Guidence Please

[susanscs]

Not sure I am in the right place here but perhaps someone will direct me if I need to be elswhere. I am a breast cancer patient, British, living in Spain. I have kept a diary of everything that has happened to me and wrote short articles in a local newspaper which had a good following. The paper has now folded and I want to turn my articles into a book and continue with my story. Its hard having cancer but harder still being in a foreign speaking country! I would like to write all about my experiences and how I cope, non of the medical stuff or percentages, just the ups and downs to give other people an idea of getting through all the fun without the lingo. Can someone tell me if this might be of interest, there are so few cancer book personal stories around, I know when I was diagnosed I wanted to read everything I could on how others have managed.
If you do think this may be a goer, can you tell me what to do please, where to start with agents, editors and so forth, totally new to all this. Thanks
Susan

[aka eraser]

Hi Susan and welcome to the Cooler.

I'm going to move your post to the Nonfiction board. Others will probably chime in over there. You might want to read past posts on that board. If memory serves, a similar situation was discussed over there not too-too long ago. A visit to the Life Story Writing board might be in order too.

Personal stories of survival are a tough sell unless you're a celebrity, have a different slant, or are a particularly gifted writer. The fact that you had some of your pieces published in a paper might improve your chances somewhat.

Remember that agents and publishers ask themselves one question when evaluating a writer's proposal or manuscript: "Can I make money from this?" Theirs is not a particularly altruistic business.

I hope I'm not being too discouraging. The facts are that writing and selling book-length anythings is a difficult business.

Check out information on the Nonfiction board about writing proposals. That's your first step. Then take it from there.

I have cancer survivors in my family and wish you the best in that battle as well as your writing endeavours.