Ten Tips For Writing A Great Book Synopsis For Amazon

An often over-looked aspect of book marketing for independent authors is the book synopsis.  Now, I know this may seem like a no-brainer, but I’m constantly amazed at how truly bad some of these synopses are.  If there’s one thing an author needs to remember about publishing online, it is that their book synopsis is one of the top three KEY FACTORS in whether or not people decide to purchase their book.  I think one of the reasons I’m having such good success is that I spent 10 years as a copywriter and know how to use my words to entice people into making a purchase.  It’s a bit different when it comes to selling works of fiction, but it’s not THAT different.  You still need to get people excited and interested in checking out your book, so that they’re willing and able to click that ever important “Order” button.

The purpose of this post is not just to show off what an incredible smarty-pants I am (though I’m going to be doing that as much as possible, I assure you).  It’s also meant to be a guide on how authors can market their books through a well written synopsis.  Once a potential reader comes to your Amazon, B&N, or iBooks page, the synopsis is going to be the first thing they read, and it’s going to play a HUGE factor in whether or not they decide to check out your book (especially if you have no reviews for it currently).

Therefor, every author needs to take special care when writing their synopsis – probably even more care than they put into the actual writing of the novel itself.  If your book isn’t selling well, chances are your synopsis just isn’t doing its job.

So here are the things you can do to write a killer synopsis for your book, and help convince more people to give your work a read.

Tip #1:  Don’t think of it as a synopsis, think of it as an advertisement

When writers hear the term “synopsis,” or “blurb,” they think “Oh!  I just have to write something that sums up my book in a nutshell.”

Nope.  Nuh-uh.  NoNoNoNoNo.  NO!

Your synopsis is not meant to sum up your book’s story.  It’s meant to create enough interest to get people to want to READ your story.  In this sense, it’s more of an advertisement than a summary.  Think about the ads you see in your local newspaper, or even on TV.  These ads don’t give you a summary of what is being sold to you.  You don’t go to McDonalds because they have a new pork sandwich with pickles, onions, and bbq sauce.  You go because “For a LIMITED TIME, the sweet and tangy McRib is back!  Delicious, mouth-watering bar-be-que so good, you can’t miss out!!!!”

In this sense, advertisements you see are meant to get you to take an action of some type.  In the case of food advertisements (such as the McDonalds example), they try to create sensory experiences by describing how food tastes to make you crave it.  Instead of saying “Come get a McRib” they say “Come try our sweet and tangy McRib!”  And in addition to that, they also advertise a deal.  You’ll see things such as “2 Sandwiches for $5!” or “$5 footlong!” or “Now just only a buck!” or whatever.  Then they’ll toss in a nifty time constraint such as “for a limited time only!” to get you to take action as soon as possible.

Remember, the purpose of ads isn’t just to create awareness of a product, it is to get people to take an action to BUY that product.  As an author, you must look at your synopsis in the same way.  It is not simply a recapping of your book, it is a call to action “advertorial” meant to spur readers to check out your product.  Therefore, you’re better off writing your synopsis more like an ad than you are writing it as a summary.  Once you think of your synopsis in this manner, you’ll be surprised at how much more effective it becomes.

Tip #2:  Assume your reader doesn’t know a dang thing

When you sit down to write your synopsis, assume your reader has NO CLUE about anything.  I’m not just talking about you or your book.  I’m talking about ANYTHING.  As in, they barely know how to read.  They are not up on news, politics, sports, pop culture – AN. Y.  THING.

I see SO MANY synopses on Amazon where the writer just assumes way, way, way too much knowledge on the reader’s part.  Do not fall into this trap.  I don’t care what’s in the news, what’s popular, what other “well known” books are like yours, etc.  You cannot assume your reader will know anything about what you’re writing about.  This is ESPECIALLY true when it comes to worldbuilding within your novel.

