There are certain words that make most writers break into a cold sweat. “Synopsis” is one of them.
Until recently, the thought of writing a synopsis would send me into fits of, “screw this, I’m going to become a unicorn farmer.” After all, I’m a pantser, I can’t possibly write about a story I have only a vague idea about.
The first time my agent asked for a proposal that included the first 50 pages and a synopsis, I panicked. Full out, hyperventilating into a bag of gummy bears panic. Once I was done with the gummy bears (and post-gummy Pepto Bismol), I sat down to write what needed to be written.
It was, my friends, a writing-life changing moment!
Here’s what I learned …
1) A synopsis is a brainstorming tool.
When a story idea nestles in my brain, I have various bits and pieces but no idea how they fit with each other. I’ve tried character sketches and scene cards and three-act structure diagrams and pretty much every how-to out there. None work for me. What works for me, is letting the ideas marinate until the story comes together. I open a word document, type “chapter 1” and work things out as I get there.
So, the idea of writing about a story that was still forming, was slightly south of crazy. First time out was indeed painful. But at one point, I stopped agonizing over knowing what was coming, and let ideas jumble out of my brain. I’ve written before about mind-mapping. Free-flowing with a synopsis is just connecting the dots, where the dots are the branches of the mind-mapping exercise.
By not stressing over the structure, I can play around with ideas. I fantasize where the story could go and I don’t limit myself by rules or expectations.
2) A synopsis is not your novel.
In writing the synopsis, I’m telling my story’s story. I’m looking down at the game-board for my story and guiding the characters along the chutes and ladders. I’m writing from a different POV, and from a different level of intimacy with my story and characters. I don’t worry about whether the story has a sexy first line or a plump middle. I’m not focused on hooks and perfect phrasing.
By not agonizing about wordsmithing the content, I allow the ideas to pour out of my mind and settle onto the game-board as they see fit.
3) A synopsis is not your GPS system.
It doesn’t have to get you to a specific spot, just in a general direction. Sometimes you land on a chute that takes you one way, sometimes it’s a ladder that takes you in the opposite direction. And that’s okay. The point of the synopsis is to give the agent/editor/you a sense of the story’s purpose.
With a synopsis written, my next step is to storyboard the chapters. Before I start to write a chapter, I review the synopsis and what I’ve done in the previous chapter, then sketch out what the next chapter will look like. Sometimes the synopsis is on the money, other times, the chapter that needs to be written is completely different from what I thought would happen next.
The synopsis acts as a prompt, which can be a godsend on days when that blinking cursor tries to hypnotize the words right out of my brain.
The best advice I was given about writing a synopsis: “Relax.”
My advice to you: “Try it.”
I’m still a free-soloing pantser. But I’ve also discovered the joy of a synopsis sanity saver.
Okay, tell me … are you camp synopsis or would you rather walk on legos than write one? For those who are camp synopsis, do you have any other tips for writing them that will help nudge a reluctant synopsis-writer?
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About Orly
Orly Konig is an escapee from the corporate world where she spent roughly sixteen years working in the space industry. She is the founding president of the Women’s Fiction Writers Association, a member of the Tall Poppy Writers, and a quarterly contributor to the Writers In The Storm blog.
She’s the author of Carousel Beach (May 2018) and The Distance Home (May 2017).
Have you ever wanted to engage with popular blogs and people in the book biz? Following publishing experts and influencers on social media is not enough—you need to be proactive by standing out. Book promotion and marketing utilizes many tools, but there is one simple and efficient thing you can do that will help you connect.
Have you ever posted a comment on a blog? Maybe a topic you wanted to chime in on, or posting a thank you to a blogger for covering a story you were interested in? What if you attempted to do this professionally, with blogs and people you really admire and want to connect with? Did you know this can also help you rank higher in search results, too?
Author Marketing Experts have been using blog commenting for years as a book marketing tool to help promote our authors, and while the structure of the blogging campaigns has changed over the years (as has Google), the idea has remained the same.
