Right now I'm struggling with a damned Query Letter which once finished will be sent along with a 50 page sample to a Literary Agent. If it works then I'll be one step closer to getting published. The part I'm struggling with is the synopsis. I need an honest opinion here, is this synopsis too long or too short? Does it give you a good idea of the plot? Does it make you want to read the book? Does it give you a headache? Seriously, so far the Internet has turned up lots of contradictory advice and I'm stumped. While informed opinions are as always needed I'm not too adverse to receiving advice from anyone so long as its to the point and honest.

The Synopsis so far:
It is 2010, and the menace of Atomic War looms over the world, yet there is a greater threat that the world fails to recognize. For more than sixty years the world has depended on its superheroes to keep it safe and no superhero has been more invaluable to that end than Mister Magnificent, the first and most powerful member of Superhumanity. He’s fearless, compassionate, and above all else a beacon of hope and justice in a world beset by inequity and fear. But what happens when the man who holds the world in his hands starts to lose his mind? Who saves the savior? Festering in his mind is a monstrous second personality, that of an Angry God, a God unfettered by mere human morality. As Mister Magnificent grapples with the fragility of his all-too human mind his friends try to fill his considerable shoes. For impulsive and somewhat madcap ex-vigilante Avenger the fight against crime continues unabated. While she and her dilettante protégé Bombshell go about business as usual the imposing but humble juggernaut of a hero known as the Guardian prepares for the moment when he may be the one thing standing in the way of Armageddon. The United States government refuses to accept the truth but the Chinese sense the threat Mister Magnificent poses and forge an unholy and ill-advised alliance with the powerful, near-omniscient, and vindictive supervillain known to the world as the Polar-Man. Caught up in the middle of this is the wise and noble veteran hero Paragon who tries to find a way to save his friend and hold on to his young lover Jade Empress who has been forced by her government to work alongside the Polar-Man to suit their ends. The Polar-Man understands the cause of the tragedy and through it all his twisted scheme threatens to tear the world asunder, provided Mister Magnificent doesn’t beat him to it. When it seems that all is lost, it is none other than Mister Magnificent himself who once again saves the day, but only after being inspired by his fellow heroes to seize control of his destiny and perform one, final act of selfless heroism.

Well, it made me want to go see if there are any new solicits for Dark Avengers... see what's become of the Sentry and the Void. I feel a little blindsided by the sheer number of characters and information you crammed in there. The superhero fiction market is crowded. You're already at a bit of a disadvantage.

Best advice I can give: Keep it short, make every sentence word count, (Less superfluous adjectives.) and be precise in following the agent's guidelines... and then prepare for rejection. Lots and lots and lots of super fun, super crushing rejection.

Also I can offer this link: The Complete Nobody's Guide to Query Letters - one of the best articles I've read on the subject. Also, I love Lynn Flewelling hardcore.

Edit: Huh. I thought she covered more synopsis related stuffs in there. My bad.

Well, it's still a relevant and helpful read. I'm leavin' it.

Yeah I actually read that one, it had some useful tips. The problem is while a lot of websites say queries should be 1 page only my Cousin (who's a published writer) says 1 1/2 so I'm not sure which is right or if both would be fine.

Meh. I know quite a few published authors. Heck, technically, I'm a published author. They're all going to give you different opinions. I don't know what it is about professional writing, but it's so full of contradictions it makes me a tad dizzy sometimes.

1 1/2 seems a tad lengthy to me. Really though, length isn't a huge deal. I'd say, ideally, try to keep it under a page. After that, just try to catch the reader's interest. Give them the bare bones of the plot and maybe one or two things that really pop and make your book stand out. Don't make it vague. Don't try and entice the agent by teasing them with loose ends. They can be... pretty pissy.

If you feel you just have to mention all those characters in the synopsis, consider a character list. List a character, offer a little blurb about who they are and what they do. I've seen it done before. If well executed, it might make your synopsis more... streamline.

Hmm. The character list is certainly an idea. The problem is that its an ensemble cast and the relationships are a tad complicated between a few of the characters. I'll try it out though.
Also how can one "technically" be a published author? I always thought you were either published or you aren't published, is there somewhere in between, like publishing limbo?

Yep. It's called freelance.

My fiction has a considerably harder time finding a home than the nonfiction stuff I sometimes whore myself out for. I'm a novelist by nature, and my short stories suffer for it. I'm currently trying my hand at novelettes to see where that takes me.

My proudest moment, to date - when it comes to my fiction - was a featured spot in the newsletter of a pretty reputable publishing house. The editor happened upon an excerpt from one of my unfinished novels and talked about how much promise he thought it had. It was a tad sudden, rather unexpected, and totally awesome. I've won some writing contests for my short fiction before and after that, but they pale in comparison. The idea of an editor saying nice things about something I've written (especially a novel)... well, it just makes me giddy.

Ah I see.
I have a pretty good idea for a novelette, unfortunately I've been told that its nigh impossible to get a single short story published these days, to make it worth the publisher's while you have to group together two or three stories into a book. That or make some anthology.

My biggest advice? Break it up into smaller paragraphs. No editor likes looking at a wall of text.

This is coming from a published writer and editor.

Yeah I actually just had a revelation. I realized I was trying to make a Query letter and a synopsis. Now I've shortened and condensed it down to one page and I'm about to start work on a real substantive synopsis.

My other piece of advice, cruise through publishers Web sites. Nothing pisses them off more than them having posted they are not accepting queries or manuscripts then receiving an e-mail or letter inquiring.

And honestly, I'd by-pass an agent. You have to pay an agent to represent your self. I think you'd represent you better than an agent would represent you.

Yeah the problem is an agent provides a means to reach an editor and I know less about editors than I know about Agents. When you were first published did you send it straight to an editor?

My first publishings came through contests. My subsequent ones now are all non-fiction or freelance work. The important thing to remember is every company has dozens of publishers. One may get your query letter and your 50 page/3 consecutive chapters and hate it because it's not their style and reject it. You submit it again 6 months later and the same thing happens. Six months later and you get the right editor that -likes- your work for the same publisher. A rejection letter from a company doesn't mean don't try again. It means polish it and try again and again and again. You will have a stack of rejection letters, but don't stop trying.

Fear of rejection is a terrible thing. I'll do my best to overcome it and try again if I fail in the first place. Even if this book never gets published there's another one in the works with much more publishable subject matter (science fiction, much larger base)

There was an interview with an author, can't remember who it was, but he said if he gave up after all the rejection letters he'd gotten, he'd never have been published...and some of his stuff is the best stuff out there.

Ditto everything Kay has said. You'll likely get rejected so many times you'll be convinced you'll never get anywhere. It sucks, but keep trying...and take on any constructive criticism you get and LEARN from it.

The best way to get your work out there is to start with shorter pieces and submit them to magazines and anthologies. It's an easier market to start in as opposed to heading straight for the full length novel.

Good luck!

Oh! Probably the best advice my creative writing professors ever gave me: Make sure that EVERY SINGLE WORD is necessary and has meaning within the overall context of your story. Read some Hemingway, he uses very few, but very well chosen words to get his point across.