I’ve got a 7 page synopsis in rough draft form for querying. Do I need a 7-page synopsis or is that pretty rare?

I’d say that’s pretty rare. It’s certainly something that’s no doubt useful for YOU to have, but my bet would be that most agents, in looking for a synopsis of a novel that’s being queried, are more than content with two to three pages.

Now, I wouldn’t toss that seven pager, of course. You may find yourself needing it, or something like it further on down the road — if an agent likes your full manuscript, perhaps, and wants to read your recap of the story in more detail. Some editors I’ve submitted to also want a synopsis, although there again a two to three pager may be more than enough.

And the act of writing out your story in that length is a helpful step in getting your plot down in even shorter form.

Bonus second question, for the royal wedding day! Eleni also asked “Does it matter if I have a webpage when I’m querying agents?” It’s not the be-all and end-all, but it can be helpful if an agent likes what you’ve got and wants to know more about you. As always, though, if you’re going to have a blog or a website, make sure that what you’re posting isn’t something that’s going to bite you in the arse. Always consider that your future agent and/or editor may see what you’re writing — and if that isn’t clear enough, it can be helpful to use the rule of thumb for internet writing, “Never post anything you wouldn’t say to someone’s face.”

Huzzah!

Scott writes

In the AuthorMBA interview, you said every author should have a Web site and blog. I agree, and have had Web sites since before most people knew there was such a thing, and I’ve had a couple blogs. I’ve coached a few other authors on creating or improving their own Web sites. Because of this, I’m very interested in your thoughts.

What would you expect or hope to see on a writer’s Web site, especially a new writer who might not have books or articles to promote? You mentioned not wanting to see information about agents and editors who’ve been queried and have rejected the writer’s work. What else do you not want to see?

Scott, I’m going to be lazy and throw this over to Kristin Nelson, who I feel had a great post the other day on the same subject. She suggested what you should have up on your author website, and also echoed my own thoughts and said

What you might not want to include is a whole play-by-play of your current editor, agent, or publisher search. This could backfire. I have seen sites where an author has clearly outlined all the rejections (sometimes the letters are posted there verbatim!). It would make me think twice about asking for the full.

Besides that, what else shouldn’t you have on there? I’d be leery about extremely personal stuff. Do you really want to put up that picture of your spouse in an embarrassing situation? Or yourself? Daily minutia of your life is fine for a personal blog, but if you intend to publicize your site to agents and publishers, they likely don’t care about what you had for breakfast.

I think the important thing to do when writing a blog or creating your author website is to be very aware of the impression you want to make. You’re not going to go wrong by erring on the cautious side — it’s easy enough to add more personal stuff when you’re more comfortable writing, and you want to share your impressions of tv shows, and tell your readers every detail of the previous evening, but if you put it up too early, it can be hard to erase. The internet doesn’t forget. I read a great article the other day about cleaning out your blog archives, and it’s a worthwhile read even before you start keeping a blog. The author shares

When I looked back into my archives, I was actually a bit embarrassed by some of the early mistakes. I also felt that these posts would detract from the overall message of Zen Habits, and so I took them out of the archives. Did I delete them? Some of them I did, and with others I found a compromise: I just marked them as private, so that only I could see them.

If you’re keeping a blog, you already know it can be a lot of work to go back in and fix things, so consider if you want them up there in the first place.

Ultimately, I think the most important distinction an author needs to make in their website is that it is a professional site, not a personal one. Let everything else flow from that decision, and you should be fine.

I’ve been following your blog for quite a while and have found it to be extremely useful and a lot of fun. My question is, how did you get the word out about your website? Was it just a natural consequence of people submitting to you? Or were there specific steps you took in order to establish your web presence? I know this isn’t the usual advice you give, but I have read quite a bit on the importance or building a platform and, since this pertains to that, I thought you might be able to give me a few ideas to work with.

First of all, thanks for the kind words! The business of building a website — or any online presence, honestly — is a lot of hard work, but can still be fun.

