What do literary agents look for in a synopsis? Ten agents who have judged the Bath Novel Awards offer their advice.

1. Lauren Gardner, Bell Lomax Moreton

“Give me ALL the spoilers!  I think sometimes people view their synopsis as more of a pitch or blurb for their book – they don’t want to ruin the surprise or any shocking plot twists, so they hold things back to keep the mystery going. But I absolutely need to know if aliens are going to take over the school or if the evil twin turns out not to be so evil after all, so please, please, please tell me everything in your synopsis and keep the suspense and teasing for your manuscript.

Also keep the major beats of your narrative front of mind when writing your synopsis – there might be a really lovely secondary narrative with the family dog swallowing Nan’s false teeth, but if you find yourself getting too bogged down in the details of your plot, it might be time to trim down and prioritise the details.  Visualising this often helps, so try plotting a map or chart of your key action/emotional plot beats or any big twists and character reveals, and check to see if they have all made it into your synopsis.”

2. Juliet Mushens, Mushens Entertainment

“Writing a synopsis is really difficult. Don’t get bogged down in all the subplots, make sure you focus on the overarching journey of the novel and the main characters instead. We don’t need to know what happens to every single minor character, this is about the backbone of the novel. Cover all the main action and talk about the characters’ development throughout the piece. Do include spoilers, because the judges need to see how you will carry the narrative right through to the end. Then show it to a few people who have read your book, ask if there is anything they’d change.”

3. Hellie Ogden, WME Books

“A synopsis is a difficult beast (!) and if the novel is fantastic, I don’t care in the slightest if you can’t write the perfect synopsis. Focus on your novel and make the synopsis a short, simple map of the book. I might choose to read the entire story without looking at your outline as I want to avoid plot spoilers and read fresh, particularly with crime.”

4. Jenny Savill, Andrew Nurnberg Associates

“A synopsis is simply a tool for the agent or editor to see where the story goes and how it ends.  It is not on its own going to sell your book, so for me it doesn’t have to be beautifully written. It is the “who, what, where and when” of your novel.  It is not the “why” – all of that (motivation, detail, backstory) is in the novel itself.

If you are struggling to write a synopsis, a good suggestion seems to be to write the numbers 1-10 down the left hand side of the page. Put the first major thing that happens at number 1, the ending at number 10 and fill in the other major things that happen, one next to each number, in chronological order – you’ll have the skeleton of a synopsis.  Flesh out into paragraphs and you’ll have one that’s submission-ready. Always include any twists, and the ending.

I think it can be helpful to try writing a synopsis at different stages of the manuscript – especially if you are stuck.”

5. Kate Barker, Kate Barker Literary Agency

“A synopsis is a technical document that no reader will ever see – it’s just for the agent and publisher. It needs all the key information: main characters, setting, plot, resolution. If it’s to fit on one page then sometimes you have to leave out some of the sub-plots.”

6. Laura Williams, Greene & Heaton

“I normally start reading the novel itself, and read the synopsis later. Plot can be fixed, but the quality of the writing itself is always the most important thing, and it’s nice to dive in without any potential biases over how the story will play out. The most important point about synopses is don’t worry about it too much, I think! An author’s job is to write the book, it’s ours to sell it! We write hundreds of blurbs and synopses and pitches, and we know what we’re doing. As long as the initial synopsis is clear, concise, and gets across all the key beats of the story, we’re happy.”

7. Nelle Andrew, Rachel Mills Literary

“Who, when, where, catalyst and resolution. I think both the extract and synopsis are equally important. They are an elaboration of the other and should be working in sympatico completely.”

8. Susan Armstrong, C+W Agency

“The quality of the prose and appeal of the voice are both vital to me so I dive straight into the novel, then once I have a sense of the writing I’ll step back and look at the synopsis. Even the most brilliant novelists can struggle with their synopsis so I prefer my first impressions of a writer to come from their opening chapter.

The synopsis can be a real challenge but it’s worth spending some time refining it. For me, I prefer to see one page and want to come away from that page knowing whose story is being told, why that story is worth me following and how their story ends (I like spoilers/plot twists to be included). Don’t include character or chapter breakdowns as that just makes for a very stilted read.

Sometimes, if you’re unsure which parts of the plot to include in the synopsis, it can help to say the story out loud to someone to get a sense of where the plot isn’t clear/which bits make their eyes glaze over/what parts make them sit up and pay attention….

And always think about what makes your book unique. Is it the setting? The circumstances? The concept? The narrator? Don’t include too much detail, just make sure your synopsis includes the most intriguing, crucial parts of the story.”

9. Julia Silk, Greyhound Literary

“Be as succinct as possible, while outlining the whole story arc: you don’t have to include each minor subplot and it’s wise to limit yourself to 4 or 5 character names if possible, to avoid confusion, as it’s actually quite hard to take in a lot of detail over a page.”

10. Catherine Cho, Paper Literary

“Clarity is what I look for in a synopsis. I know it is difficult to condense any story into one page, but I think it is possible, and it shows an understanding of your narrative to be able to do this. I tend to read opening pages first, and sometimes when I read a cover letter, I want to read an extract and full manuscript without knowing what happens, but almost always, there is a correlation between a well-written synopsis and a manuscript.”  

Related read: how to write a strong one-page synopsis for your novel