Proposal for memoir

There are a few agents I really want to target, all perfect ones for me. Several require a query plus proposal plus sample chapters on first contact.

But how the heck does one create a proposal for what is essentially a memoir? It's a mildly humorous account of building a house in an unusual place under unusual circumstances.

I've put together several non-fiction proposals for instructional and self-help books. My last one, for a computer instructional book, was rejected for being too narrow a market, but five agents commented that it was one of the best, most thorough, well-presented proposals they'd ever seen (by the time I reworked it, the topic was already dated; that's the computer book market, oh well). So I'm not without confidence in producing proposals for that kind of book: defining the market, running through the methodology, etc. All highly structured and logical, like the books I wanted to write.

But I'm stumped as to how to write a proposal for a memoir! Or is there just no such thing? Do I really write things like "In chapter 3 we take the reader through the fight with my wife over her friend who stole our life savings, then in Chapter 4 we build on this knowledge by reviewing various methods of begging for loans prior to being laughed out of the bank."

Should I simply send in my query and sample chapters? Anyone with prior experience pitching memoirs by using proposals?

Okay, I'm struggling along to write my memoir proposal, and I need some advice. The manuscript itself is done, on its sixth draft already, and around 88,000 words. Condensing it into a proposal is more daunting than the book itself.

Since this is memoir and not a how-to book, and all the advice says that memoir is queried more like fiction than other nonfiction, I'm writing the proposal more along the lines of a fiction proposal. In the chapter summaries, instead of saying "In this chapter I explain yadda-yadda...", I'm actually telling the story in very brief, condensed form, the way you would a novel. So far each chapter summary is taking two to three double-spaced pages. With 14 chapters and a preface, that means the summary section alone will end up between 30 and 40 pages! Add another ten pages of the usual stuff--about the author, markets, promotion plan, etc.--and I'm looking at a 50+ page proposal!

Overkill for a memoir proposal? Will its length put off potential agents/editors? I can't seem to figure out a way around it. If I condense the summaries too far, it sounds like bullet points and is tedious to read.

Anyone with actual memoir proposal experience who can offer advice?

Mark, I've seen similar advice elsewhere, so I take your point. What to do, then, with the markets and promotion section? I've gotten a few authors to promise to consider endorsements, I have a commitment from a regional book distributor to buy 2000 copies when published, and I have a good resume of prior publications and other credentials as well as what I think is an okay (well, not that great, but better than nothing) promotion plan. I can't squeeze all that into a one-page query.

Also, the five agents I've targeted first all say on their websites "Query plus proposal plus sample chapter". Now, that's their generic guidelines for non-fiction. All five specifically say they handle memoirs, but don't offer separate guidelines for memoir proposals. Do I simply query them without the other stuff? Or dump 60 pages of proposal plus another 35-45 pages of three sample chapters on their desks? It seems like I can't find a happy medium. What would you do?