How did people first find out about this site, when kt literary was just a fledging little agency, lo these two years ago now? (btw, Happy Birthday, kt literary!) Well, I used to have a personal blogspot page, where I would semi-anonymously share occasional “Advice From An Agent”. When the kt lit site first went live, even before I officially opened my doors, I posted a link on my blog where people could check it out. News of the link got around (this was before Twitter, even, so I couldn’t tell you HOW), and I had over 300 queries in my inbox before I even officially was open to them!

Since then, I have my information posted around the web — on the Publishers Marketplace site, where I have a page, but also every time I make a sale and post it; on sites like AgentQuery, Preditors & Editors, Absolute Write, and the Verla Kay boards; in the lists of agents compiled by the SCBWI, Writers’ Market, and the AAR; on my clients’ sites; and now, on other Twitter users’ lists of Agents Who Tweet. (Note: some of the above links require memberships to access.)

But it’s not just about being listed. It’s about driving traffic to your site. If all I did was throw my name and address and submission guidelines up and the web, sure, people would find me, but would they keep coming back for more? Doubtful. So I blog daily (on weekdays), tweet often, and comment on posts by other agents and bloggers.

What about the rest of you? I would imagine almost all of you have websites that you’ve worked to promote. What tricks or tool did you use? Let us know in the comments!

So when I saw this article today on Jezebel, I thought it tied in nicely, if obliquely, with that conversation. Personas is an art installation that “generates a visualization of a person’s online identity.” Another quote: “In short, Personas shows you how the Internet sees you. ” It doesn’t distinguish between multiple owners of the same name, so the results can be somewhat skewed, but I couldn’t help but think of authors who might be struggling to be sure their online presence is hitting the right marks. Now you can find out if it is!

Just for fun, I entered “Kate Testerman,” and got this lovely bar graph.
Putting in “Kate Schafer” changes things up a bit, giving me a bigger hit on “books,”
while “Kate Schafer Testerman,” with the least amount of data to pull from, finally acknowledges that sports are not as important to me as books.

How brightly colored are you? And do you think this comes close to representing you, or do you look at it just as an art project?

At last! A superhero story about the kid who isn’t the superhero! Matthew Cody’s descriptions of pre-teen life and flying and tumbling through the stratosphere were so real and vivid, they almost gave me vertigo!

But that’s not all! From Jonathan Stroud, author of the bestselling Bartimaeus Trilogy, comes this great quote:

A fantastic story, thrillingly told. This book has a superpower—you can’t put it down.”

You can check out the blurbs and more information about Powerless and Matthew Cody on his new and improved website. Leave him a comment and let him know what you think!

If there is no info on a writer, I don’t mind. That said, a nice, well-organized website can’t hurt either! I like to know about who they are as writers–for example, what books have had a big influence on them, did they attend any kind of writing program, have they been published before and where?
I don’t necessarily like to find out too much personal information–blogs about people writing in their pj’s or talking about their pets can come off as unprofessional to me. I guess, like everything, it depends on the person, too. If they are quirky, funny writers, then a quirky, funny website makes sense. If they write literary novels, a quirky, funny website might be a mismatch.

And another editor chimes in:

The kind of thing that makes a good impression is when an author has a good understanding of the business and how publishing works. Also, I love it when writers blog about writing itself — whether discussing their own process and/or inspirations, or giving practical advice to other aspiring writers. Quick thumbnail synopses of any works-in-progress can be very helpful to editors as well — I know that when I bring in a MS by a debut author, I always like to be able to mention if they have other ideas that I think are clever or marketable. And as you know, I’m also a sucker for an engaging blog voice!
As for what makes a bad impression, I have to admit that I’ve occasionally been put off when someone shares TOO much about their own publication process, including names, etc. I always advise authors to have a degree of discretion there. Also, if a writer wants their blog to be considered as a marketing tool, they have to make sure that it’s appropriate for the audience that they’re trying to reach with their writing. I’ve definitely had one or two authors whose blogs were more adult in tone/language wonder why we couldn’t mention the blog in their bio or post a link on our website.

Note the similar comments about blog content matching book content.
And speaking of book content (how’s that for a segue?), exciting new kt literary client Ransom Riggs is looking for a research assistant on a book about Sherlock Holmes. If you’re interested, or know someone who might be, email me for more information.