I’ll often see scifi books that’ll have synopses like “Dirk Manly was a Spartan who dedicated his life to fighting the Humbugs on Greebuxoll 7.”  Now, as the author, you probably know what Spartans are, as well as Humbugs, and you might even have an entire history mapped out behind Greebuxoll 7.  However, as a reader, I DON’T KNOW OR CARE ABOUT ANY OF THIS.  I see “Spartan” and I think ripped men in loinclothes like in the movie “300″ or even Halo’s Master Chief.  I see Humbugs I think of the book “A Christmas Carroll” or some type of insect.  And I have no freakin’ clue what Greebuxoll 7 is.  Is it a spaceship?  A city?  A planet?  A feminine hygiene product? (Hey, you never know!)

The fact is, this isn’t just limited to scifi.  Other genres make this mistake too.  Don’t think people know anything about your small town or big city where the story takes place in.  Don’t assume they are aware of a profession and what it entails.  Don’t assume anything!  Write your synopsis as though you are speaking to someone who is totally clueless about everything.  This way, it will appeal to the broadest possible audience and not be confusing in the slightest.

Tip #3:  Write your synopsis like you’re writing for a 3rd grader

This isn’t to say you should write your synopsis like “See Spot.  See Spot Run.”  It’s to say, keep your writing simple and so easy to understand, even a 3rd grader could comprehend what it is you’re writing.  You’re not going to dazzle anyone with your amazing vocabulary when you’re writing your synopsis.  In fact, using too flowery of language will probably turn some readers off because it will make you look pretentious.  And you’re not writing a thesis for grad school either.  You’re writing for the purpose of enticing someone to read more of your words.  In this respect, confusion is bad.  Do not write anything that is too confusing, convoluted, or takes too much brain power to process.  A good way to keep people from reading the entire synopsis is to write something tedious, academic, or complicated.

In this sense, never use words you need a dictionary to know the meaning of.  Try in write in short, snappy sentences.  Keep things simple and light.  Use buzz words and descriptive language as much as possible.

Tip #4:  Size matters

Just like in the bedroom (*ahem*) size matters when it comes to a good synopsis.  You don’t want it to be too short, you don’t want it to be too long, you want it to be juuuuuuuuuust right!  In my opinion, a good synopsis is between 3-5 paragraphs in length.  Possibly 6 if necessary.  Essentially, I think less than 3 paragraphs is too little to effectively convey your message, and anything more than 5 is asking too much of the reader.  Good synopses are “skimmable,” so keeping them short, sweet, and to the point is important, because the vast majority of readers won’t commit to reading much more than that.  I do not have any scientific evidence to back this up, this is just from my experience writing sales copy.

Think of it like this… if you can’t fit your entire synopsis on the 4-inch inside flap of a hardback book cover, it is too long.  People have been conditioned to judge books based on the 3-5 paragraphs books print on those inside flaps or the back of the book.  Rarely is it longer than that (at least for fiction books).  And when I say “paragraph” I mean anything from 3-5 sentences in length.

This is not to say you can’t have longer paragraphs or more paragraphs than 5 if your synopsis requires it.  I’m just saying to be careful because an extremely long and dense synopsis is something that requires more of an investment from the reader, and they may choose not to read it because it looks like too much work to do so.  Keeping a synopsis light and to-the-point makes it skimmable, and easy enough to read so that you’ll get far more reader engagement, which translates to more people who are exposed to your marketing message.

Tip #5:  Focus on the conflict of your book, not the stuff no one gives a crap about

Think of your book synopsis like a trailer for a movie.  Movie trailers have 2 minutes to communicate what a movie is about and why people should watch it.  The big reason why people go to movies is because they are attracted to the central conflict that a movie is about, and they want to see some type of resolution to that conflict.  If your book is about a girl who falls in love with a billionaire, then your synopsis needs to explain the obstacles that girl faces in getting together with that billionaire.  If it’s about a young “chosen hero” who must save the world from doom, you need to communicate just how hard it’s going to be for him to do that.

But more than that, you need to do this in such a way where people actually CARE about seeing how the story gets resolved.  I call this “building tension.”  A good movie trailer, once the basic story is established, will show rising tension to get the people watching excited.  This is typically where the music starts thumping and we’re treated to quick-cuts of characters doing awesome stuff, like walking away from explosions in slow motion, firing guns while doing backflips in zero gravity, and hitting people with surfboards and then saying something cool like “Surfs up” (*snicker*).

