Writing & Selling Your Memoir

There's more to writing a memoir than just writing your life story. A memoir isn't one long diary entry. Rather, it's a well-crafted story about a crucial, often exceptionally difficult, time in someone's life. This book talks readers through the process of telling their most personal stories in a compelling, relatable, and readable manner. Unlike other books dedicated to the art and craft of writing memoir, it teaches readers how to approach the genre with love, respect, and know-how without sentimentalizing it. Drawing on her experience working with New York Times best-selling memoirists, literary agent Paula Balzer carefully explores the genre and provides readers with step-by-step instruction on how to:

1. Identify strong opening and closing points

2. Find and develop a strong central hook that readers can relate to

3. Structure a memoir to maximize readability

4. Use dialogue and pacing to enhance intimacy

5. Approach honesty and truthfulness

6. Build a successful author platform around their memoir

7. Get an agent's attention