to read it right now. You need to find a romantic suspense to fill
the spot in your schedule before your boss comes back. You close
submission #3 and move on, looking for something that looks promising.
You open submission #4 and scan it quickly, mentally checking off
the aspects of the story that you think will work for your readers.
The hero and heroine meet early in the story, they have a strong
reason to be together and an even stronger one to want to be apart.
You cheer mentally thinking that the conflict will certainly be
strong. The villain is a strong character in his own right with
a good reason to want the hero and heroine out of the picture. More
cheering. The author has led you to a scene where the hero and heroine
have just jumped off a cliff and are plunging into the icy river
below. At this point the synopsis ends with the words, I hope you
enjoy my novel.
Far from enjoying the novel, you want to strangle this author.
You now have no way of knowing whether the story ends happily ever
after or whether the hero dies and the heroine goes off with the
villain in a surprise ending. You really don't have time to find
out right now, so you push the manuscript aside, into the growing
file of ones you'll read when you have more time.
Time passes, the day is growing more and more hectic and you are
feeling despair wondering whether you will ever find the perfect
romantic suspense manuscript to fill the spot in the publishing
schedule.
Finally, you open submission number #9. Silently blessing the author
who has been kind enough to include a synopsis. You scan the synopsis
looking for the elements that make a strong romantic suspense novel.
The hero and heroine meet early on in the story. They are instantly
both attracted and at odds with each other. The villain is strong
and well motivated. As you read through the sub- mission you can
see that the characters internal and external conflicts work together
to propel the story. You can follow the path the characters take,
you can see the situation getting worse and worse for them as both
their relationship and their physical safety are put at risk.
You begin to feel hopeful as you approach that portion of the synopsis
where the hero and heroine are facing their final showdown with
the villain. You breathe a sigh of relief when the villain is captured,
noting that the author has so far hit every mark for a romantic
suspense. You keep reading, fingers crossed, hoping that this author
delivers the happily ever after ending required by the sub- genre.
When the hero and heroine melt happily into each others arms you
sigh, feeling that just maybe you've found the romantic suspense
novel to fill the open spot in the publishing schedule. You will
still have to read the novel to be sure the writing is up to par,
but at least you know that the plot works.
About the Author: Laurie Sanders is Editor and
CEO at Black Velvet Seductions. The company publishes romance, erotic
romance, and romantic suspense. The company offers a free newsletter
for authors of romance and gives away free books each Friday. Visit
Black Velvet Seductions
to check it out.
* Other Article: Art Gallery |