Even if your story isn’t an action movie, your conflict needs to take center stage in your synopsis, otherwise people aren’t gonna care.  You may have lots of unique little details that make your book stand out from others that you want to share, but frankly, you need to save that for the reading of your actual book.  The conflict in your story needs to be the thing that will make the reader want to discover the unique details about your book.  Focus on that, and you’re far more likely to get more people checking out your story than normal.

To do this, just pile on the conflict.  Something like “Debbie has fallen in love with a billionaire” isn’t going to cut it.  But you can keep adding conflict to make it something titillating enough to make people want to read it.  For instance “Debbie has fallen in love with a billionaire.  The only problem is she’s an environmental activist and he owns the biggest polluting company on the planet.  He’s also married, and his wife isn’t above killing to keep her man all to herself.  And all the children of a small town in Indiana are going to die of poisoned water unless Debbie can get her turbulent romance under control and help her dangerous new lover to see the error of his ways and do the right thing.”

See how adding conflict after conflict can help make a synopsis better?  And trust me – there is ALWAYS conflict to be found in any story.  Even if you think you’re the one special author who wrote a book without conflict, you can still find something in there your characters are struggling with.  Conflict can be internal and external as well.  The point here is to put these conflicts front and center.

Tip #6:  Use open loops as a call to action

An open loop can best be defined as “a question without an answer.”  This is a story thread that has yet to be resolved, and you can use these as a way to give readers a reason why your story is worth reading as opposed to someone else’s.

In marketing, we have a term we refer to as a “call to action.”  This is something where we specifically tell the reader what action we want them to take.  Things like “Click Here” or “Buy Now” or “Order Now” are all considered calls to action.  But you can’t use something as straight forward as this when convincing people to read your book.  Instead, you have to be more subtle, but still leave people with a good hook at the end of your synopsis to get them to want to read it.  And the best way to do this is with open loops.

Think of this as a “cliffhanger” to the conflicts you established in your synopsis.  Open loops are usually in the form of questions so the reader will be left wanting to know the answer.  So things like “Can Debbie’s love save this billionaire from his dark desires?” or “Can this young man become the hero the world needs to keep it from falling into darkness?” etc., etc.

The more open loops you can create in your synopsis, the more eager a reader will be to check out your book.  In this sense, open loops are the literary fiction version of calls to action.  In order to close these loops and discover the answer to these questions, the reader must act and download your book.

Tip #7:  Avoid quotes and gimmicks in your synopsis

Sometimes I see synopses where the author quotes either their own book or someone else’s better-known work.  In the case of an author quoting their own book, I’m all “I don’t care.”  If there’s no context for the quote, it could even give people a bad idea of what your writing is like and alienate them right away.  If it’s from another person’s work, then the reader may wonder “Hmmmm.  Maybe I should read that book instead?” or if they hate the author of the quote, they may say “Screw this,” and check out some other book.

Leave your quotes for the inside of your novel.  Do not put them in your synopsis.  Quotes will not make your potential reader want to read more of your work.  The conflict of your story and the open loops you use will do that.

By the same token, don’t use gimmicks in your synopsis, even if you think they’re cool.  Trust me, they aren’t.  Bible verses, Song Lyrics, all that jazz – it’s just taking up valuable real estate and making you look pretentious.  I don’t care how “appropriate” to your novel it might be.  People can easily spot a gimmick when they see it, and it will turn most people off.  Avoid them if at all possible.

Tip #8:  Showcase unique things about your book, as long as it doesn’t require a lot of explanation

Sometimes authors have things in their stories that are really super-original, quirky, or just too cool not to showcase.  You should totally try to layer this type of thing into your synopsis as a way of creating intrigue with the reader – HOWEVER, you should never do so if it requires too much explanation of what makes the thing cool or quirky.  So you could say something like:

“David is now on a quest to save his mother, armed with only a toothbrush, a magic carpet, and a talking dog who can predict the future (though not always accurately).”

As you can see, there are some unique and quirky things to David’s journey.  A magic carpet?  COOL!  What’s magic about it?  I wanna know!  And a talking dog that predicts the future?  SWEET!  If you notice, the only explanation I offer here is that the dog doesn’t always get the future predictions right.  If any of these things required their own paragraphs or something to accurately explain, they wouldn’t be worth including in the synopsis.

