Story Sensei

 This is actually a lesson from my Synopsis worksheet, so forgive me if you’ve taken my class and this sounds vaguely familiar. :) An agent might use a one-sentence hook when she presents your story to an editor, or you can use this hook in your proposal, and an editor might use it when she presents it to the pub board. Actually, I would strongly suggest you have a one-sentence hook in your proposal, because even if your editor doesn’t use it in pub board, you may be asked to submit a one-sentence hook later, after the book is contracted, to give to the Marketing and Sales team. This hook will also help you step back from your story and adopt a more high-level view of the manuscript. It can be hard to wrench yourself out of the nitty-gritty of the story and take this bird’s-eye view, so, well ... make an effort. Be a little impassive about your story—don’t be too tied to it. That’ll help you to step back and look at the overall picture. Here’s the actual one sentence hook I ...

 (I originally posted this article on a blog in 2010, but I’m reposting it here.) I wanted to talk about putting together a fiction proposal for your manuscript. Not all proposals are set up the same way, but I’m going to go through the structure of a typical one. Cover page (It can be single or double-spaced, your choice) Your name and contact info in the top left corner (mailing address, phone number, email address) The manuscript’s genre and word count in the top right corner In the center of the page, center justification: Title of Your Novel by Your Name (optional) your agent’s name and contact information in the bottom right corner After the cover page, all the other pages of the proposal should have a header just like a manuscript, with the title, your name, and the page number of the proposal. Story blurb (optional) Start this on a fresh page after your cover page, and single space it. The story blurb is just a paragraph—two to four sentences—abou...