What is Blog Commenting?
The concept of blog commenting is nothing new, but using it for virtual networking is a solid strategy that a lot of authors don’t initiate enough. As a book marketing tool, it’s an effective way to connect to people of influence.
Blog commenting, however, should not be confused with a blog tour, of which there are a variety of iterations. This isn’t an opportunity for you to place content on another blog, but rather to comment on an existing post. When it comes to sound book promotion, a blog tour can be good, but blog commenting, from my viewpoint, offers a better advantage.
Why Commenting is Important for Book Marketing
People love to receive comments on their blog posts. I know I sure do, but oddly enough so few people take the time to network that way. So, commenting, in and of itself, is a great way to build on a relationship and get to know a blogger—and to get the blogger to know you. By connecting with a blogger over a period of time and offering insight on their posts, it helps to bring you to the forefront of the blogger’s mind, when and if you should pitch them for your book. For many, book marketing is an uphill battle, and much of this is because authors lack the interactions they need to gain more exposure for this book. Blog commenting is an excellent way to fix that and boost your book promotion efforts.
Is there Any SEO Value?
SEO means “search engine optimization.” Years ago, when blog commenting first became a “thing,” many SEO experts were using it to attract incoming links to their page. Why links? They can aid in your Google ranking. Incoming links from high traffic websites can help boost your overall website visibility and thereby, help you get found for your keywords. So, SEO is definitely a consideration, but moreover, the comments help to foster your relationship with the blogger.
For those of you who want to geek out about SEO, here’s a basic overview of links (in case you want to check which links are coming to your website).
Backlinks are valuable to have, moreover backlinks from high-quality websites with lots of traffic. This is one of the main factors by which Google measures Domain Authority. Formerly, Google referred to this as Page Rank which was, as the name implies, the rank of various pages on your website. Google no longer uses this metric and instead uses a series of benchmarks to determine your domain rank.
Domain rank varies by industry. For example, our domain rank is 48, which is on the high end for our industry. You can check your own domain rank by visiting: https://www.semrush.com which will also show you how many incoming links you have!
Figuring Out Your Goals: Which Blogs to Comment on and Why
It’s maybe tempting to go after big names and big news sites like CNN, FOX, or MSNBC. While those are all potentially useful sources, I’d encourage you to get a clear focus of your blog commenting and book promotion goals. What do you want to accomplish?
While it’s tempting to do this work just to get links into your site, it’s not the full picture. At the beginning of this post, I talked about virtual networking, and that’s where your book promotion focus should remain. So, who do you want to network with?
Maybe you have a list of blogs you’d like to get featured on. Perhaps the blogger reviews similar books to yours or does author features, and you think you’d be a perfect candidate for that website. They may also accept guest post requests. If you didn’t receive a response to a pitch you’ve emailed, this could be an opportunity to elevate your status. (Want to work with a blogger on book reviews? Check out this recent article I wrote.)
Not all blogs do reviews, but some could be a worthwhile place to be interviewed. There’s another opportunity to get to know the blogger, and that’s by posting thoughtful comments.
How to Find Great Blogs in Your Industry
You probably already know whom you’d want to network with, but if you don’t, then you’ll need to get on Google to do some quick searches on your topic. You can use the same site I recommended previously to find other sites that are linked to yours. I’d recommend watching these sites for a while (maybe a week or more) to get a sense of the content they post, how often, etc.
Make a list of 10-15 blogs you want to follow, but don’t feel like you need to comment on each of these sites every week. A good pace is generally five comments a week on five different websites.
Writing Thoughtful Comments
You need to post something of substance and be thorough in your commenting, more than just a standard congratulatory message like “Great post!” Give your comments more thought, offer your own perspective, maybe even (gently) mention something related that you address in your book. Don’t push your book too hard, though mentioning it is acceptable as long as you don’t do it every single time you write a comment.
