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I'll help you get what you want:
agent, book contract, and
shelf space at Barnes and Noble.
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This genre straddles the fence between fiction (it is story telling) and non-fiction (it does represent a slice of someone's life). Most agents who seek memoir submissions treat the initial submissions just like they would fiction. Query letter first. Then, if interested, they'll request more information. At some point, they'll want to know about marketing, your platform/following, etc,. At that point, your memoir, will be treated like a non-fiction manuscript, which is quite extensive.
A non-fiction book proposal requires a query letter (written a bit differently that a query for fiction), information about you, the potential market, your platform/following, a full book outline, and, in many cases, the complete manuscript. Some agents require memoirs be submitted as non-fiction projects from the initial contact. To help you figure out what you'll need to prepare, I recommend Michael Larsen's book on how to write a non-fiction book proposal. You can find it on Amazon. Here's an agent specifically requesting submission of memoirs. Check it out HERE. BTW: If you'd like frequent "information quickies" about the various aspects of the learning curve between completed manuscript and agent contract, sign up for my RSS feed (bottom of the column on the right side) and receive updates as they happen.
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 In a prior blog, I suggested for you imagine that you were an agent. You walked in agent shoes for a moment. You clicked and opened an emailed query submission that generated "WOOHOO" and a BIG smile.
Why? Because the query began on the very first line. No space wasted with date, address, greeting etc., etc., etc., No scrolling required to find the “meat.” There it was, right in front you. The query first paragraph. But . . . now you sip coffee and scan the first paragraph. "Oh dratz!" The happy smile fades. You realize this writer had learned to format their query instead of learning how to write one. As you discover with so many of the query letters you read every day, this writer and their work aren't ready for prime time. Your finger hovers over the delete key for a nano second. Then taps. The query for which you had high hopes one happy moment ago, flies off to delete-ville. You move on. This is a scenario that occurs over and over again because writers haven't quite figured out how to shift from telling to selling. More information about the need for this is on my Query Page. Thanks for dropping by. Write on! If you’d like to re-post this blog, help yourself. Please reference it as being from The Publishing Wizard, Molli Nickell, at www.getpublishednow.biz. Thank you.  Agents (or their assistants) begin their days wondering if they’ll find a submission from a writer who knows how to craft a decent query letter.
These industry professionals endlessly are swamped with project submissions. It goes with the job of searching for talented writers with salable manuscripts that publishers will buy and produce into books (and other products). Imagine, for a moment, that you are a literary agent. Your agent work day begins when you open your computer. "Yikes!" Over 100 query submissions wait in your inbox. Where to begin? With coffee. Good coffee. Strong coffee. Next, you scan the email SUBJECT lines and tag the ones that grab your attention. The rest head for delete-ville. You don't have time to send responses to these writers, not even the standard "thanks, but not right for our list" rejection email. Then, you click and open the first submission. “Woohoo!” Big smile. Here's a savvy writer who's shown me what I want to see, right off the bat! QUESTION: What generated your happy response?” Tune in next week to find out. Thanks for dropping by. Write on! If you’d like to re-post this blog, help yourself. Please reference it as being from The Publishing Wizard, Molli Nickell, at www.getpublishednow.biz. Thank you.  My failure-proof query tutorial will show you how to:
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If you’d like to re-post any of my blogs, help yourself. Please reference the source as: Molli Nickell. THE Publishing Wizard at www.getpublishednow.biz Archives
July 2016
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