I submitted a manuscript for the first time in almost two years last week.
It doesn’t get any easier.
I wrote the query letter and searched for agents, preferably ones that didn’t require a synopsis. After preparing the email, my hand hovered over the send button. I couldn’t click it.
My husband wondered what I was doing. I explained. He was probably impressed that I wasn’t surfing Pinterest. He told me to hit send.
You would think after having nine manuscripts accepted, sending out number ten would not induce stomach churning. Terrified thoughts flew through my head. “What if it isn’t ready?” “You know it’s not. There’s a hundred things you could improve.” “What if they hate it?” “What if they think it’s dumb?” And even more terrifying, “What if they want to see more?” “What if they can sell it?” “What if they can sell it, but they want me to change the main character into a shape-shifter?”
Thankfully(?), the rejection came quickly and impersonally.
Angela Schroeder
Patricia Kiyono
Elaine Cantrell
Jeff Salter
Joselyn
Tonette Joyce
Four Foxes, One Hound 
Oh, I sympathize. I HATE writing the synopsis. For the first few I had to write, it seemed to take me nearly as long to write the two pages as it had taken to write the 300 pages it represented!
I’ve tried working from chapter summaries and boiling things down — over and over. I’ve tried to take a longer lens and capture the whole concept… and fill in generalizations of the plot flow and character development.
Nothing really feels RIGHT and it’s all painful and exhausting.
I HATE synopses.
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I got a page down this afternoon, but it is excruciating. I keep thinking about details that I should include, but there isn’t a good place to include them in what I’ve written.
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Congrats on actually hitting the send button! You never know until you try. And what’s a rejection? At least they aren’t going to come and take away your youngest child. Just a simple no thank you. Then you’re on to the next agent/publisher submission and it could be yes thank you! I agree with Jeff. I hate writing a synopsis.
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Good for you and God bless! I HATE sending my work out, but it feels so good to get accepted.
I sent out a story a couple of weeks ago for the first time in forever.(Bet you heard the song in your head, huh?LOL!).
Best of luck to you!
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Oh I did hear the song! My girls sing it way too frequently.
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Rejection is hard to take, and we often miss out on great opportunities because of the possibility we won’t be accepted. Kudos to you for putting yourself out there. Your writing is awesome and I’m sure the manuscript will find a home!
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Thank you for the encouragement. I’m wavering between wanting to get it out there and giving up altogether.
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So sorry about the rejection. It never gets easier. The synopsis is always the second most difficult thing for me, the first being coming up with a title.
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