Your Website: To Link or Not to Link
Within your blog post, you can certainly link to your website via the login most sites have. For example, when you post on our site, the commenting system will ask for your name and website. Most commenting systems offer this, but always list the website as “optional.” This should never be an option. Always list your website when you’re signing into the comment portal.
But we talked about linking earlier and getting incoming links to your website. It’s sometimes prudent to list your website URL within the comment itself, but I’d only suggest doing this if it’s appropriate to your comment. So, if you reference a blog where you wrote about a similar topic, it’s okay to mention that in the post and link to it as well. You should do this sparingly, and I’d recommend dropping the “www” from your URL, because a lot of blogs now have no-follow rules, meaning they won’t approve comments with full URLs linked in them.
Blogging on Your Own Website
We all know that blogging is an excellent book marketing tool, but in reality, it’s much more than that. In order to network with others in the blogging community, you need to also be a blogger—even if you’re only blogging once a week, which is enough to develop a presence online. However, if you’re trying to build more traffic to your website, I’d recommend blogging twice weekly if you can. It’s a solid book promotion strategy.
Following up on Social Media
The next step should be following these bloggers on social media. In most cases, they’ll be on Twitter, which makes it pretty easy. (Here’s a recent post I wrote about connecting with influencers on Twitter.) Wherever they are, I’d suggest following at least one of their social links. If you’re a frequent Facebook user, you may decide to follow them there as well. The point is that you want to follow and also share or comment on things they post on social media too. Networking on blogs via blog comments is a great idea. but following this up with a social platform or two can really be helpful to your book promotion efforts. Not sure which social platform is best for you? Take our new quiz!
Just from personal experience, I can tell you that there is a lot of merit to this. I have “followers” on our blog and social platforms who are always engaging with our content. I don’t know them, per se, but I “know” them virtually—and their emails always go to the top of the pile when they write.
While in-person meetings with people in your industry is a fantastic way to connect and gain additional exposure for your book, blog commenting can be a successful tool when used effectively. Along with social networking interactions, these combined efforts will create a heightened awareness for you and your book.
Do you comment on sites, or do you lurk? What other questions do you have for Penny?
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ABOUT PENNY
Penny C. Sansevieri, CEO and founder of Author Marketing Experts, Inc., is a best-selling author and internationally recognized book marketing and media relations expert and an Adjunct Professor with NYU. Her company is one of the leaders in the publishing industry and has developed some of the most cutting-edge book marketing campaigns. She is the author of fourteen books, including How to Sell Books by the Truckload. AME is the first marketing and publicity firm to use Internet promotion to its full impact through online promotion and their signature program called: The Virtual Author Tour™
To learn more about Penny’s books or her promotional services, you can visit her web site at http://www.amarketingexpert.com or subscribe to her free newsletter.
Two days ago, in Part One of this three-part series, I began sharing how to use The Five Thieves of Happiness by John Izzo in our writing to provide inner conflict for our characters. I only had "time" in the first post to share one "thief." In this post I'll share two more. (Why do I always think I can accomplish more with fewer words? The same thing happens in my books. One book turns into two...)
Now that one of your characters has learned to surrender to what is happening, accept the hard truths in life, accept that only the present moment is real, and can practice notice, stop, and replace when necessary, we’re ready to move on with two other ways for your characters to create their own internal conflict.
Conceit
This “thief” allows the ego to run free, making your character believe that she must distinguish herself to be happy. Status and importance rule her daily life. You can see this played out on social media, with the obsession to get likes and shares and comments. I and me rule every thought, every action, in the search for happiness—which always seems just around the next corner.
When your character's “story” doesn’t match the one in his head, there’s a problem. Mortality and death can become an issue. Your character separates from others, whether family, friends, co-workers or society because of the need to be great, from an ego standpoint.
What to do for resolution
At first it will be difficult, but your character must banish the illusion that separation, by putting oneself on a pedestal, will lead to happiness. This isn’t something you’ll be able to wrap up in the last few pages of the book. It will take your character time, struggle, trying again. Along the way, feelings of hate and anger may have to be addressed in someone who is wedded to the “story” of his life.
