How to Write a Synopsis of Your Nonfiction Book

How to Write a Synopsis of Your Nonfiction Book
Saturday, November 14, 2015 by Kristin Stieffel

One of the essential elements of your book proposal is the synopsis. The synopsis for a nonfiction book differs from that of a novel because it needs to be broken down into more detail. In nonfiction, even if you’re telling a story, as in a history book, you are building a case using facts that need to be aligned in logical order. The nonfiction synopsis will reflect that.

The main thing your nonfiction synopsis must include is a clear benefit to the readers, demonstrating what they will learn from reading your book. Because if you can’t articulate this, you’re not ready to pitch.

To write this synopsis, you’ll go through your book—or the outline of your book—and describe what each chapter will cover. Some call this the chapter-by-chapter summary, rather than synopsis.

If your book will be broken into parts or sections, the synopsis will show that also. So you would give the title for part one, and then list each chapter in that section with a two- or three-sentence description of the chapter’s contents.

Chapter titles are optional in fiction, but in nonfiction they are a must. The chapter and section titles can serve as entry points, especially in books that the reader may use as a reference and read in bits, rather than front-to-back. Each chapter title should draw the reader in, much like the headline on a magazine article.

Although novelists need to have their books finished before they pitch, a nonfiction writer can pitch and write a proposal for a book that’s incomplete. A chapter-by-chapter breakdown like this, even for an incomplete book, can give a good picture of what the finished book will look like. It also provides a roadmap for the writer to complete the manuscript.

What about narrative nonfiction?

Writing a synopsis for narrative nonfiction, including memoir, is tricky, because although it’s nonfiction, it reads more like a novel. So if you’re pitching narrative nonfiction, your proposal will look less like what’s described above and more like that of a novel. We posted an article on writing a synopsis for fiction earlier this week.

And if you missed it, we also posted an article on the basic elements of a proposal.

Join the conversation: If you could ask an editor or agent anything about poposals, what would it be? We’ll pass those questions on to the faculty for future articles.

Kristen Stieffel is a writer and freelance editor specializing in science fiction and fantasy. She is also associate editor of Havok, a flash fiction magazine focused on speculative fiction. Her most recent publication is the science fantasy novella “Flight” in the Medieval Mars anthology. Kristen is also a mentor with Word Weavers International.

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Maria Ann Edey From Gloucestershire At 1/4/2023 4:11:25 AM

My non fiction novel is about so many things that has happened in my life. And from the age of 2 years old. Finding it hard to write a synopsis for this type of novel to be honest. Fiction much easier. Thank you Maria