[The Curious Orange]

I'm approaching the end of what I hope is the last "major" draft of my WIP and am taking a break to polish my submission, covering letter, sample chapters and synopsis.

I know when I submit this to agents/publishers I will need a covering letter, synopsis and 2 or 3 sample chapters. I know each publisher may want something slightly different and I should check their submission guidelines, but I was just looking for more general advise.

So the question is - How do I take my synopsis and make it sparkle? How long should it be? I've heard no longer than 2 pages double-spaced, but I'm struggling to condense a long and twisting plot down that far while still providing a flavour of the finished work. How detailed should it be? Should I outline projected future books in the series?

What about the covering letter? Any advice / comments / examples / discussion welcome.