Indie Publishers that do Memoir

MichaelAnthony

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I'm thinking of publishing my memoir with an indie/small press and was wondering if anyone here has some recommendations of small/indie presses.

I've got a copy of 2015's Writer's Market already, but I know that (A) not all the small/indie publishers are in WM and (B) the blurb that appears in WM only tells so much, and that people on here might know a bit more than appears in the book...
 

Donald Schneider

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I’m sorry that I can’t specifically help you, but I wanted to inquire if you’d care to state why you feel that your memoir would be of sufficient interest to a publisher. I’m not at all being derogatory or cynical. I was just curious if you are someone of some renown, or have lived through some interesting adventure or misadventure. I assume there must be something about your life that makes you feel that your memoir would be sufficiently noteworthy to expect a publishing house and a readership to be interested. Whatever that is, I hope it is something positive and not something along the lines of your having been victimized by whatever misfortune. (I see that you are from Boston. I do pray you were not one of those injured in the terrorist bombing or lost someone close.)

A good place to start, I would think, is to look up various (preferably recent) memoirs online and find out what house published them. You might even look for memoirs similar to your projected one.

In any event, I wish you every success.
 
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Lauram6123

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I'm thinking of publishing my memoir with an indie/small press and was wondering if anyone here has some recommendations of small/indie presses.

I've got a copy of 2015's Writer's Market already, but I know that (A) not all the small/indie publishers are in WM and (B) the blurb that appears in WM only tells so much, and that people on here might know a bit more than appears in the book...

If you go to QueryTracker and do a search on publishers, and then specifically search under the genre of memoir, you will find 26 publishers listed. (That, of course, doesn't mean they are all a perfect fit, but it might be a good place to start.)
 

Clairels

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I'm thinking of publishing my memoir with an indie/small press and was wondering if anyone here has some recommendations of small/indie presses.

I've got a copy of 2015's Writer's Market already, but I know that (A) not all the small/indie publishers are in WM and (B) the blurb that appears in WM only tells so much, and that people on here might know a bit more than appears in the book...


As you can probably tell from my signature, my memoir is being published by San Francisco-based Cleis/Viva Editions. They have a 30-plus-year reputation as a feminist/queer publisher, but they are expanding rapidly and l'm lucky enough to have an agent clever enough to submit my book to a publisher I never would have thought of.

Also, a good friend of mine has a memoir coming out soon from Soho Press, which I've heard nothing but good things about.
 

MichaelAnthony

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Laura and Clairesl thanks for the replies.

Clairels, I've never heard of Cleis/Viva editions I'll check them out and see if they might be a fit. I've heard of Soho but thought they only did fiction, I'll have to add them to the list. Thanks!
 

aruna

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Ant Press is a small UK based independent publisher for mainly memoirs . They do digital first and though I don't have the figures I believe they have an excellent royalty rate.
I have read two memoirs published by them, by the same author. They are excellent books. I contacted the author and he recommends the publisher unreservedly. He says they are very selective. They pay monthly royalties.
I submitted a query and sample chapters and heard back within days, with a request for a full.
 
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