How do you sell a memoir? Through a Proposal?

EliseLovette · May 17, 2010

Hi guys,
am new here, am sorry if this has already been answered. I tried searching for it but I wasnt getting any straight answers.
I know memoirs fall under creative non-fiction, so I was wondering do you sell a memoir with a proposal? Or do you have to write the memoir first before you get an agent who is able to get you a publisher?
Sorry if the questions are not so smart.

Thank you very much.

Kilawher · May 17, 2010

For the most part memoir is sold the way you'd sell a novel: the whole thing has to be completed before you begin to query agents, and you write a query letter.

Wayne K · May 17, 2010

It's better to have a full ms, but if you write a killer proposal it can be as effective.

I got an agent with a proposal and a partial. The partial was 170 pages

EliseLovette · May 17, 2010

Thank you so much Kilawher and Wayne K.

Wayne if you dont mind me asking how many words were in your 170 pages?

Wayne K · May 17, 2010

About 35 thousand

Newport2Newport · May 18, 2010

EliseLovette said:
Hi guys,
am new here, am sorry if this has already been answered. I tried searching for it but I wasnt getting any straight answers.
I know memoirs fall under creative non-fiction, so I was wondering do you sell a memoir with a proposal? Or do you have to write the memoir first before you get an agent who is able to get you a publisher?
Sorry if the questions are not so smart.

Thank you very much.

Hi Elise, and welcome! You've already been given good insights by some of our resident experts, but if you're looking for additional perspectives (including links to agent blog posts on the topic), you might want to peruse this thread:
http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=159711

Best of luck!

Mardi · May 20, 2010

Hi Elise,
I also got my agent with a memoir proposal and a sample chapter.
Some agents want the whole manuscript, some a proposal, but even with a proposal it has to be written in such a was as to really convey your voice as a storyteller.
We worked together on my proposal to make it more timely, though didn't change anything story wise or character wise.
Good luck!

aruna · May 20, 2010

I just got a request from my first choice agent for a proposal (if I have one, she said) and three chapters of the memoir. (No big deal; this agent requests a lot of mss so it doesn't mean much at this point.)

I had not prepared a proposal yet, as I thought memoirs sold as full mss, but you bet I got one ready to send, quick time!

I'm really glad if it goes this way. I certainly believe that everything an agent needs to know is contained in that submission package, and it gives me time to finish and polish the whole ms.

Wayne K · May 20, 2010

Congratulations

Newport2Newport · May 21, 2010

aruna said:
I just got a request from my first choice agent for a proposal (if I have one, she said) and three chapters of the memoir. (No big deal; this agent requests a lot of mss so it doesn't mean much at this point.)

I had not prepared a proposal yet, as I thought memoirs sold as full mss, but you bet I got one ready to send, quick time!

I'm really glad if it goes this way. I certainly believe that everything an agent needs to know is contained in that submission package, and it gives me time to finish and polish the whole ms.

Wow--congratulations!! I've been told so often that a memoir needs to be fully written before submission, so I'm really glad you've proved yourself the exception to the rule. (If there really is a rule...)

aruna · May 21, 2010

Thanks, Melodye!
I'll let you know how things work out. I can't believe I've really done this thing!

Mardi · May 21, 2010

Congrats, Aruna!

Sweet Tea · May 21, 2010

Aruna,

Congrats! Just wondering, if you went the query-route, or did you pitch at a conference? Would love to see your query letter, if that's how you got your foot in the door.

Thanks!

aruna · May 21, 2010

Thanks for all the congrats!
Sweet Tea, I queried per e-query according the the website instructions.
Actually, I queried the agency boss by name, but the request came from an associate agent. I hope she passes it on; but I gather from the agency therad on AW and from her blog that this is the way it is done there. The agents do get the ones addressed to them eventually. I certainly hope so! The associate is a great agent, it seems, but I want the boss!
Query pmed to you. I don't want to post it publicly but anyone who wants to read it can get it per pm.

Sweet Tea · May 22, 2010

Thank you for the pm - incredible story you have. Looking forward to the great read it will be.

