Publishing a Memoir Overview
The memoir is an interesting genre, combining the literary style of fiction with the factual basis of non-fiction. As such, when it comes to publishing memoirs, you will often hear contradicting statements about what you have to expect. As a result, you probably should just settle with expecting everything and anything, and keeping everyone's thoughts in mind.
The first thing you will encounter when trying to publish memoirs is that the market is very competitive today. For a brief period, memoirs were in their golden age as people craved more and more stories about reality. However, as authors, both good and bad, told these real stories, people began to be saturated by the quantity. The stories started to sound the same and too many poor writers got deals that left readers feeling burned. As such, you need to make sure today that you can both write a strong story, and have a strong one to tell, if you want to publish memoir.
Next, when writing a memoir query letter, you can never guess what the agent will look for. Some agents will treat a memoir as fiction, others as nonfiction. As such, you will need to have letters of both forms prepared in case the agent asks for one style over the other. For many agents, a memoir is treated like fiction with respect to queries, because such a great emphasis is put on the literary aspect. As such, you simply send a query letter and then perhaps a segment of the book for the agent to read and review. For more details on this, check out our fiction section for tips on writing a fiction query letter.
Other agents will view the memoir as a non-fiction book and so, will likely ask you for a book proposal. A book proposal is more indepth than a query letter as agents looking at non-fiction work seek a significantly greater background on the work. A memoir proposal will likely include a sample chapter or two, a table of contents, and a review of your past works. You'll also likely need to include background material on your topic to show that it's of significance and that you have a strong knowledge of your area.
Overall, publishing a memoir can require a significantly greater investment than a fiction story, but in the end, it can be worth it.
Latest Articles About Memoir Writing
- Introductions to Writing Memoir - 2011-02-06 00:00:00
The memoir is an up and coming form of creative writing that bucks the trend by utilizing nonfiction prose. These types of stories capture moments in your life, but can be very challenging for people unfamiliar with the writing form. Here are our tips to help you start your memoir writing.
- Memoir Vs Autobiography - 2011-02-28 10:16:36
Many people have trouble understanding the difference between a memoir and an autobiography. We try and alleviate some of the confusion.
- Finding Good Memoir Topics - 2011-03-01 12:27:23
I have heard far too many times that people haven't had anything interesting happen in their life, that they have nothing to write about. Here's a good starting point to find memoir topics of your own.
- Good Memoir Examples - 2011-04-11 12:10:47
Before you start writing your own memoir, it is important to see how the pros do it. These memoirs are good examples of how you can make a memorable memoir.