I am seeing a few spelling mistakes in the new stories page,are the authors typically not submitting them to their editors. [ by the way what is the plural form of synopsis.]
I am seeing a few spelling mistakes in the new stories page,are the authors typically not submitting them to their editors. [ by the way what is the plural form of synopsis.]
Not to be confused with synapses, however.
Pain in the ass when those things misfire, let me tell you.
One problem I've had, is that it's often hard to get editors to take the synopsis/description seriously. Since it's not 'part of the story', they typically skip over it, or only give it a cursory read-through.
But it's a red flag for readers, and a sure indication that their work is unprofessional and likely just as filled with typos and clearly avoidable mistakes as their story description is!
You are assuming the authors use editors. Some authors don't route their descriptions through their editors. After all, it is only a couple of sentences.
From what I've seen of many descriptions, they give me absolutely no idea what the story is about, and in such a description a spelling error is the least of the author's problems.
You are assuming the authors use editors. Some authors don't route their descriptions through their editors. After all, it is only a couple of sentences.
Your story blurb is the most important sentence of your entire story, as no one will even read the story is the blurb sucks. The opening line comes in a close second, however (though I doubt many SOL readers will dump a story with a poor opening line).
I know I definitely have problems writing synopses. And that's with me thinking about it often even before I've started the story. Sometimes, getting it down to an elevator pitch is difficult.
It also seems to me that different people have radically different ideas about what a synopsis should be and indicate, and even how it's written stylistically.
i can handle typos in the synopses. what i hate is when the author talks about everything but the story. i.e. "I'm new be kind. Please tell me how you like it. I don't have an editor." and thats it.
Once upon a time, here on SOL in 1979 or so, stories didn't have "descriptions" on the author's page. Once in a while the story from the past from that period appears on the current front page. I suspect those stories mostly get ignored. Marketing is an important part of getting people to read stories. The SOL pages mostly don't have covers or advertising. If you want to give potential readers a reason to look at your story, a tempting "blurb" is vital. Or make it part of a series, then people will have a reasonable idea of what they will get when the click on the story.
The blurb is usually the very first thing I write, as it summarizes the entire story in one or two sentences, and as such, it guides me when writing and revising the story, so I keep that central theme in mind. It helps me cut out anything which doesn't promote that central theme.
Rather than apologizing for the story, or listing every detail, I find it best to outline the primary conflict: what are the characters trying to accomplish, and what's preventing them. Also, dropping the name of the primary male and female characters help to make it real for many readers.
Readers don't need the details of the story, after all, that's why they read the story. Instead, they want to know whether they want to read it or not. So outlining the central conflicts identifies the focus of the story, and gives them a good feel for how the story will play out, wherever it goes.
I am seeing a few spelling mistakes in the new stories page,are the authors typically not submitting them to their editors.
because they're usually typed into the submission box during the submission process they 're done live and not edited most of the time.
because they're usually typed into the submission box during the submission process they 're done live and not edited most of the time.
Although I always have prepared descriptions, typically when I post to a new site, they have their own size restrictions, so I need to tailor them on the fly—no doubt introducing all new typos. It's a chaotic system. It's even worse for newbie authors who have no clue what they're doing or what to expect.