EliseLovette · May 22, 2010

Thank you Wayne, thank you Mardi, thank you Newport, and thank you Aruna.

I have decided to stick to fiction, but make it based on true events.
I doubt a memoir by a nobody like myself would create any kind of buzz despite my background.

Good luck to everyone else.

Chrisla · May 23, 2010

Congratulations, Aruna! It's always great to hear of fellow AW successes. I, too, would love to see your query letter.

aruna · May 23, 2010

Hey. no success yet - just a request, and I'm wary of those. So many disappointments in the past.... *sigh*

Chrisla · May 24, 2010

In my view, interest from the agent reflects success, perhaps only the first step, but success, nevertheless.

Sweet Tea · Jul 11, 2010

Aruna, any news yet?

I finally dipped my big toe into the waters this past week - one agent actually requested a proposal from my query, as opposed to chapters. Said he is 'intrigued' by my story and looks forward to reading the proposal. You best believe I am polishing that proposal til it shines line a new dime.

Time for the roller coaster ride - please pass the valium and the Tums.

Newport2Newport · Jul 11, 2010

Sweet Tea ~

That's awesome!!

Wishing you much good fortune as you take these next steps on your journey...

megan · Oct 7, 2010

I found this to be quite helpful:

http://www.writersdigest.com/article/the-market-for-memoirs/

Some agents are saying that you need to have a proposal ready. I had read that a query letter was fine for a memoir but that doesn't seem to be what is said in that article.

aruna · Oct 9, 2010

hmmm... just read my old entries on this thread and thought I'd give an update. The memoir I was writing back then turned out to be too long for one book so I divided it into two. So I wrote the agent above and withdrew the submission. The first part is about travelling in SOuth America and I finished that in early summer; submitted it all around but found no takers. I'm now on the second part, my journey to India and stay in an ashram. It's by far the more important part and I wrote the propsal after 20000 pages, queried a first batch of agents. One, the best of the lot from a top agency, replied within a couple of hours (probably immediately, actually, because of the time difference) and asked for the proposal; he actually used the word "intriguing".
So now I'm in the waiting seat again.

Oh -- and I did the absolute vorboten thing - I mentioned Liz Gilbert in the query, and in the proposal! But not in any way comparing my book to hers; it's because of a significant reference she made, relevant to the market. My book is actually the antii-EPL....

Bluestone · Oct 9, 2010

aruna, congrats on the request, and your perseverence.

I'm glad you clarified the Gilbert EPL reference. LOL. As no doubt you've heard, it's apparently the kiss of death to mention her, after it's become so cliche.

I like the sound of having drilled down your travels to this one experience - or one set of experiences - in India. Do you have a theme? Is there something that changes dramatically in your life as a result?

Keep us posted!

aruna · Oct 9, 2010

Bluestone said:
I'm glad you clarified the Gilbert EPL reference. LOL. As no doubt you've heard, it's apparently the kiss of death to mention her, after it's become so cliche.

I like the sound of having drilled down your travels to this one experience - or one set of experiences - in India. Do you have a theme? Is there something that changes dramatically in your life as a result?

Keep us posted!

Yes, it was the turning point of my life. And the memoir is not so much about me as about Ramana Maharshi, who was and is well-known as India's greatest 20th century sage, though practically unknown in the West; so it's going to be a kind of introductory work to someone , all these best-selling writers are quoting : E. Gilbert, Eckhart Tolle, the lot, but nobody goes into in any depth.
My query starts thus:

"In 1973, aged 21, shy, awkward, but undaunted by the challenge, I set out to find Ramana Maharshi. I left my home in Guyana, South America and travelled, mostly overland, to the other side of the globe: to India, a country that drew me as a magnet, and his quiet ashram far off the beaten hippie trail. I stayed there for over a year, living in a hut without plumbing and electricity, my one indulgence an apple given me by the man who was to become my husband. It was—and still is after almost 40 years—the best year of my life; for I had struck gold."

The rest of the query is about Ramana and his significance to India-based spirituality.

How do you sell a memoir? Through a Proposal?

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