An explanation of summaries
We've had some questions about what makes a good summary for artist claims, so we've come up with some dos and don'ts to help you sell your fic.
Things not to do:
Don't just give a quote from the story. It may tell the artist about one specific point in your story, but it doesn't tell them anything about the story overall. It doesn't give the artist a clear picture about what they're claiming, so they may pass up your story for one with more information.
"Bruce stared into the distance, contemplating his decision."
Or:
"Tony would describe himself as happy, but it wasn't true. Well, it wasn't false, it just wasn't the whole truth."
Don't turn in a wall of text. It is good to give your artist plenty of information, but if it's in the form of a full, lengthy story summary, it's likely that people will tune out. Try to give enough information, but keep it focused. We recommend no more than two or three reasonably sized paragraphs.
Don't list every character that ever appears in your fic. If they are just in the background of one scene or are otherwise minor characters, you don't need to make a point of mentioning them. You may get your artist's hopes up that the character will be more prominent than they are.
Things to do:
Do give a good summary. A good artist summary gives a clear idea of what your story is about. If you have an outline for your story, it might be a good idea to work from that.
The last person that Dick expects to hear talking when he picks up his phone is Jason, who has been dead for years. Except he isn’t anymore, apparently, and Dick can hear a baby screaming in the background as Jason asks him for help. What is there for Dick to do but drop everything and run to help his long-lost brother?
Or:
It doesn’t take Tony long to realize that he’s stuck in a time loop, doomed to relive the same crappy day over and over again. Every day he wakes up hung over-whether or not he drinks-has to deal with giant robots and, even worse, a pissed off Captain America. Tony has to figure out how to stop the cycle before he goes crazy and in the process maybe he and Steve can come to an understanding.
Do be clear about warnings. If your story contains things that need warnings, it's a good idea to explain in more detail what your artist might encounter. For example, you might warn that your story has dubcon in the final version, but a short explanation in your summary can help an artists decide whether or not they'll be comfortable working with your story.
Dubcon is of the sex pollen variety and both partners are in an established relationship with each other.
Or:
All noncon occurs off screen in the past, but is dealt with frankly in discussions.
Do make sure that you edit your summary. A summary that has typos and bad grammar will not inspire confidence in your writing abilities.
Do give artists some visual information if appropriate. For example if your characters are going to be going on a tour of Rome, an artist who loves the idea of drawing Roman architecture may want to pick your story. A good way to do this is to include a second paragraph with a few artist's notes if appropriate.
Most of this story takes place in New York, but Tony and Pepper honeymoon in Rome and spend an entire chapter checking out the sights. They also attend the opera and both wear formal clothes multiple times in the fic.
Or:
This rock band au was inspired by the 1980s hair band period, so imagine Dick, Tim, and Jason with long hair and spandex pants.
Taking everything from above, here are examples of good artist summaries:
It doesn’t take Tony long to realize that he’s stuck in a time loop, doomed to relive the same crappy day over and over again. Every day he wakes up hung over-whether or not he drinks-has to deal with giant robots and, even worse, a pissed off Captain America. Tony has to figure out how to stop the cycle before he goes crazy and in the process maybe he and Steve can come to an understanding.
There are no standard warnings in this fic, but Tony does drink a lot as a coping mechanism if that is a concern for you. As far as visuals, most of the story takes place at Tony's apartment or SHIELD headquarters, but there are some battles with giant robots.
Or:
When the planet is shaken by events that are later called the Disasters, every major city in the world experiences what Gotham went through in No Man’s Land. It’s business as usual in Gotham; they’ve been through this before, after all. Things start to get out of hand when Batman is ambushed and brought down; after that, heroes drop one by one as the rogues dig in and tear Gotham apart.
When Dick tells Tim that he’s leaving Gotham, Tim refuses to go with him, knowing that if he stays he can help. He turns to Jason, one of the only tentative allies he has left in the city, and together, they try their best to save a city that it might not be possible to save.
This story includes graphic on-screen violence (they fight a lot of rogues, and two are killed on-screen). There's also mention of past character death of major characters, but the only on-screen character death is to bad guys.
Finally, remember that this summary does not have to be your summary when you post. In fact, you should probably write a new summary (or at least tweak it) so that it will catch a reader's eye. For example, you may need to remove some information so that you aren't telling the reader too much at once.
