If you're an author looking to get your full-length
work published (no short stories, poetry, or children's picture books), we
invite you to visit our new agency home at
http://www.swetkyagency.com/disc.htm where you'll find a submission
form and a link for uploading your book for agency consideration.
The Book-in-One-Sentence
This part of the form is a condensation of your story into a
single sentence. It should be enticing enough to make an
editor or producer sit up and say, "Wow!" For example,
here's the story of the three little pigs in one sentence.
Three sibling sows go head-to-head with a blood-thirsty predator,
and only one holds the key to survival!
The
Blurb Longer than a single sentence, the blurb/logline
contains more information but must still sell the story in short
order. This is the infamous "20 seconds" that busy New York
publishers notoriously grant to new authors when they come calling
with their properties. The same story told as a blurb:
Blurb2
When each of three perky porkers
decides to build a house, two take the easy way out and fall
victim to a menacing predator. Only the perseverance to act
and the will to survive can help the third piglet rescue his
brothers from certain death. But does he have the strength
to do so ... and can he reach them in time?
Synopsis
3
The Synopsis Longer than the blurb,
the synopsis is the shortest condensation of your story possible
while still covering all of its salient points. A
synopsis of the three little pigs story might go something like
this.
Three piglet brothers set out to build new homes for themselves.
One chooses straw because it's lightweight and easy to assemble,
allowing the pig more time to play. Another chooses sticks
for the same reason. When their two homes are complete, they
taunt their older brother for building his home of bricks.
"You'll never get finished," one cries. "Come on out and
play," taunts the other.
Rather than give in to
temptation, the third piglet sticks to the job, and in time, he's
rewarded with a fine, handsome, sturdy home of which he can be
proud.
When the Big Bad Wolf
comes around looking for an easy meal, all three pigs seek shelter
in their homes. But the houses made of straw and sticks
prove no match for the hungry carnivore, who blows them down with
ease and grabs the pigs for some future meal. When he
attempts to blow down the house of bricks, however, he soon tires
himself out and finally slinks away from the fortress, a whipped
and beaten canine.
The oldest pig frees
his younger brothers, and they shower him with gratitude while
promising never again to place their own selfish desires before
ambition.
Remember...
Publishers don't care about you as a
person (sad but true). They care about you as a continuing source of
marketable writing--income. Therefore, we humbly suggest that,
as much energy as you put into your book, you put even more into your
submission form, now located at our new Website:
http://www.swetkyagency.com/disc.htm.
2
3