iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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Rosecliff Literary @roseclifflit.bsky.social · 22/11/2024

We’re thrilled to welcome TJ Stecker to Rosecliff Literary! TJ’s life reads like a novel: from Naval Flight Officer &history-making amputee to lawyer & world traveler. His novels, THE MOTH & DISHONORED, have earned him 2 #ClaymoreAward finalist nods & a spot on the Murder and Mayhem Award Long List.

Man in a white tuxedo standing against a blue gradient background

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D.S. Darling @daviddarlingauthor.bsky.social · 28/05/2025

🚨 Big news! 🚨 I’ve officially signed with literary agent Jessica Berg of @roseclifflit.bsky.social . Years of writing, rewriting, and perseverance have led to this milestone—and I couldn’t be more excited for what’s ahead. #WritingCommunity #AmWriting #AuthorNews #LiteraryAgent #WritersOfBluesky

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Rosecliff Literary @roseclifflit.bsky.social · 08/03/2025

Y'all know Jess always wants gothic vibes. Old houses, eerie landscapes, creeping dread. Horror? Mystery? Literary? Doesn’t matter. If your book feels like a haunted house you can’t leave, send it. #MSWL

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Rosecliff Literary @roseclifflit.bsky.social · 21/03/2025

I know your book is good. Your synopsis doesn’t have to prove that! It just has to clearly show what happens. Editors and agents can fill in the blanks. Just give them something worth filling in.

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Rosecliff Literary @roseclifflit.bsky.social · 24/03/2025

“But my book has twists! If I put them in the synopsis, they won’t be surprising anymore!” Right. But if you don’t put them in the synopsis, then your story won’t make sense. And that’s a bigger problem.

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Rosecliff Literary @roseclifflit.bsky.social · 26/03/2025

If your synopsis is bloated, try the “AND THEN” test. Read your draft out loud. Every time you naturally want to say and then..., stop. That’s where you’re stuffing too much in. Cut where needed.

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Rosecliff Literary @roseclifflit.bsky.social · 27/03/2025

If you struggle with synopses, write one badly on purpose. Seriously. Write the worst, most boring summary possible. Then go back and make it sharper, clearer, and less painful. This works better than trying to get it “perfect” from the start.

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Rosecliff Literary @roseclifflit.bsky.social · 28/03/2025

Synopses are built for speed, not scenic detours. I promise your book’s side quests, emotional beats, and cool worldbuilding still exist. Just... not here.

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Rosecliff Literary @roseclifflit.bsky.social · 28/03/2025

Synopses are built for speed, not scenic detours. I promise your book’s side quests, emotional beats, and cool worldbuilding still exist. Just... not here.

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Rosecliff Literary @roseclifflit.bsky.social · 27/03/2025

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Rosecliff Literary @roseclifflit.bsky.social · 26/03/2025

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Sofiya Pasternack @sofipasternack.bsky.social · 24/03/2025

Plus, synopses aren’t for readers. They’re for the people who need to know the spoilers, because they’re helping you refine the story! Editors, agents, critique partners, long-suffering writer friends who are tired of hearing you complain about POVs and timelines— Ahem. People like that!

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Kirk Rafferty ✨is editing✨ 📖 @kirkrafferty.com · 25/03/2025

This. Your query letter is where you can be a little mysterious. Your synopsis has to spill it all.

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Rosecliff Literary @roseclifflit.bsky.social · 24/03/2025

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Rosecliff Literary @roseclifflit.bsky.social · 22/03/2025

If your synopsis reads like a dry book report, congratulations! You have written an extremely skippable document. Your goal isn’t to summarize your book. It’s to sell the story in a clear, compelling way.

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Rosecliff Literary @roseclifflit.bsky.social · 21/03/2025

I know your book is good. Your synopsis doesn’t have to prove that! It just has to clearly show what happens. Editors and agents can fill in the blanks. Just give them something worth filling in.

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Rosecliff Literary @roseclifflit.bsky.social · 20/03/2025

Biggest synopsis mistake? Too many names. If I need a seating chart to understand who’s who, I’m out. Keep it simple: main character, main antagonist, key supporting roles. Everyone else is “his friend,” “her brother,” or “the rival.”

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Rosecliff Literary @roseclifflit.bsky.social · 19/03/2025

A synopsis is not a vibe check. “I want to show the feeling of my book.” No. That’s the job of your pages. A synopsis is what happens, and why it matters. If your book is emotional, the plot should still convey that.

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Rosecliff Literary @roseclifflit.bsky.social · 17/03/2025

Your synopsis should pass the “personally attacked” test. Would a reader who loves your genre feel seen by the way you describe your book? Or would they squint at the page like, why does this sound like a Wikipedia summary?

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Rosecliff Literary @roseclifflit.bsky.social · 16/03/2025

A synopsis is a movie trailer in plain text. You’re not cutting to black every two seconds for DRAMATIC EFFECT. But you are giving us the highlights in a way that makes us want to watch the full thing.

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Rosecliff Literary @roseclifflit.bsky.social · 15/03/2025

Your book is not too complex for a one-page synopsis. You just don’t want to make decisions.

