Why Your Memoir Won’t Sell

Of each nan projects I’ve heard sounded complete nan years, memoir is nan class pinch nan astir intractable, hard-to-solve problems. Partly this is simply a usability of what memoir is: thing that’s very personal. People person a difficult clip achieving region betwixt nan meaning and value of their life’s events and nan commercialized marketplace that mightiness beryllium for it.

What I’m astir to constitute whitethorn travel disconnected arsenic acold and insensitive. File it nether “tough emotion for writers.” It’s not that your life is unimportant aliases without value. Quite nan contrary. Everyone has a meaningful communicative to tell, but not everyone’s communicative (or writing) will find an supplier aliases person a commercialized publishing deal. Many memoirs yet person to beryllium self-published. Here’s why.

The memoir is nan first portion of penning you’ve ever attempted.

It’s often said that a writer’s first manuscript ne'er gets published; it’s nan third, fourth, 5th (or later) manuscript that gains acceptance by a publisher. While this rule is communal successful narration to fabrication writing, I deliberation it applies to immoderate type of story. If your memoir is nan first point you’ve written and finished, it’s improbable you knocked it retired of nan parkland connected your first try. Of course, thing is possible. The much acquisition you’ve had arsenic immoderate benignant of commercialized writer aliases storyteller, nan amended your chances.

Your memoir is chiefly symptom focused, aliases an enactment of catharsis.

This problem often goes manus successful manus pinch nan first. Someone has knowledgeable thing traumatic, and arsenic portion of their therapy aliases recovery, they constitute astir nan experience. Before long, they person a book-length work, and friends and family opportunity (as a shape of well-meaning support), “You should find a publisher.”

You astir apt shouldn’t. If your penning was:

• undertaken arsenic a measurement for you to woody pinch a achy experience
• if that achy acquisition is successful nan caller past (within nan past fewer years), and/or
• if you person nary different penning acquisition aliases ambition to people …

… past publishing a memoir is seldom nan adjacent champion adjacent step. It’s awesome that you’ve utilized penning to assistance successful recovery, but it doesn’t mean you person a book that will entreaty to agents aliases large publishers. (Unless you’re Hillary Clinton and you mislaid nan 2016 statesmanlike election.)

Your memoir consists of diary aliases diary entries, letters, aliases different ephemera from nan past.

Don’t do it. One of nan fastest ways to get a rejection is to transportation your book arsenic a postulation of entries from a diary aliases diary you kept aliases a family personnel kept, aliases letters sent and received.

If you’re a celebrity, notorious for immoderate reason, aliases different successful nan nationalist eye, these materials whitethorn clasp liking to a wide readership. But for nan astir part, a postulation of diary entries is going to elicit a speedy rejection from those successful publishing.

Use diaries, journals, and different individual written materials arsenic nan ground of investigation to constitute a narrative-driven story. But don’t usage them arsenic nan communicative itself, aliases usage them very sparingly wrong a larger narrative.

Your memoir is really an autobiography.

This happens nan mostly of nan clip I publication a memoir section outline aliases synopsis: it originates successful puerility and ends successful nan coming day. In different words, it looks much for illustration an autobiography.

Most memoirs should beryllium constricted to telling a communicative astir a peculiar play successful time. A unique lens aliases perspective is applied, and galore facets aliases times of your life will not participate into nan picture. You mightiness usage flashbacks aliases flash-forwards to see captious moments, but moreover so, nan communicative must person a clear focus, aliases a beginning-middle-end, that isn’t defined by nan time you were calved and nan time you started to constitute your life story.

Sometimes you tin get distant pinch thing very wide ranging, but it requires tremendous skill.

You’ve written a bid of vignettes.

A vignette is simply a communicative that stands unsocial and is small much than an anecdote astir your life. Some memoirs dwell of thing but back-to-back vignettes. They mightiness beryllium beautiful and rubbing vignettes, but nan manuscript lacks a communicative arc. There’s nary existent story; there’s nary mobility that keeps america turning pages.

Some celebrities aliases well-established authors tin people effort collections aliases thing that looks for illustration a postulation of vignettes. People emotion to reference David Sedaris, arsenic good arsenic Erma Bombeck, arsenic a measurement to say, “But look really celebrated they are!” But you won’t get nan aforesaid latitude if you’re a comparative unknown.

You’ve written nan memoir of personification else.

You person a family personnel and they person an astonishing communicative to tell. But they’re not a writer, aliases they don’t attraction to constitute it (or they’re dead). But you’re motivated to do something. So you embark connected penning nan memoir (or sometimes biography) of their lives.

This type of task is improbable to spell immoderate further than your ain table unless you self-publish it. There is awesome worth successful penning and self-publishing specified a communicative for nan family legacy, but unless you person a way grounds of penning and publishing astonishing stories astir (or for) different people, editors and agents will apt pass.

Your communicative is for illustration a cardinal others—and nan penning conscionable isn’t typical enough.

This is nan hardest and astir atrocious point to say, yet it’s true: “Sorry, but your communicative of addiction aliases crab endurance aliases nonaccomplishment of a kid conscionable doesn’t look that special.” In different words, your communicative sounds for illustration everyone else’s story. It’s not written successful a measurement that makes it guidelines out—or it could beryllium written poorly. The only antidote to this problem is to either go a amended writer, aliases to find a much absorbing communicative to tell.

So, what should you do if your memoir has a problem?

The first measurement is realizing and accepting this problem stands successful nan measurement of you getting an supplier aliases a big, commercialized publisher. Then you tin determine what discuss you’re consenting to make. Your cardinal options are:

1. Self-publish nan book. You tin still person a satisfying and successful acquisition of publishing your book, and it doesn’t person to costs you overmuch money. (In fact, I propose you debar investing excessively much; it’s money you’re not apt to gain back.)
2. Write different memoir—one that fits what agents and publishers want. Learn really to build a compelling communicative arc. Avoid nan pitfalls of memoir. Try starting afresh pinch this list-making method.
3. Hire a improvement editor aliases coach to thief you revise your existing manuscript. This tin get very expensive, and there’s nary guarantee that nan finance will lead to a publishing deal. Here’s really to decide.

For much reliable emotion connected memoir, I highly urge this supplier roundtable published successful Writer’s Digest successful 2010. It’s still applicable today.