Synopsis + Bio = Torture!

Before Fairest of Them All was published, I was one writer among thousands hoping to catch an editor�s attention. I revised my stories eight or nine times and proofread each one meticulously because I knew editors expected polished manuscripts. I studied formatting guidelines and followed them to the letter. My margins were exact, my headers and page numbers were placed just so. A slave to every single detail, I spent countless hours creating a manuscript that was a work of art.

Flushed with success and a little woozy from switching the font size from 11 to 12 and back again 50 or so times, I grabbed my trusty market guide and turned to the first publisher on my list. Looking for contemporary young adult fiction from 50,000-70,000 words. Couldn�t be more perfect! Query with synopsis and brief author bio. How hard can that be?

A dozen or so synopses later, I can answer that question. Writing a synopsis is like painting a mural on the wings of a hornet. You have to make the most of a very small space, and there�s no room for error. All that�s required is condensing your 300-page novel into a page, a paragraph, or�my personal favorite�a single sentence. Remember to describe the main characters, setting, and plot while capturing the voice of your story. And don�t be too wordy.

Coming up with a brief bio is equally difficult. What does �brief� mean? 100 words? 200? More? Should I include my education, publishing experience, interests, significant other, pets, blood type, and/or favorite shade of nail polish? When I Googled to find some examples, I got 25,000,000 hits on author bios. Just terrific.

It�s embarrassing that I can write a 50,000-word novel but can�t come up with a coherent summary of it. Two months ago my agent asked me for a one-sentence synopsis of my upcoming book, A&L Do Summer. After ten pathetic attempts I finally wrote something she didn�t have to change--too much. I can only imagine how much hair she pulled out as she read and politely rejected each one.

That�s my sad story. Does anyone else have synopsis/bio phobia? It would really help to know I�m not alone.