Memoir Query Letters

MatchmakerJane

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 15, 2008
Messages
184
Reaction score
24
Location
South Jersey
Website
bitterpudding.blogspot.com
does anyone have or know where I can find examples of successful query letters for memoirs?

I am totally stuck at this step. I've finished the book, wrote my proposal and have been staring at a blank page trying to write this letter!

any help is appreciated.
 

johnrobison

A Free Range Aspergian
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 5, 2007
Messages
694
Reaction score
148
Location
Amherst, Massachusetts
Website
www.johnrobison.com
Who are you? What (in one sentence) is your memoir about? Why would someone want to read it? What have you done with your life? Why is it relevant?

Answer those questions in concise one-paragraph form and you'll be well on your way.
 

johnrobison

A Free Range Aspergian
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 5, 2007
Messages
694
Reaction score
148
Location
Amherst, Massachusetts
Website
www.johnrobison.com
It is difficult to figure out what to say in a query letter, but another idea just came to me. Why don't you go to Amazon, find some memoirs that are comparable in some way to yours, and then go to the publisher's catalogs - all are online - and read the one-page descriptions of each book.

Those short descriptions sort of lay out what you'll have to say in a query letter, and they are meant to do the same thing . . . make the reader of the short piece want to read the whole book.