Blurb vs. Synopsis: What’s the Difference?

Both are short descriptions of your story. But they’re not the same.

Photo by Scott Graham on Unsplash

When you’re trying to traditionally publish a work of fiction, you’re going to need more than just your completed novel.

(And yes, it does need to be completed! At least until you’re a more established author. You’re never going to query or pitch with an unfinished manuscript!)

You’re going to need other supporting documents, things that distill the essence of your story, concentrate the novel in its entirety to a handful of paragraphs or pages that get people excited about your work, and inform them about what’s inside. It’s absolutely critical to draw people, especially agents and editors, into your story.

And, sure, it might seem just a little cruel to require authors who’ve gone through the great effort of finishing a novel to then write more stuff. But, hey, that’s the name of the job.

It’s a popular past-time for writers to grutch about having to write their query letter and their synopsis — I do it, too! But eventually, you’re going to have to bite the bullet and get it done.

Unfortunately, there’s some confusion about the two documents. They sound similar on the surface, but they are quite different, and serve different…