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Rosecliff Literary @roseclifflit.bsky.social · 14/03/2025

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Rosecliff Literary @roseclifflit.bsky.social · 12/03/2025

Writing a synopsis is just translating 90K words into 500. While keeping voice, stakes, and clarity. While not panicking. Anyway, how’s your day going?

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Rosecliff Literary @roseclifflit.bsky.social · 10/03/2025

‘Just summarize your book in one page!’ Babe, I haven’t even summarized my life in therapy yet.

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Dave Housley @housleydave.bsky.social · 08/03/2025

Our featured essay collection at the @barrelhouse.bsky.social conference: IT ALL FELT IMPOSSIBLE by @tmcallister.bsky.social! Join us 4/12/25 in DC and you can leave with a copy of this awesome book (plus lots of other stuff)! Just $85. Hope to see you there! www.barrelhousemag.com/conference

Book cover, It All Felt Impossible, by Tom McAllister

“It All Felt Impossible is a life flashing by in the form of a book, incredibly fast and unbelievably rich, in all its universal specificity—the good dogs and bad haircuts, first crushes and brushes with death, the memories we dream up (the fiction we all write), all the fear, grief, stupidity, hope, and joy we get to live through, as “a person who is alive.” This book is so funny and honest, and so full of heart-breaking love.”

— Elisa Gabbert, author of Any Person Is the Only Self

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Gabino Iglesias @gabino.bsky.social · 05/03/2025

New column is up at @crimereads.bsky.social! This time I looked at @wmboyle4.bsky.social’s Saint of the Narrows Street (@sohopress.bsky.social), TJ Klune’s The Bones Beneath My Skin (@torbooks.bsky.social), and Ricardo Silva Romero’s Río Muerto (World Editions). crimereads.com/gabino-igles...

crimereads.com

Gabino Iglesias: Let’s Talk About Some New Books

A look at some recent releases. * William Boyle, Saint of the Narrow Street (Soho Crime) William Boyle delivered a superb debut more than a decade ago with Gravesend. Since then, he has only gotten…

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SFWP @sfwp.bsky.social · 09/03/2025

Only at #AWP25, if you purchase an early release limited edition copy of @lumchanmfa.bsky.social's upcoming collection, BITTER OVER SWEET, you'll be entered to win this beautiful ukulele! Find us at Booth #563 from March 26th-29th!

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ashlea screaton is querying @ashleascreaton.bsky.social · 10/03/2025

An #agentsguide to THE SIRENS CALL, mine & @d-and-a-authors.bsky.social ONCE UPON A BROKEN HEART X DARK WATER DAUGHTER New Adult Pirate Romantasy that we #amquerying! We would love to put this in front of you so interact and I’ll message you! 🏴‍☠️ #WritingCommunity

After a passionate kiss with a pirate captain, Delphine is offered an escape from her violent employer. She must decline-as an orphaned maid, her only family is her best friend and employer's son, Otto. But when he's sent to sea with the pirates after a map leading to a mythical stone, she refuses to be left behind.
A confusing romance with the captain uncovers a deadly secret which not only threatens their mission, but Otto. Though believing the stone is a useless pebble, the pirates are eager for the mission's reward, and were promised Otto's life if anything went wrong.
With Otto's safety tied to the stone, Delphine must do anything to obtain the map.
Even if it means using the captain's secret against him.

Indecent. Dangerous. Erotic.
Dangerous.
Those were the whispers Delphine Moore and her dear friend Lord Oto Benton had been repeating to one another while getting ready for his birthday ball-at least, 'bithday ball' was what sat at the top of the invitations. Earlier, huddled in the corridor behind the closed door of the Duke's office, the pair had overheard an abundantly different reason for the festivities.
"What if we have missed their arrival?" Otto panted, both of them slipping through the servant's entrance into the grand hall. All of it swooping marble and cream silks. "You spent so long on your hair-"
"And now my hair looks lovely. We haven't missed it, look." Delphine nodded towards the ball.
Indeed, most guests had already arrived, but a simple glance told her their special guests hadn't made it yet. Everybody was too polished, too poised, too stick-up-one's-arse.
Nothing appeared indecent, nor dangerous.

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Natalie Brown @nattykbrown.bsky.social · 09/03/2025

Posting an #editorsguide for my international heist thriller going out on sub 😊 💎So many lies 💎Tight circle of suspects 💎Heists 💎Strong female protagonist 💎Love triangle #A #T #Heist @roseclifflit.bsky.social

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Jason G. Butterfield @jasonbu.online · 09/03/2025

LOL, am I the only one obsessively refreshing my inbox five minutes after sending out query letters? Yes, I know it’s the weekend. Yes, I know replies take weeks(if they reply even.) Yes, I'm still checking. 😁 #WritingCommunity #amquerying

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Marie Le Conte @youngvulgarian.marieleconte.com · 09/03/2025

just got my pictures back from my Marrakech film and ironically the picture I took of my wilted daffs to finish the roll has ended up being my favourite one of all

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Rosecliff Literary @roseclifflit.bsky.social · 08/03/2025

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Rosecliff Literary @roseclifflit.bsky.social · 07/03/2025

Not just office romance—Jessica wants workplace fiction with real stakes. Power struggles, high-pressure environments, complications that cut deep. Give her tension, drama, and narrative gold. #MSWL

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Rosecliff Literary @roseclifflit.bsky.social · 07/03/2025

Synopses are where writers break out their worst verbs. The story follows... the character journeys… events unfold… tensions rise… No. Make it specific. Make it sharp. The way you describe the plot should sound like your book.

