Many people today are writing their memoirs. It’s been kind of a trend since the advent of the home computer. But how many others are truly interested in our lives, our philosophy, and our challenges?
The fact is, that probably the least successful books published in the last decade are memoirs by ordinary people like you and me. Yet, in contrast, some of the most successful books have been memoirs by relatively ordinary people. So what makes for a successful memoir? And why do most fail?
It’s simple. In order to succeed with your memoir, certainly you must be a good writer and you must have a good story. But there are other factors that can make the difference between success and failure for the ordinary Joe or Jane. Here’s what I suggest: Choose a theme that resonates with a large segment of the population and promote the book to those folks.
And this is the crux of the problem for most authors. They never once consider their audience as they write their life story. They drone on and on about this ailment and that bad break, their great (or horrid) childhood, their belief system, disappointments, conquests and so forth with no thought about who cares and why they would care.
I’ve worked with dozens of authors on their memoirs. Many of them, while they aspired to sell millions of copies, never once considered their readers. They were too caught up in telling their story truthfully in an orderly fashion. If truth be told, most of them felt a deep need to get the story out—not for others, but for themselves. It was more of a therapeutic exercise than it was a commercial one. And there’s nothing wrong with this, until the author decides he or she wants to turn their personal memoir into a business. Problem!
Why is this problematic? Because, in order to sell something to the public or even a segment of the public, you must, MUST offer something they want. If you turned within while writing your memoir, instead of writing what your potential readers want, you may not be able to generate many sales.
Some memoirists believe they have a wide audience because their family and friends have expressed an interest in their story. They’re all eager to read it. If friends are interested, others will be too, right? Not necessarily. Of course, people who know you will want to read what you wrote. Enticing people who don’t know you to buy your book is the real trick and this is exactly the concept you, as the author of a memoir—or any other type book—must address before ever writing a book for publication.
If you’re considering writing a book, read Publish Your Book for a more in-depth understanding of the publishing industry and how you can succeed in this highly competitive industry. http://www.matilijapress.com/PublishYourBook.html