If you had to say “David is on a quest to save the world with a magic carpet he got on a trip to Egypt with his mom, and a talking dog who he rescued from a laboratory which can predict the future with 87% accuracy because of illegal scientific experiments…” then you’re trying a bit too hard.  These are all details a reader can discover within the book itself.  Just give the “Cliff’s Notes” version in the synopsis – just enough to communicate how cool the idea is.  That will be enough to entice the reader to check out more.

Tip #9:  Don’t compare your book to any other book in your synopsis

It may be tempting to compare your book to best sellers in an attempt to cash in on that audience, but trust me, if you do this, you’re only shooting yourself in the foot.  First of all, not everyone has read that best seller.  In fact, there are guaranteed to be readers who hated that best seller.  I, personally, hated The DaVinci Code.  And any book that compares itself to that is a book I immediately say “NopeNopeNope!” to.  You want your book to stand on its own merits and you don’t want to alienate readers for any reason.  Because of this, it is best to leave out things like:

“If you liked 50 Shades of Grey, you’ll love (your book here).”

“A roller-coaster ride to rival The DaVinci Code!”

“If you’re a fan of the Twilight novels, this is a must read!”

Let’s face it.  Fans of those books are going to immediately see yours as inferior to those stories.  Sure, they may say “This was like 50 Shades of Grey!” after the read it, and that’s fine.  But if you tell them it’s like 50 Shades of Grey, they’re gonna be like “Hmmmm, maybe I should just go read 50 Shades again?”  Or if they do buy your book, they might not like it as much as they normally would because they’re constantly comparing it to the book you told them it was similar to.

Tip #10:  Don’t speak to your reader in the synopsis, write it as if it were its own story

One thing that really turns me off in a synopsis is when an author speaks to me directly, as the author, about their book.  A good synopsis shouldn’t be a dialogue, it should be it’s own little short story.  If I’m looking at a book and the synopsis has stuff like “This is a novel about a young man trying to find his way in the world,” or “You’ve never read anything like this before,” or anything which breaks the “third wall” and makes me feel like I’m being pitched to instead of entertained, it is bad technique.

An old saying in marketing goes “People hate to be sold to, but they love to buy.”  The minute someone feels you are selling them on your book, they will be turned off by it.  Don’t tell them what your “novel” is about.  Tell them a story that’s going to make them WANT to find out what your novel is about.  Don’t speak to them directly.  Lure them in with your words and create mystery and excitement.  In short, don’t sell – make people want to buy!

Okay, so those are the ten tips I use when I write my synopses.  I think they’re pretty awesome.  If you don’t agree with them, you’re obviously stupid and not nearly as cool as me.  (I kid, I kid…)(not really, but sort of.)  Take a look at the synopsis of your books and analyze them using these ten guidelines, and ask yourself if the synopsis can be improved at all.  90% of the time, it can!  In fact, I’ll prove it to you.  How?  By being a total troll and analyzing other people’s work as a way to make myself appear to know what I’m talking about!  (Is there really any other way?)

Let us start with the synopsis from a book called “What Happens To Us” by an author named David Groves, whom I met on Facebook.  He contacted me about marketing advice, so I feel I can give it to him through this blog post in regards to his synopsis.  Here it is:

It’s Edward Snowden’s worst nightmare.

An NSA employee with access to warrantless surveillance has an obsession with a young San Francisco woman. As the novel opens, he attempts to kill her and she gets away. The police don’t believe her, since she is a recovering alcoholic who has given them trouble in the past. Thus begins a breathless chase across the country and off the grid.

This novel is about more than just a chase, though. Rafe is an NSA employee who is authorized to conduct surveillance on whomever he wants at his own discretion and without oversight—i.e., warrantlessly, much as described by the recent NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden. This novel is about the danger of allowing certain people omniscient power in the name of fighting terrorism. It’s about the innocent victims. It’s about her relationship with a young man who has no idea the trouble he’s in for. It’s about love in a time of hiding. It’s about what America should be. It’s ripped from the headlines.

