Synopsis Don'ts

[Isometric]

Having any grammar mistakes in a synopsis is another one. It's literally the first introductory paragraph of the entire story. If there are issues with it, even a most basic typo at all, then I shudder to think what the story is like.

After translating a novel and starting one of my own, I've gotten extremely forgiving about unintentional errors like a missing word. I'll write a chapter, proofread it out loud a day later, then proofread it again out loud a week later, but I'll still end up with random typos due to my brain automatically correcting them unconsciously.

My advice for everyone would be to have the quality of your synopsis match the quality of the novel itself. If your novel's writing is top-notch and your synopsis is trash, you're really shooting yourself in the foot. A good synopsis pulls in readers that might otherwise avoid your novel, while a bad synopsis loses you readers that would otherwise give it a shot.

Also, don't tell readers not to read your novel! I see so many synopses that say "AVOID THIS NOVEL if you hate political intrigue, dark fantasy, etc."

Even if a potential reader thinks they hate whatever subjects are in your disclaimer, let them decide after reading your novel. You're just throwing away potential readers for no gain by saying that. There are some extremely sensitive subjects that can be worth using disclaimers about, but I see them used most often about completely generic topics that are extremely common and completely inoffensive.

 

[ThisAdamGuy]

What are some things you would strongly recommend never doing in a synopsis?

Just make it a list of things that happen in the story. Even if that's all a synopsis technically is, you have to treat it like any other part of your book, and actually make it fun to read. Use colorful language, introduce questions and mysteries that only reading the book will answer. Don't just go "A person lived in a place and did some things. He will go to other places and do other things in the future. Will he do the things? Find out in my super exciting and life changing book. Or don't. I don't really care."

 

[CharlesEBrown]

Oh, I got something!

If the supposed MC from Earth has an utterly ridiculous name.

"This is Athena, who was a normal office girl."
"Solomon, an average Joe with a normal life."

Something has to be wrong if the authors already at the naming phase have to be cringy.

Having known not one but TWO women named Athena (as well as having two doctors with the last name of Solomon and one with the first ... oh, and, for good measure, knowing guys who's actual names are Elrik and Osirus) those names don't bug me in the least... Heck, given the people I've met over the years, the only supposedly "real world" name that ever bugged me was Perpugilliam Brown for a petite, well-off white girl allegedly from the US Midwest. Mercifully, they usually shortened it to just "Peri" on Doctor Who.

Also, if I read a man's name after the cover had a girl on it. Not a good introduction if you have to start with lying to me.

Concur here - or even if the synopsis talks about multiple characters but seems to focus on male ones but the cover just shows a hot chick, that sets up a red flag usually.

My biggest problem with synopses are when they feel more like a first chapter or a prologue. I try to use them as a teaser myself, hinting at stuff while giving away as little as I can..

A 50/50 thing is when the author lists what to expect in the story. Half the time it kind of bores me, the other half it tells me: "Ah, this is why I won't even bother with chapter one, as I don't care to read that..."

 

[Tatsuo]

Don't bore the reader.

Is this power possible?

 

[Kenjona]

I


Do


Get

Irritated

At


Synopsis

With

Bad

Line

Spacing

.

Same with it being in the story itself. Excessively bad grammar, or all caps tend to turn me off too.

 

[MarekSusicky]

A 50/50 thing is when the author lists what to expect in the story. Half the time it kind of bores me, the other half it tells me: "Ah, this is why I won't even bother with chapter one, as I don't care to read that..."

Same with me, sometimes it helps, when they warn about harem I don't wanna read. I was advised to put list in my story, so I did... My theory is people tend to skip the actual synopsis and read only this, because that's what the author deemed most important. Then read the rest.

 

[3guanoff]

The synopsis needs to reflect the story. If your synopsis reads like something written by AI, I will assume your story is as well.

Likewise, if the style of the synopsis and the story do not match at all, I will be disappointed and leave a bad rating for deceiving me. Well, if I could be bothered to leave a rating, that is.
And should your synopsis promise me a psychopathic killer chasing a cat, you better not spend the first twenty chapters talking about a barely related animal right's lawyer. Give me someone mentioned in the synopsis!

[snip]

Same with it being in the story itself. Excessively bad grammar, or all caps tend to turn me off too.

Mate, who wrote their story in all caps? I need to know. That's hilarious.

 

[Leti]

For me it's "Follow/accompany [character name] as they" and other sentences that tell the synopsis is AI-generated. If the synopsis is AI-generated, then there are high chance the story is also AI-generated.

 

[Kenjona]

The synopsis needs to reflect the story. If your synopsis reads like something written by AI, I will assume your story is as well.

Likewise, if the style of the synopsis and the story do not match at all, I will be disappointed and leave a bad rating for deceiving me. Well, if I could be bothered to leave a rating, that is.
And should your synopsis promise me a psychopathic killer chasing a cat, you better not spend the first twenty chapters talking about a barely related animal right's lawyer. Give me someone mentioned in the synopsis!


Mate, who wrote their story in all caps? I need to know. That's hilarious.

I do not remember, but yeah it happened. They have probably fixed it by now. It has been awhile.