A Publisher's Conversation with Authors: The Painful Truth about Memoirs
It is Tuesday. Monday's madness is over, and Wednesday will take us over the hump, so Tuesday it is--for some serious discussion with authors. Tuesday talks mean to address authors in waiting and self-published authors who would like to go a more traditional route or who would at least like to take their steps with a publisher by their side.
Today's topic takes a look at memoirs. Everyone, it seems, well, lots of people, have the desire to share their life story, and most assume that lots of other people will want to buy their memoir and read it. Well...the reality may not be as heartwarming and positive.
- According to some statistics, memoirs are among the poorest selling books.
- Except for perhaps some personal friends, authors without a well-known name have trouble gaining traction for their memoirs. (Who wants to read the life story of Mr. or Ms. Nobody?)
- Most people's stories are not unique enough to create a "wow" factor needed to get readers to pick up the memoir of someone with an unknown name.
- How unique is your story? Look at memoirs of similar lives in your local library and local bookstores. Are there are lot on the same topic? Then, the competition will be high, and the uniqueness low.
- The big publishers have a wealth of memoirs to choose from and a limited number of memoirs that they can publish; they will choose to publish the lives of Bill Clinton, Bill gates, Chelsea Handler, and others for whom they can gain a lot of attention with minimum investment; thus, the unknown writer has a lot of competition.
That does not mean that it is not possible to write a good memoir and have it become well known, widely accepted, and a good source of revenue. That, though, is the exception, not the norm. Those they do success have a number of features in common.
- They are very well written and well edited.
- They have a story to tell.
- They have a sympathetic protagonist.
- They are honest, raw, self-evaluative (not always easy to be unbiased about yourself or your life story).
- They have a perspective that shares much in common with readers and at the same time is unique, something that readers can learn from.
- They have a strong platform; the platform is critical for an unknown writer (50000 followers on social media? You may get a second look. 50 followers? Not likely.).
Bottom line: Memoirists more often than not find that they need to self-publish, but before you give up, read what book industry guru, Jane Friedman, says about why memoirs do not sell.
Lesson for today's Tuesday talk: Be honest with yourself. Why have you written the memoir? The answer to that question may have you decide whether to self-publish, hybrid with a publisher, or go after a traditional contract.
See more Publisher Conversations with authors HERE.
Learn more about publishing from an acquisitions editor -- how to get your book proposal accepted, why proposals are turned down/accepted, and how to find the right publisher for your book. On special sale for $5 while inventory lasts at MSI Press webstore.
The Tuesday talks reflect real discussions between the management of MSI Press LLC and our own authors or those would-be authors who come through our doors but don't make the cut--yet. If you have a topic that you would like addressed, leave the question in the comment section. Chances are, in our 18 years of publishing first-time and experiences authors, we have had a conversation with one of our authors that we can share with you.
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