So, my first thought when reading this synopsis was “Who da FUQ is Edward Snowden?  And what is his nightmare???”  Seriously, people, I’m too busy writing to follow the news much most of the time, and your average person doesn’t follow the news either.  Apparently Edward Snowden is an NSA Whistleblower, but heck if I knew that.  Right of the bat, this synopsis is assuming my dumb ass knows too much.  I initially thought Edward Snowden was the main character of the novel, and got confused until he was mentioned later and it was clarified who he was – though he has nothing really to do with the story, so by that point I really DON’T CARE.

Notice how he talks about his book in 3rd person?  ”As the novel opens” and “This is a novel about…” yadda, yadda.  This takes me out of the story he’s trying to tell immediately.

Also, he barely gives me a chance to connect with his main character – a woman who’s being stalked by some perv at the NSA.  He doesn’t even tell us her name, fer gursh sakes!  This book is supposed to be about her struggle, right?  So why is she relegated to a non-character in favor of this NSA guy named Rafe?  And why is the author more concerned about making a statement about the political climate in the United States (ripped from the headlines, no less – talk about cliched) then actually engaging me in the meat of his story – a young woman’s desperate attempt to escape Big Brother and get control back over her life.

Instead of saying crap like “It’s about… BLAH BLAH NO ONE GIVES A HOOT,” why not introduce some conflict?  Why not use some open loops?  Why not say “Marie (or whatever, I don’t know what the main character’s name is) is now on the run – but she quickly discovers to her horror there’s no place she can hide.  Her credit cards can be tracked.  Her cell phone can show exactly where she is.  Every move, every call, every attempt to disappear can be recorded, traced, and broken down.  How can she run when there’s nowhere to escape to?  How can she hide when it’s impossible not to be tracked by her tormentor?  How can she survive… when the man looking to kill her can see her every move?”

DUN-DUN-DUUUUUUUNNNNNN!!!!

Seriously, this guy has a cool plot for his story, but his synopsis doesn’t communicate it AT ALL.  There is nothing in his synopsis that makes me want to read his book, unfortunately.  And the sad part is, this could easily be fixed.

Another book with a synopsis that could use some work is called “Return of the Titans,” by J.J. Thompson.  I see this book a lot in regards to my own book Earthman Jack vs. The Ghost Planet, so when I checked it out, I marveled at how poorly written the synopsis was.  Check it out:

Justin McLeod’s life has taken a turn for the worse. Small for his age and in his first year of high school, Justin’s only friend has become a bully and harasses him at every turn. But Justin has a secret. He feels no pain from the punches and shoves that come his way and, at his mother’s request, must pretend to be normal even though he wants to fight back.

A mysterious message on his computer sends him in search of knowledge about the legendary Titans. While at the local library, he is confronted by a frightening group of men who follow him and attack his home.

Justin must escape, but there seems no way out and leaving his ailing mother behind is something Justin does not want to do. But Justin’s mother and a family friend urge him to get to a place of safety; a sanctuary where he may, perhaps, learn more about his strange gift and it’s connection with the long-dead Titans.

Again, this is a good example of the author assuming we, the reader, know stuff.  To me, a Titan is a Greek Deity who came before the Gods of Olympus.  But… is that what this book is about?  What are the Titans in relation to this book’s world?  This is something that would need to be established.  We don’t really get a good sense of what the conflict of the story is.  We know Justin can’t seem to feel pain (which, if I were his mother, I’d want to send him to the doctor for, not hide it – that can be dangerous!), but then he gets a mysterious message from a computer and some creeps at the library get all up in his face, and he runs home, where his mother then tells him to go someplace else and learn about the Titans… for some reason?

This synopsis might give me a general idea of the book’s plot, but it does NOTHING to make me want to read the book.  Why should I care about Justin McLeod?  What’s at stake for him?  What’s the conflict?  What are these Titans and why are they important to me?  What is the hook that would make me want to read this book and not another?  I HAVE NO IDEA.  WHICH IS WHY I DIDN’T READ THE DANG THING.

