| With the tremendous success of such memoirs as | | | | book's flap and be intrigued? Or would the words "Oh, |
| Frank McCourt's "Angela's Ashes," Mary Karr's "The | | | | it's another person who..." enter your mind? Jaded and |
| Liar's Club," and Dave Eggers's "A Heartbreaking | | | | insensitive as it may seem, agents discard query |
| Work of Staggering Genius," the 1990s and early | | | | letters all the time uttering the words "another victim of |
| 2000s saw an explosion in the genre. The boom was | | | | abuse" or "another recovering alcoholic" or "another |
| seen in the number of memoirs acquired by publishers, | | | | cancer survivor." |
| the number of titles shelved in the memoir section in | | | | That's not to say that if you fall into one of those |
| bookstores, and, as a result, the number of memoirs | | | | categories, or another that encompasses a lot of |
| unfolding on writers' computer screens across the | | | | people and has seen a lot of memoirs published, you |
| country. But the brutal truth is that without a few crucial | | | | should abandon yours. But you need to bring |
| elements, your memoir will have no chance of finding a | | | | something new to the table, whether the experience |
| literary agent's representation, never mind becoming a | | | | itself is different from everyone else's or the way you |
| bestseller. | | | | tell it is. And, unless you've led a truly wacky life, more |
| It might help to consider a question that's always | | | | likely it'll have to be the latter. How to make it different? |
| puzzled me: What's the difference between a memoir | | | | Well, that's the hard part. And the part you're going to |
| and an autobiography? Webster's defines a memoir | | | | have to figure out on your own. |
| as "a narrative composed from personal experience" | | | | As with any genre in today's book market, publishers |
| and an autobiography as "the biography of a person | | | | are more likely to acquire a memoir if its author has a |
| narrated by himself or herself." (The second definition | | | | platform, i.e., comes with a built-in marketing plan. While |
| of "memoir" is "autobiography," indicating just how | | | | writing the book, start a blog discussing the experience |
| blurry the line is.) I think of a biography as a life story--a | | | | or issue about which you're writing. Become affiliated |
| full life, that is, unofficial "biographies" of Paris Hilton or | | | | with any advocacy organizations, etc., who might help |
| Justin Timberlake aside. Most memoirs, by contrast, | | | | promote your book. It's tough out there if you're not a |
| don't begin at the author's birth and provide a thorough | | | | celebrity or an author with a track record. For every |
| chronological history of a life now in its twilight years. | | | | Dave Eggers, a thousand memoirists can't even clear |
| Memoirs are, of course, written by authors of all ages, | | | | the hurdle of finding an agent. This week, publishers |
| and their narratives can encompass fifty years or one | | | | bought memoirs by a Washington Post columnist, Cary |
| week of experience. The first element necessary to a | | | | Grant's daughter, the former head of a record |
| successful memoir is that experience. Lots of us have | | | | company and the Air America radio network, and a |
| led interesting lives, or had unusual experiences. But not | | | | woman with a New York Times bestseller to her |
| all of those interesting lives and unusual experiences | | | | name. But take heed: another author sold a memoir |
| are memoir-worthy. At the same time, the life | | | | "about a typical divorce transformed by a lyrical yet |
| experience you want to write about doesn't need to | | | | brutally honest voice and narrative style." That author |
| be earth-shattering to be the basis of a successful | | | | figured out how to tell an old story in a new way. |
| book--if you're a good enough writer. Whether your | | | | As important as marketing is, the memoir, perhaps |
| memories should jump from your head onto the pages | | | | more than any other genre, depends for its success |
| of a memoir is difficult to judge when you're the one | | | | on one simple thing: writing skill. Too many people |
| whose life's literary value is in question. If you didn't | | | | make the mistake of thinking that fascinating |
| think it was worth writing about, you wouldn't be | | | | experiences make for fascinating reads, no matter |
| thinking about a memoir in the first place. But it's a | | | | who writes about them. If you've never written before, |
| judgment you must make honestly and objectively if | | | | take some classes. Work on your book in a workshop |
| you don't want to waste a lot of time writing a | | | | or in a writers' group. And if you look in the mirror and |
| manuscript that will never sell. | | | | see someone who doesn't have the writing chops to |
| So how do you know if your idea is a book in the | | | | tell their story right, contract with an experienced |
| making? Try to gain some distance and look at it as a | | | | ghostwriter or coauthor to help out. After all, everyone |
| potential reader. Would you pick such a book up off | | | | has lived a story, but only a select few have both the |
| the shelf if it were about a total stranger with no other | | | | right tale and the right talent to create a winning book. |
| claim to fame? Would you read the description on the | | | | |