This is how to market a memoir!
You’ve written your memoir, or are perhaps still writing. The art and craft of writing a memoir are foremost in the creation stage but there will come another stage afterwards that is to commit to market a memoir you have written.
I will share a process of reaching as large an audience as possible for the book you have worked so hard on. It’s not too early to be thinking of marketing.
I will mentor you on this very subject by sharing my process for my most recent memoir French Boy /A 1950s Franco-American Childhood. Since this is an independently published book, it is my responsibility to identify and then reach out to my potential audience. This is the audience that in some way can be said to have been waiting for my memoir—or your memoir.
Where is my audience—and yours, of course—to be found? What do they read, where do they post, where do they congregate?
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Best Title for a Memoir: How to Choose
Writers ask me how to choose a best title for a memoir. Because I have worked with them, usually as their coach or editor and know their story, I am in a position to brainstorm with them to come up with a decent —and sometimes even a great—title for their book.
Editor’s Note: This content is also available as a YouTube video. Click here.
There are many possibilities available to a writer, but one thing is certain: a writer must choose a title for a memoir strategically. It is a marketing opportunity. The title printed on your book cover can—and ought to—promote sales of your memoir.
Here are some guidelines I use to generate a memoir title—for my own titles or for those of clients. I hope they prove helpful to you, too.
How important is a working title?
When you are working on a memoir, you may want to have some way of distinguishing one manuscript from another. You may also be working concurrently on a second or a third book—and that is not unusual for some writers. In that instance, you will want a name so as to be able to distinguish this manuscript from another as you speak to your writing group, your writing coach or a friend.
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How I Launched Myself Publicly in the Creative Life: I Publish a Book
Editor: This post on how I Iearned to support myself in the creative life by deciding to publish a book first appeared in February 2014 at a time when covid as not part of our lives. It advocates marketing that I undertook in pre-covid days but which I believe will soon be available and viable again.
I believe that implicit in every publication is access to an audience. Whether you hope to support yourself or to merely attract a more substantial audience, this post—written about a time half a life ago—has something for you.
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“Is it possible to find readers who will support me in the creative life?” I wanted to know.
One day on 1988, I stood in front of a door, on the other side of which was a group of Foster Grandparents. I had in hand a copy of my book of autobiographical short stories, What Became of Them and Other Stories from Franco-America, which my wife Martha Blowen and I had published through my brand-new imprint, Soleil Press. Soleil means sun in French and Martha who was a paper maker called her studio Moon Papers. So Soleil Press and Moon Papers seemed to us a great combo for a couple (hovering on both sides of 40) who were seeking to live a creative life. [Free Membership required to read more. See below. ]
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Memoir Success: Approaching Neverland
Memoir Success
Over the years, I have worked with many writers to help them create and shape their memoirs. It’s my pleasure to bring to your attention once again the success of one such writer: Peggy Kennedy from San Ramon, California, for whom I had the pleasure of providing coaching and editing help that led to her memoir success
Many readers of this blog have been writing for a while and some are despairing of finishing. There is hope. After a number of years of preparation, Peggy Kennedy’s memoir of growing up in a family with a mentally-ill mother, Approaching Neverland, saw print. (Ordering information at bottom.)
While the information below is from over a decade ago, I believe this memoir success story is dateless. Approaching Neverland did well—and so can you. A review in the magazine the Midwest Book Review gave it five stars. Originally fearful of speaking before an audience, she was a guest on a number of radio and television programs. [Free Membership required to read more. See below. ]
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Leading a Conference Workshop as a Guest Presenter
Participating in writing conferences, either as a panelist, lecturer, or as a workshop leader is a great way to get your name and book out in public and to network with other writers like you—especially when you are leading a conference workshop.
Being a presenter comes with tasks, but the challenge is not impossible. I’d like to offer you some guidelines to help you be as successful as you can be to:
- Respond to a presenters’ request for proposal,
- Adhere to a list of conference presenter’s guidelines, and
- Develop a workshop that keeps the promises you proposed – in the specified allotted time.<!–more–>
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Who Will Be the Audience for My Memoir?
Writers ask me all the time: “Who will want to read my memoir?” Recently someone said, ”If I were to write my memoir, it would probably be of no interest to you or anyone else. There is no audience for my memoir!”
Your memoir has a niche audience.
Wondering about the available audience for your memoir is legitimate and necessary. At the core of the effort most writers commit to is a deep desire to share with others—to reach an audience. Certainly this is true of a memoir writer also.
This is the challenge: stop thinking that no one will want to read your memoir. It may be true that I may not be interested in your memoir, but someone in this wide world certainly is. There are some billion people on this planet who read English. Surely you will find there will be “an audience for my memoir” among that billion!
Find your niche
The name of the game for an unknown memoir writer seeking an audience is niche writing and marketing.
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Preparing for A Successful Book Launch
Note: This is the 3rd article in a series of 4 on the writing process of A Sugary Frosting published in 2016.
Post 1: I Finish A Sugary Frosting: Notes on the Memoir Writing Process
Post 2: Mechanics of Writing a Memoir: It’s not all Inspiration
Post 3: Preparing for A Successful Book Launch
Post 4: Better Book Production is Possible
Preparing for A Successful Book Launch: I’m finished writing the text for my next book, A Sugary Frosting/A Memoir of A Girlhood Spent in a Parsonage. What follows is a synopsis of what I am doing to promote the book so that its natural audience is aware of it.
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Why You Should—and How to—Write Strategically!
Ought memoir writers to write strategically?
We writers are artists. Most of us cultivate inspiration and are happy when we are under its influence. However, there is no one reading this who is unaware that writing can be pick-and-shovel work and it can be hard going sometimes—there are days when we would rather clean out the garage or the refrigerator than sit down to write. So…why not make the most of our work and learn how to write strategically?
We all love inspiration, but the problem with inspiration is that, while it can make the experience of writing today an excellent one, inspiration does not concern itself with the need we may have to think of our writing in a practical way. For instance, if I have something to say, how can I best approach making my statement available to the largest audience possible or to derive from the writing the best support? Another “for instance” is how can this writing support me financially? (While financial support may seem farfetched to some readers of this blog, it is possible.)
Examples of how to write strategically
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How to Have a Successful Book Reading–Author Book Reading Tips
A successful book reading requires a little planning upfront. If you use the following tips, you will have a great book reading and engagement with your audience.
At a recent author book reading, I read from my mother’s memoir, We Were Not Spoiled, to a group of Senior College people. Since the program was offered in Lewiston, Maine, where my family is from, I looked forward to the event because I knew that the space would have many individuals who had known my mother, me or many people in my family. [Free Membership required to read more. See below. ]