Here are some possibilities for a character resolving conceit:
Remind herself that she is a part of a larger story: a cause, one’s life’s work, service to others or the planet.
Become part of something bigger than himself, thereby focusing on giving of himself.
Build relevant and important connections with other people, not for advancement.
Begin building an equitable world, even if it’s only within a household.
Coveting
As an author, I know this one, particularly as it relates to my writing career, considering those moments of envy when I didn’t win that contest or get the agent I wanted—but someone I knew did.
When this desire for something you don’t have is strong, it can become the focus of your life.
Now let’s transfer my brief recollections to a character. If you’re writing a mystery or thriller, your villain would be willing to lie, cheat, steal, or even murder to get what s/he wants.
But coveting isn’t reserved for villains. Your main character can be driven by the desire for something s/he doesn’t have. We’re not talking about in a harmless or ambitious, productive way to get ahead. The discontentment of envy brings resentment of others and their situation. You’ll want to handle coveting with a delicate hand so your character remains likeable.
How many times have you wanted someone’s “good” hair, eye color, fingernails, height, car, or job? That’s natural, even motivational. But when a character’s sense of self hinges on comparing herself with the “outside world,” remember the story of the evil stepmother queen in Snow White.
For your characters, coveting takes away the ability to be grateful—for themselves and for other characters. Your character will resent the happiness and success of others.
How does your character begin throwing off this thief? Gratitude. Gratitude can be expressed by being more supportive, kind, and helpful of those around them. Instead of cruising by a broken-down car on the side of the road, your hero can stop and offer help or take the person somewhere safe to order repairs.
Gratitude won’t squash coveting, but it is a great beginning (think notice-stop-replace from Part 1) to keep your characters from focusing on the wrong things. They must focus on their own lives without comparing them to others. It’s okay for them to have a momentary “wish” for something, as long as it doesn’t progress into envy, which creates conflict.
What to do for resolution
Have your character ask the questions: What do I value? What matters to me? What is the best use of my life?
Use the notice-stop-replace technique.
Your characters may realize that there will never be equality in all things. They are responsible for their own happiness, which means creating less conflict in their lives! By taming their envy when it arises, they can be grateful and kind to others, leading to the banishment of the thief of coveting.
At some point, they could realize that life is not a contest.
We’ve now explored three of John Izzo’s Five Thieves of Happiness. Any one of these can pump up the internal conflict in a book. If you have two lead characters, they can deal with the same thief, or they might be dealing with different ones. I don’t have the heart to inflict my characters with all five thieves, although in real life, we deal with them all every day—to different degrees.
During the next four weeks, try adding conflict to your story with one or more "thief" from our list so far: control, conceit, coveting. In August we’ll look at the final two thieves: consumption and comfort, then talk about the circumstances when one thief can be more powerful in a character arc than another.
Of the three thieves we’ve talked about so far, which one will be the hardest for you to apply to a character in your WIP? Why do you think that is?
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ABOUT FAE
Fae Rowen discovered the romance genre after years as a science fiction freak. Writing futuristics and medieval paranormals, she jokes that she can live anywhere but the present. As a mathematician, she knows life’s a lot more fun when you get to define your world and its rules.
Punished, oh-no, that’s published as a co-author of a math textbook, she yearns to hear personal stories about finding love from those who read her books, rather than the horrors of calculus lessons gone wrong. She is grateful for good friends who remind her to do the practical things in life like grocery shop, show up at the airport for a flight and pay bills.
A “hard” scientist who avoided writing classes like the plague, she now shares her brain with characters who demand that their stories be told. Amazing, gifted critique partners keep her on the straight and narrow. Feedback from readers keeps her fingers on the keyboard, putting the finishing touches on P.R.I.S.M. Book Two.
P.R.I.S.M., a young adult science fiction romance story of survival, betrayal, resolve, deceit, lies, and love.
