Synopsis

A condensed summary of the full story — including the ending — for readers, contests, and queries.

A synopsis tells the whole story in a page or so, ending included — its job is to prove the story holds together, not to tease. Coverage readers write one to demonstrate comprehension; writers submit one wherever a stranger must judge the story before reading it all.

If a synopsis is hard to write, mine that difficulty: the passages that resist summary are usually where the plot's logic is soft.