The Synopsis

I've just spent weeks getting the synopsis for An Englishman in Rocket City in a state suitable to send out.
The punchy, one page outline I started with began to feel too much like the teaser-style atrocity so many agents warn against in their submission guidelines. It expanded to three pages after misreading one agent's requirements, and has since been pared down to two succinct, punchy pages.

The covering letter is also 'go', having pondered over the final closing sentence: do I thank the recipient, when they haven't yet done anything? Do I state the obvious, that I'll be happy to forward the complete manuscript upon request? The whole thing begins to feel like a magic spell, where the precise word combination will unleash the powers of AGENT upon me and lead the manuscript to the far-away land of PUBLICATION. A misplaced word will get me nothing. It will turn me into a frog and my manuscript into the lining of an agent's kitty litter box.

These people are looking for any excuse not to read my sample - the incorrect number of returns between the inside address and the date on my letter could give them just cause to bin my query, or perhaps the additional SAE required by one agent, 'for our response', is the wrong size (I've already included an SAE for the return of my submission, what's this other one for?).

Here's a useful link for anyone considering submitting their work to an agent. I especially like the animation with the bears:
www.jmtohline.com/2010/12/biggest-mistakes-writers-make-when.html