This post was written by Robin Storey.

Would a publisher be interested in my memoir?

It’s a question I’m asked a lot, as a ghostwriter of memoirs. My answer is, ‘It depends.’

Not very helpful, is it?

But there are so many factors and variables to take into account when thinking about submitting your memoir to publishers.

Here are the main ones to consider. 

Table of Contents1. What Your Memoir Is About2. You Need A Point Of Difference3. Memoir Trends4. Size Of The Publisher5. Memoir Genres6. Who You Are7. Do Your Own Promotion8. Need Extra Help?What Your Memoir Is About

This is the most important factor, because the topic of your memoir is what sells it, and the publisher wants to be sure that it will attract a large enough readership to make it financially viable to publish.

Memoir has become a very popular genre - read my blog post Why Are Memoirs So Popular? - and is no longer the prerogative of celebrities.

Readers love to read about ordinary people like themselves who’ve had exciting adventures, achieved great things or overcome huge obstacles.

I highly recommend doing some initial market research to find out what memoirs have already been published on your topic.

You can do this by Googling ‘memoirs on…’ whatever your topic is and seeing what comes up.

You can also do the same in the search engines of large book retail sites such as Amazon and Kobo.

There are many common memoir topics – for example - grief, finding love, surviving a marriage break-up, living in a foreign country, overcoming addiction, just to name a few, that have already been written about extensively.

You Need A Point Of Difference

If your memoir is on a common topic, you need to have an angle or point of difference from the books already published, to interest a publisher.

For example, if your memoir was about your marriage breakup, which you dealt with by running away to the Amazon jungle and living with a native tribe for 12 months, that’s a point of difference that might interest a publisher.

It can be more subtle, though – perhaps your topic written from a different viewpoint from the norm might be enough.

For example, alcohol addiction written from the point of view of someone working in the alcohol industry, or drug addiction by an addiction counsellor.

Memoir Trends

Books sales, like any other product, are subject to trends. For example, since the #Me Too movement was founded in 2006,  memoirs by women on sexual abuse by men in authority positions have become popular.

If you have a similar memoir, this could be to your advantage, particularly if, as mentioned above, you have a different scenario or angle from the usual.

However, it may also happen that the publishers you approach decide that the market is flooded with these memoirs, and that there’s too much competition in this niche for your book to make an impact.

The misery memoir is another example of trends. In the late 1990s to early 2000s, when memoir was starting to rise in popularity, misery memoirs – ie memoirs about childhood suffering and dysfunctional family life – were all the rage.

This was due in no small part to the popularity of Frank Mc Court’s memoir of his grim, poverty-stricken childhood in Ireland, Angela’s Ashes.

Now, misery memoirs have, for the most part, had their day. With a caveat.

In Australia, due to heightened public awareness of institutional abuse in churches and orphanages, and the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, completed in 2017, memoirs of abuse in these institutions have hit the market.

There have been similar enquiries in other western countries, such as the UK, and a corresponding rise of memoirs on this topic.  

Not only are trends important for publishers to consider, but their size will also depend on their interest in your memoir.

Size Of The Publisher

On average, publishers take from 12 months to 2 years to publish a book, so they plan their publication schedules well ahead.

It stands to reason that the bigger the publisher, the more books they publish.

But there are only so many in each genre that they publish, so whereas a larger publisher might publish six memoirs in a year, a smaller might only publish one or two.

And if your memoir happens to be on the same theme as one they have already accepted for publication, or have recently published, they will refuse your memoir, no matter how much they like it, or how well-written it is.

Often, it comes down to timing.

Would a publisher be interested? You might want to ask these two harrassed looking individuals.

Memoir Genres

There are also genres within memoir, such as literary, self-development, military, travel.

It’s a good idea to go to the publisher’s website, find their list of books already published and check out the types of memoirs they prefer.

For example, a publisher who has published a lot of serious literary memoirs probably won’t be interested in your more frivolous memoir of your career as a rock singer.

Who You Are

Who you are does have a bearing on whether a publisher will be interested in your memoir.

If you’re a celebrity, or have a high profile in your community or in the media, that may pique their interest enough to at least read your memoir.

However, that’s only the first step. The other criteria still apply – it must be a well-written story on a topic they think will sell.

Do Your Own Promotion

Having an online presence – ie a website, Facebook page and followers on at least a couple of social media sites is a definite plus.

The publisher will do some promotion for you, but you’re expected to do a lot of it yourself. 

Need Extra Help?

If you’re thinking of writing your life story or memoir but don’t want to do it yourself, I can help you.
 
Click on the button below to put in your name and email address, and I’ll reply as soon as possible.

The post Would A Publisher Be Interested In My Memoir? appeared first on Robin Storey.