The Synopsis Treasury

Have you ever wondered what successful authors submitted to publishers? Ever wanted to peek over their shoulders and see their synopses or outlines, the ones that landed a book contract (and maybe even the ones that were rejected)?

Now’s your chance.

Contained within these pages are never-before-seen story submissions by international bestsellers, grandmasters, multi-award winners, and rising stars, each with an original biography and introduction.

But what about the publisher’s response? You’ll find some of those here too. Have you ever assumed an editor would accept whatever a heavyweight author gives them? This collection proves that even a successful writer may be asked to rethink, rewrite, and resubmit—and that’s if the editor likes it well enough in the first place.

Selected by Christopher Sirmons Haviland over a span of ten years, these real story submissions in their context will supplement all those “how to write and submit” books by showing you how it’s done.