My novel was, I thought, ready for submission. Then I found out that the agent that gave such good feedback had switched gears and started working in indie publishing. I’m probably too lazy for indie publishing at this time and would prefer to go the more traditional route. So now I must go back to preparing for that.
The main difference is that I need to rewrite my letter and synopsis. I should make more progress on these things, but avoidance and work have taken precedence. The only one to blame is me, and I’m also the only one to fix this.
I already had a letter and synopsis ready. However, I did get some critiques of those and it seems that they need to be modernized. All of the material I read about how to do them is, apparently, out of date. The modern form for both requires much more detail about the story and must be written almost as short stories themselves. It seems that the letter and the synopsis are there to convey not only information about your story, but to prove that you are a storyteller.
Given the competitive nature of the business, all of this makes sense. These first contacts are a chance to separate potentially good writers from the mediocre. It’s the same way I look at the format and writing of a resume when I have to make hiring recommendations; if it’s bad, it doesn’t make it.
Now I’m worrying myself over the content of the letter and synopsis. Obviously I can write an entire novel’s worth of material about my novel (quite a bit more, actually, based on my notes). How much is too much? When is it exciting enough? What will be intriguing enough to hook an agent without overburdening them text?
My normal cure when faced with writing difficulty is to meditate. This is another case where that will have to happen. I’m just going to have to do it and stop thinking about doing it. That’s how I got the novel written in the first place. That’s how I will have to get it published.