Question:  I’ve written a memoir from beginning to end and heard contradictory advice about whether or not that’s a good thing.  Does a memoir get submitted in totol, like a novel, or do you have to write a book proposal, as with other forms of nonfiction, like self-help?   - Memoirist Without A Helpful Approach, Asking How

Dear MWAHAAH:

Like other forms of nonfiction, publishers generally make decisions about memoirs based on a proposal, rather than the whole manuscript, though I have heard of stories otherwise, for example GetPublished client Judith Kelly’s Rock Me Gently was recently sold to Bloomsbury Press in Britain with a manuscript rather than a proposal.  Generally, however, a proposal is in order.

Unlike other forms of nonfiction, memoirs get judged more on the quality of the writing and how compelling the story, rather than on the author’s platform.  For self-help and how-to, the author’s platform, or her vehicles for reaching her intended audience, figure prominently into the credibility necessary to sell commercial nonfiction.

For a memoir, the only credibility that counts is the author’s skill in telling her story.  The other big piece is the story itself, though even the best story will fall flat for lack of skill in telling it.

I recommend two books to help you on your journey: One is Judith Barrington’s Writing the Memoir, the other is Christopher Vogler’s The Writer’s Journey.  Barrington will help you think through many issues memoir-writing presents, and Vogler details the components of The Hero’s Journey, the building blocks for classic storytelling any writer would do well to master.

This column originally appeared in Issue#7 of The Nugget: Your Periodic Bite of Publishing Sustenance, the newsletter of GetPublished.  Subscribe here: http://www.GetPublished.com.