Writing Jargon

Because there seems to be a bit of confusion:

QUERY LETTER: A short, one-page letter sent to an edtior or agent, meant to interest them in your work. Should include:
1) mention of previous pertinent fiction publishing credits (if any, and do not lie about this). This means if you have published other novels or short stories to reasonably large markets.
2) title, approximate word count, truthful admission of whether or not it’s complete, and broad genre of book (no need to get into all the sub-sub-sub genres of your story here — plus it should be reasonably obvious from your description)
3) short, one-or two paragraph “blurb” style description of your story. Make it sound as snappy and intriguing as possiblem, like the descriptions you see on the back cover or inside flap of published books.
4) Other pertinent information:
(a) Platform: If you are uniquely suited to write this story, tell them. It’s a medical thriller and you’re a doctor. It’s a spy story and you’re retired from the CIA. It’s about secret societies at Yale and you went there. (Not platform: it’s about kids and you have kids, etc.) Other platforms include: you’re a syndicated columnist for a national newspaper, you have a website that receives thousands of unique hits a day, you have your own TV show, you’re a celebrity, you’re a politician, you’re the child of any of the above, etc.
(b) If the story in question has won awards, or if you have won really, really big awards for other stories.
(c) If a NYT bestselling author has offered to blurb the book (include quote).
(d) If you work in the publishing industry, or have an MFA, or are otherwise more into the fiction-writing scene.
Good rule of thumb for #4, if you think it’s something that would make YOU want to read a complete stranger’s book more than before, include it, If not, don’t.
Do not ever lie. Ever.
5) Thank them for their time, and don’t forget to include your contact information and an SASE.
6) The first five or so pages of your novel. (tell them to recycle). Some people don’t agree with me about this, but I say include a sample of your writing. I’ve never done this, but I’ve heard it a lot recently, and it makes really good sense to me.

COVER LETTER: a short one page letter sent with your requested submission materials. Should include:
1) Reminder to agent/editor what you are sending and why (e.g., “we met at the RWA national conference in Reno in July, where you requested my 80,000 word collegiate chick lit novel, SECRET SOCIETY GIRL,” “thank you so much for requesting my 80,000 word collegiate chick lit novel, SECRET SOCIETY GIRL, about an ordinary Ivy League Co-ed who just happens to be a member of one of the most powerful secret scoieties in the world,” or “Thank you so much for agreeing to read my novel, which my second cousin, your client Gertrude Weinerschnitzel, recently mentioned to you. TITLE is BLANK words long, and tells the story of BLANKET BLANK BLANK BLANK.”
2. Any “platformy” info from query.
3. “Thank you and I look forward to hearing from you.”
4. Some people like to enclose a copy of the original query and/or request. This can’t hurt. Also, if you have been introduced by your second cousin Gertrude, include the whole two paragraph blurb.
5. Enclosed requested material.

SYNOPSIS: a description of what happens in your novel, from beginning to end. These really aren’t as painful as everyone makes them out to be.
1. Introduce your main characters, their goals, motivations, and conflicts. Breeze through the backgrounds in a sentence.
2. Hit the high points. No need to slavishly describe every scene in the novel. Cover the big turning points in the plot (what some call the tent poles), concetrating on who, what and why, and make it sound as smooth and seamless as possible. Pretend that you are telling a friend what happened in a great movie you just watched. For instance, if you are writing a synopsis for STAR WARS, it’s enough to say, “After Luke’s family is killed by stormtroopers in search of the two missing droids, Luke and Ben realize they need to escape the planet. They sneak into a nearby spaceport and hire rogueish smuggler Han Solo to take them off-world in his souped up ship.” You don’t really need to get into what happens at the bar in Mos Eiseley, you know?
3. Tell the whole story. Do not say, “and if you want to know what happens…” This is amateurish, and pisses people off. They do want to know what happens, and they want to know it up front.
4. Keep it as short as possible. A good rule of thumb is no more than 1 page for every 10k in your novel. I’ve written books from 60k to 115k, and my synopses are usually 7-8 pages long, though can be as small as four. It depends on how complicated your plot is. If you’ve got some huge epic fantasy with a lot of worldbuilding, it will probably be longer.
5. Double spaced.

So, are we all clear on the differences? Good!