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I am attempting to write my first novel, a historical fiction.

To help focus my story, I wrote the Query Letter and Synopsis in chronological order.

However, the story is a narration by an old lady who is speaking to a reporter, hence story will most likely be out of order.

I believe chronological Query Letter and Synopsis is acceptable, even though story is told out of order (as long as it make sense to reader, ultimately).

Thoughts?

Marium
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1 Answers1

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A query letter should be one page long (which, using standard typefaces and formatting, means you've got about 300 words to make your case). You won't have space for a detailed plot synopsis, because the main point of a query letter is to pitch your book to an agent, to get them excited about what you're writing so they contact you for more information. Your synopsis will be a single paragraph (i.e. about 3 or 4 sentences), which has to be written to tantalize the imagination of the agent, not explain in detail the plot and structure of the novel.

If the order of events is a point you really want to use to sell the novel then by all means include it, but keep in mind you have a lot of information to fit into your query letter and you need to carefully ration what you spend on synopsis.

For further advice about writing query letters, this is a pretty good guide: https://nybookeditors.com/2015/12/how-to-write-a-darn-good-query-letter/

Dmann
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