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Maris Kreizman @maris.bsky.social · 07/03/2025

I was reading a novel that was so beautifully written but had so much torture in it and then it occurred to me that I could just put it down and not finish it and this is personal growth.

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Rosecliff Literary @roseclifflit.bsky.social · 07/03/2025

RL's Query Inbox has started texting its ex. 🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩 It just whispered, “Hey… you up?” to an old synopsis draft. It’s thinking about getting bangs. It’s one rejection away from posting vague song lyrics to its Instagram story. Please send your books before it spirals. #mswl #queryme

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T(errifying) C(ryptid) Parker (she/her) @tcparker.bsky.social · 07/03/2025

Since it's International Women's Day, and a bunch of white nationalist misogynists seem intent on making life miserable for the rest of us... can I interest anyone in Tradwife? Could be cathartic. It certainly was for me payhip.com/b/TDowG

Promo image for TRADWIFE by TC Parker, with:

A. TRADWIFE book cover, showing a young white woman in 1950s-style housewife garb in a midcentury modern kitchen, holding a bleeding human heart on a plate... and looking pretty happy about it, and,

B. Blurb from author Sonora Taylor, that reads:

"Holy Hell! Tradwife is a fantastic crime novel filled with rage, feminism, heart, and teeth. So much bloody teeth. I was drawn in immediately and held tight until the final, shocking pages - and no, I didn't see the end coming, and I'm usually good at figuring these things out! Let Parker's prescient novel scare you, enrage you, and entertain you. You won't regret it"

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Megan Abbott @meganabbott.bsky.social · 07/03/2025

I like to think of it as GOODFELLAS in a country club. 🥂🥂🥂

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Rosecliff Literary @roseclifflit.bsky.social · 07/03/2025

Dark romance? Like…real dark? Yes. Spicy sports romance? Extra points if it’s unhinged. If your book has tension that makes people feral, Jess wants it. #MSWL

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Rosecliff Literary @roseclifflit.bsky.social · 06/03/2025

🖤 Tommy’s always here for crime novels with anti-heroes. Give him leads who should walk away but don’t. The ones who know better but can’t help themselves. Morally gray, ethically messy, impossible to forget. #MSWL

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Rosecliff Literary @roseclifflit.bsky.social · 06/03/2025

Your synopsis is not a proof of concept. You don’t need to explain why the book works. You just need to show what happens in a way that makes sense. Treat it like an efficient post-game recap, not a TED Talk.

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Rosecliff Literary @roseclifflit.bsky.social · 05/03/2025

Jess, in an interview: Publishing is a marathon, not a sprint. You have to be patient, strategic, and trust the process. also Jess, watching an email refresh wheel spin for two full seconds: This is unacceptable. I am owed answers immediately. Anyway, watch here! www.youtube.com/watch?mc_cid...

youtube.com

Agent Jessica Berg's #MSWL: Contemporary, Horror, Gothic Romance, Historical, Narrative Nonfiction

YouTube video by The Manuscript Academy, LLC

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Rosecliff Literary @roseclifflit.bsky.social · 05/03/2025

“Should I include spoilers in my synopsis?” Yes. Yes. A thousand times yes. The synopsis is not the query. It’s not a teaser. It is the full plot. If you’re writing “But will she survive?” at the end… guess what? You just failed the test. Tell us what happens.

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Rosecliff Literary @roseclifflit.bsky.social · 05/03/2025

🚨 Tommy Dean’s Spring #MSWL is here. 🚨 He’s looking for crime, mystery, suspense, and thrillers that pull him under and refuse to let go. High stakes. Big consequences. Characters with pasts that won’t stay buried.

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Rosecliff Literary @roseclifflit.bsky.social · 04/03/2025

@jessicaberg.bsky.social worked on queries today and UMMM these full requests are FLYING out of here like I’m she's running a literary Black Friday doorbuster sale (she's not … but imagine). 🚀📚

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Sarah J Williams @sarahjwilliams.com · 04/03/2025

Very true 💯

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Tommy Dean is open to queries @tommydeanwriter.bsky.social · 04/03/2025

@jessicaberg.bsky.social and I will discuss our experiences of being open to queries! Check us out on IG tomorrow! @roseclifflit.bsky.social

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Rosecliff Literary @roseclifflit.bsky.social · 04/03/2025

Spring wishlist: Jessica wants thrillers that wreck you. Domestic suspense where the walls are closing in. Social thrillers that cut deep. Psychological horror that lingers. If your story makes readers question everything, send it. #MSWL

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