For novelists asked for a synopsis
Novel Synopsis Template and Example
Seven paragraphs with word budgets that fit one page, present tense, ending told, plus a full annotated example synopsis to check yours against.
Synopsis
THE SALT LEDGER · Upmarket mystery · 88,000 words
MAREN HOLT, 38, is the paper conservator at the Holt Maritime Museum in Port Absalom, Maine, which her late father founded. The town's pride is the 1847 rescue, when the whaler Constance sailed back into a gale for a stranded crew. Its logbook, the museum's treasure, draws the summer visitors who keep Port Absalom going through winter. Maren wants one thing: to keep the museum open.
The museum's roof is failing, and Maren's brother, CAL HOLT, who chairs the board, has arranged to sell the logbook at auction in Boston. Rebinding it for the sale, Maren finds a watermark from a mill that opened in 1871. The logbook is a copy, and the margin notes are in her father's handwriting.
Over the winter, Maren and Cal begin to speak again. Descendants of the six sailors, traced through her research, come to Port Absalom. In spring the museum reopens with her father's copy displayed beside the burned original and the six names on the wall. Maren signs the new condition report with her own name.
Opening, turn and ending of the full example. The query stops at her choice; the synopsis tells how it ends.
What you'll get
A one-page synopsis structure that tells the ending
- A one-page structure with words per paragraph
- A full example synopsis, annotated
- The rules agents give, and where they differ
Before and after
Your plot in. Every paragraph started.
A conservator exposes her late father's forged logbook and the museum closes, then reopens with the truth.
Opening: [NAME], [age], restores old documents at the museum her late father founded in [town]. Its prize is a logbook that [what the town believes it records]. Ending: The museum closes for the season. In spring it reopens with the truth on the wall, and [NAME] signs the new condition report with her own name.
You fill the brackets, or ask River to read your manuscript.
Real examples
Real synopses to learn from
Two synopses their authors shared publicly, each a model for a different length.
Star Wars as a one-page synopsis
Susan Dennard, Pub(lishing) Crawl · a one-page method worked through a film everyone knows
Builds the synopsis question by question, from the hero's wish to the final battle, and names only the characters who drive the plot.
Read Susan Dennard's method and exampleDouble Cross by Tracy Gilpin
Jericho Writers · a client's crime novel synopsis, shared after it helped win an agent and a book deal
Tells the investigation in present tense, names the killer and his motive, and ends on where the heroine is left.
Read the synopsis on Jericho Writers
Links checked October 2026.
Why it works
What goes in a novel synopsis?
A novel synopsis is a one- to two-page summary of your whole plot, in third person and present tense. It names only the main characters and tells the agent how the book ends. This template gives you that page as seven paragraphs, each with a word budget, from the opening to the ending. The paragraphs add up to about 500 words, the low end of the 500 to 800 that Jericho Writers suggests, with notes on stretching it to two pages.
The full example is THE SALT LEDGER, the same invented mystery as our query letter template. The query stops at the moment Maren must choose; the synopsis tells what she finds, what she does, and how it ends. A note beside each paragraph maps it to the structure, and a short line lists what was cut. Reading both documents for one book makes it clear what each one is for, and why agents often ask for the pair.
Open the template in River with Edit with AI, or download it as a Word file, free and with no account. Tell River how your book goes, ending included, and it starts every paragraph in present tense, leaving brackets for what only you know. Paste chapter summaries and it writes the whole page. For a synopsis written from your whole manuscript, use the synopsis generator. If writing it shows a gap in the plot, the plot hole finder quotes the lines that clash.
What lands in your doc
What's inside the synopsis template
- Seven paragraphs, budgeted
Opening, turn, rising trouble, midpoint, worst moment, climax and ending, with a word range for each. - A rules checklist
Eight checks on tense, capitals, names, spoilers, story order and what to leave out. - An annotated example
A full synopsis of an invented mystery, mapped paragraph by paragraph to the structure. - Where agents disagree
Length, spacing and how many names, each with its source, so you can follow the agent. - A two-page note
What to add when an agent asks for two pages: a key subplot, a second ally, more reaction. - A header block
Title, genre, word count and your name, laid out at the top of the page.
How it works
From your plot to one page
Open the template
Click Edit with AI. The one-page structure opens in River with every word budget in place.
Describe your plot
Optional. Give the plot and ending in a sentence, or paste chapter summaries for a fuller start.
Fill the brackets
Replace each bracket with your own events, or let River walk you through them one at a time, then check the names, tense and word count.
Fit the agent
Trim or stretch to the length each agent asks for, then paste it into their form.
Questions authors ask
Common questions
What is a novel synopsis?
A novel synopsis is a short summary of your whole plot, usually one or two pages, that agents ask for alongside your query and opening chapters. It tells the story in order, in present tense, with every twist and the ending, so an agent can see the plot holds together.
How long should a novel synopsis be?
There is no single rule, so follow each agent. Paper Literary wants a single page and Donald Maass Literary one to two. Jane Friedman's default is a page or two, single-spaced, roughly 500 to 1,000 words. This template is built for one page of about 500 words, with notes on stretching it to two.
Do I have to include the ending?
Yes. A synopsis shows an agent that your whole plot holds together, so every twist goes in, along with how the book ends. Susan Dennard puts it bluntly: "You must tell the ending!" Not finished yet? Settle the ending first with the novel outline template.
How do I write a synopsis step by step?
List the turning points of your plot in order. Then write one paragraph for each: opening, the turn, rising trouble, midpoint, worst moment, climax and ending, as the template lays out. Show what happens, how your protagonist reacts and what they decide. Finally, trim each paragraph to its word budget and check that every event causes the next.
What should you not include in a synopsis?
Leave out dialogue, backstory that does not drive a decision, explanations of theme, rhetorical questions, and phrases about structure such as "in the climax". Jane Friedman's rule: name your main characters, and call anyone who appears in a single scene by their role, like "the waitress".
How do you format a novel synopsis?
Put your title, genre, word count and name at the top, then write plain paragraphs in present tense, with each name in capitals at first mention. Jane Friedman, Nathan Bransford and Writer's Digest describe single-spaced pages; Jericho Writers suggests at least 1.5 line spacing. Delete the template's headings and notes before you send it.
How is a synopsis different from a blurb?
A blurb or query sells the book and stops before the outcome. A synopsis is a working summary for agents and editors that tells the whole plot, ending included. Several agents in the Bath Novel Award roundup ask for every twist and the ending. Compare our two examples: only the synopsis says what happened to the six sailors.
Your next step
More for your book
Tell the whole story on one page
Open the structure in a doc and fill each paragraph, or start it from your plot, in a sentence or in full.