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I am a novice writer. I enjoy the craft and feel proud that I completed my first full length manuscript, but I know very little about the process of getting an agent, submission to publishers, and what happens next. I am not content to let my manuscript sit in the drawers of my laptop, so I am learning. As I am preparing to query agents, I came across a contest with a small publisher, the reward for winning is a book contract. Bingo, great contest for me to enter. The instructions were to write a 1-2 page synopsis. I spent hours crafting a what I considered to be a beautiful query letter. It was my pitch, and I felt good about it until I shared it with my writing group. Immediately the online chat group got quiet. “I’m sorry Sarah, that is not a synopsis. A query letter and a synopsis are different.” Face plant moment. I felt my cheeks redden and my ignorance of the whole process consume my ego. Was I embarrassed? Yes. The group was so kind and gentle to explain the difference and even sent me examples. Did I spend the next two days feverishly writing a true synopsis? Why of course I did. There are deadlines to meet and editing to be done. Moral of the story, pay attention to all the details, don’t assume, and get yourself a group of people that aren’t afraid to correct you and push you towards greatness. I am so grateful to be surrounded by other writer friends. We are all on this journey together and every writer has to start somewhere.

Here are some good examples of query letters

https://ellenbrockediting.com/examples-of-successful-query-letters/

Here are some education on how to write a synopsis

https://janefriedman.com/how-to-write-a-novel-synopsis/

An internet search will turn up many other examples