Do you read the Synopsis?

[Humbug]

• Yes
• No

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I had this conversation with my writer, he was pretty dumbfounded at the idea that people don't read the synopsis. I don't read them myself, generally. I click if the cover grabs my attention and the first few pages need to hook me to keep reading.

The only time I looked at the synopsis the early pages don't give me an idea on what's going on.

[justincarbunkle]

I purposefully don't. I much prefer going into a piece of media blind, letting the creation present itself without any expectations influencing my reaction.

A good novel/comic will show me why it's interesting just from reading it. I shouldn't need program notes to tell me it might get interesting at some point.

[VibrantFox]

nine times out of ten yes i will because while a cover can be eye catching the synopsis is what's selling me the story.

i mainly say this because from what i've learned and my own personal research, a good synopsis essentially works as a sort of elevator pitch giving the overall gist of a story and maybe hints at certain plot beats but if it's giving away the whole book or comic or whatever then it's kind of not good and may even indicate a worse story inside (not always but i have seen it)

there's also the fact that i think some covers can be misleading where you thing you may be walking into a dramatic fantasy story but actually it's a smutty romance or it looks like a horror thriller but in reality its just some ya drama so where something like that may fall i'm expecting the synopsis to pick up the slack and if both fail i'm probably just not going to check the thing out 🤷

[IndigoShirtProd]

Usually for me what will happen is that the cover will catch my eye, I click in and read the first few panels. Then, I'll remember to read the synopsis... I'm just forgetful. I prefer to have read the synopsis beforehand, though.

[Azifri]

Never.

[DasIstWunderblyat]

(post withdrawn by author, will be automatically deleted in 24 hours unless flagged)

[kyupol]

Yes I read Synopsis. In my opinion, Synopsis should be short and to the point. Not long paragraphs

[bumblebeelz]

Yeah, I always read them. I usually won't dive into a story blind unless I'm already familiar with the creator. I need to know what I'm getting into, and the synopsis is where I make that judgement. Covers do pull me in initially, but if the synopsis doesn't pique my interest, I won't check out the first episode / chapter.

[jwabeasley]

I usually do. It's a common place for LLM-users to reveal themselves. I don't put much stock in them for comics, though, relative to the cover.

[inubasket]

I always do. I personally like short and to-the-point ones though-- if it's a loooooong paragraph I just skim it lol

[agpatty]

I do. It's a pretty big make-or-break thing for me a lot of times. If the synopsis can pull me in, I'll usually stick around even if the first few chapters aren't super great.

[Humbug]

Wow! I was expecting the results to be closer to even. It was very interesting to find out.

[migxmeg]

I do read the synopsis when deciding whether to start one but also expect a story to be self-contained. I often don't like them but if you need a lore dump of some sort for things to make sense there should be a prologue - so many readers would skip or forget the synopsis.