Just the Gist with Rob Hart

Condensing several hundred pages of a novel into a short query or synopsis is tough. Editor and author Rob Hart will show you how to summarize your work with attention-grabbing brevity.

Your Instructor: Rob Hart, author of NEW YORKED, publisher at MysteriousPress.com

Where: Online — Available everywhere!

When: This class is not currently enrolling. To be notified when it is offered again, Click Here

Enrollment: 25 students

Price: $99

Class Description

You're done with your novel. You're searching for an agent or a publisher. Everyone wants a query letter and a synopsis, and you're faced with the prospect of condensing that big, sprawling novel into the space of a page. 

Or maybe you're talking to an editor and they want a pitch—and you've got to give them a synopsis and a chapter outline that will make them sit up and pay attention. 

What do you do? 

Besides complain on social media. That seems to be everyone's first step.

Here's the thing: Queries and synopses and log lines are a necessary reality of the industry. You're going to have to do them. So you may as well put in the time and energy to get good at them. Because it doesn't matter how good your novel is—if you can't sum it up, you can't sell it. 

Rob Hart doesn't see queries and synopses as a chore—he sees them as a challenge. And he has experience with them on both sides of the publishing process. Rob is the publisher of MysteriousPress.com, and he's an author, with three novels out and one on the way. He also wrote a BookShots novella with James Patterson (the audition process for which involved a synopsis and chapter outline). 

The class will focus on three aspects: The query (two to three paragraphs), the synopsis (one page), and the logline (one sentence).

And in two short weeks, he'll show you how to summarize your work so that it carries the most impact possible. 

What This Class Covers

Week 1

In this week, Rob will share tips and tricks and examples of effectively summarized work. Using those, you'll be asked to deliver a synopsis, a query, and a logline for the book you're currently working on (it doesn't even need to be done).

Week 2

Rob will return your assignments and students will work together to see what was effective and what wasn't. Rob will also share some more tricks and tips and insider knowledge on the publishing process—including how to craft an effective pitch. 

Goals Of This Class

  • Learn how to effectively summarize your work
  • Approach queries and synopses like a challenge, not a chore
  • Get insider knowledge on the publishing industry
  • Complete a logline, query, and synopsis for the book you're working on
  • Learn how to craft and effective pitch
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