C’mon, Mr. Thompson.  Give me something to go on here!  Tell me what the Titans are, why they’re long-dead, and how Justin discovering stuff about his connection to them is going to matter.  Let me know what’s at stake for your character, beyond being harassed by some mysterious men you don’t bother to elaborate on beyond “there’s a group of them.”  And leave me with a real cliffhanger that’s gonna make me go “Oh Snap! (shut up, I talk like that) I wanna see what happens!”

Finally, let’s analyze the novel “Strike:  Hero From The Sky” by Charlie Wood, another author who contacted me through Goodreads looking for some marketing tips.  Here’s his synopsis:

Book One of the STRIKE Trilogy

Tobin Lloyd’s life is perfect: he’s a senior at Bridgton High, he’s one of the funniest kids in school, and his only worry is whether or not his latest prank is going to result in yet another detention.

But when he wakes up in the world of Capricious, a place where superheroes are real and attacks by super-villains are just another hassle of living in the city, all of that changes. Suddenly, Tobin’s last year of high school is not going as he expected.

Far from home and pretty sure he’s gone insane, Tobin must join a strange group of companions (including a beer-drinking dog and a genius, three-foot-tall robot) as he desperately tries to find a way back to Earth. However, that may be even harder than Tobin knows: a mysterious super-villain named Vincent Harris has big plans for the planet Earth…and Tobin is the only person standing in his way.

A carefree, C-student class clown is the world’s last hope? Yikes.

Full of action and humor, STRIKE: THE HERO FROM THE SKY is the perfect novel for anyone who loves a good adventure.

First of all, I’d never lead off a synopsis with “Book One of (Whatever).”  If that’s important, put it at the end of the synopsis and give a brief description of how this book relates to the entire series.  For instance, saying something like “This first book in the STRIKE trilogy sets the stage for an epic superhero adventure which will shake the universe to its very core,” or something else appropriately overdramatic.

And ending the synopsis with “the perfect novel for anyone who loves a good adventure” is yawn-worthy.  If you’re going to end your synopsis, end it with an open loop.  Leave the reader with a feeling of WANTING to read the book.  Don’t tell them this is the perfect novel for them.  PROVE IT.  Say something like “Tobin’s journey is chock-full of action, adventure, and humor – assuming he can actually live through it, that is!  When you’re a teenager with superpowers, can you ever really go back to a normal life?”  This communicates the exact same thing, but in a far more engaging way – and it doesn’t break the third wall!

This synopsis isn’t really that bad.  The author does a good job of introducing us to the main character and sets up the basis of the story.  He layers in lots of unique things about his book.  However, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of conflict here.  Just going off the synopsis, the main thrust of this book seems to be that Tobin is trying to find a way back to Earth.  The fact that there’s a supervillain who’s going to serve as Tobin’s chief antagonist seems almost like an afterthought.  Now, if the author had said “Now, Tobin must make a mad dash to get back to Earth before an evil supervillain enacts his master plan to destroy it an everyone Tobin cares about…” or something along those lines.  Adding this sense of urgency and conflict makes the synopsis far more appealing, because we the reader would get more of a sense of what’s at stake.

Finally, he breaks the third wall with his call to action paragraph.  The set up of having a C-Student class clown be the world’s last hope is cool, but the “Yikes!” at the end ruins it.  I’d say the author really needs to set up in the synopsis just how insurmountable the conflict is, before he plays this “C-student” card.  And once that’s done, he could say something like “Does Tobin have it within him to become an actual superhero?  Can this carefree class clown ever hope to rise to the challenge and save the world?  Will this C-student be able to defeat an evil genius and become the Earth’s last hope for survival?  Or will he once again fall short like the underachiever he’s always been?  When humanity’s survival hangs in the balance, it’s going to take more than a miracle – it’s going to take a hero from the sky!”

Or, y’know.  Something like that.

So as you can see, writing a good synopsis for your self-published book isn’t just essential, it can also be pretty simple to do!  In fact, I’d even go so far as to post different versions of your synopses on Facebook and ask for feedback from your friends/fans/whatevers, just so you have an idea of what people are responding to.  Remember – the purpose of your synopsis is to get people to want to READ your book, not to tell people what your book is about.

Just keep that in mind, and I’m sure you’ll write a good one!  ;-)