Things not to do:
Don't just give a quote from the story. It may tell the artist about one specific point in your story, but it doesn't tell them anything about the story overall. It doesn't give the artist a clear picture about what they're claiming, so they may pass up your story for one with more information.
"Bruce stared into the distance, contemplating his decision."
Or:
"Tony would describe himself as happy, but it wasn't true. Well, it wasn't false, it just wasn't the whole truth."
Don't turn in a wall of text. It is good to give your artist plenty of information, but if it's in the form of a full, lengthy story summary, it's likely that people will tune out. Try to give enough information, but keep it focused. We recommend no more than two or three reasonably sized paragraphs.
Don't list every character that ever appears in your fic. If they are just in the background of one scene or are otherwise minor characters, you don't need to make a point of mentioning them. You may get your artist's hopes up that the character will be more prominent than they are.
Things to do:
Do give a good summary. A good artist summary gives a clear idea of what your story is about. If you have an outline for your story, it might be a good idea to work from that.
The last person that Dick expects to hear talking when he picks up his phone is Jason, who has been dead for years. Except he isn’t anymore, apparently, and Dick can hear a baby screaming in the background as Jason asks him for help. What is there for Dick to do but drop everything and run to help his long-lost brother?
Or:
It doesn’t take Tony long to realize that he’s stuck in a time loop, doomed to relive the same crappy day over and over again. Every day he wakes up hung over-whether or not he drinks-has to deal with giant robots and, even worse, a pissed off Captain America. Tony has to figure out how to stop the cycle before he goes crazy and in the process maybe he and Steve can come to an understanding.
Do be clear about warnings. If your story contains things that need warnings, it's a good idea to explain in more detail what your artist might encounter. For example, you might warn that your story has dubcon in the final version, but a short explanation in your summary can help an artists decide whether or not they'll be comfortable working with your story.
Dubcon is of the sex pollen variety and both partners are in an established relationship with each other.
Or:
All noncon occurs off screen in the past, but is dealt with frankly in discussions.
Do make sure that you edit your summary. A summary that has typos and bad grammar will not inspire confidence in your writing abilities.
Do give artists some visual information if appropriate. For example if your characters are going to be going on a tour of Rome, an artist who loves the idea of drawing Roman architecture may want to pick your story. A good way to do this is to include a second paragraph with a few artist's notes if appropriate.
Most of this story takes place in New York, but Tony and Pepper honeymoon in Rome and spend an entire chapter checking out the sights. They also attend the opera and both wear formal clothes multiple times in the fic.
Or:
This rock band au was inspired by the 1980s hair band period, so imagine Dick, Tim, and Jason with long hair and spandex pants.
Taking everything from above, here are examples of good artist summaries:
It doesn’t take Tony long to realize that he’s stuck in a time loop, doomed to relive the same crappy day over and over again. Every day he wakes up hung over-whether or not he drinks-has to deal with giant robots and, even worse, a pissed off Captain America. Tony has to figure out how to stop the cycle before he goes crazy and in the process maybe he and Steve can come to an understanding.
There are no standard warnings in this fic, but Tony does drink a lot as a coping mechanism if that is a concern for you. As far as visuals, most of the story takes place at Tony's apartment or SHIELD headquarters, but there are some battles with giant robots.
Or:
When the planet is shaken by events that are later called the Disasters, every major city in the world experiences what Gotham went through in No Man’s Land. It’s business as usual in Gotham; they’ve been through this before, after all. Things start to get out of hand when Batman is ambushed and brought down; after that, heroes drop one by one as the rogues dig in and tear Gotham apart.
When Dick tells Tim that he’s leaving Gotham, Tim refuses to go with him, knowing that if he stays he can help. He turns to Jason, one of the only tentative allies he has left in the city, and together, they try their best to save a city that it might not be possible to save.
This story includes graphic on-screen violence (they fight a lot of rogues, and two are killed on-screen). There's also mention of past character death of major characters, but the only on-screen character death is to bad guys.
Finally, remember that this summary does not have to be your summary when you post. In fact, you should probably write a new summary (or at least tweak it) so that it will catch a reader's eye. For example, you may need to remove some information so that you aren't telling the reader too much at once.