Monday, November 23, 2015

What Constitutes A Stellar Memoir Is Different For Agents, Readers, and Writers

Dear Lit Loves,

Greetings fellow lovers of literature I was attending a medical appointment with my Meniere's disease specialist here in North Carolina today.  While waiting for my consultation and subsequent hearing tests, I was reading a medical memoir written by a popular surgeon.  When I returned home from my appointment, I started working on writing a review of the surgeon's memoir when it dawned on me that what constitutes a good or stellar memoir varies depending on the person you ask. Let me explain what I've personally experienced  in terms of what an agent believes is a good memoir, what a writer believes is good memoir, and what a reader often defines as a good memoir because I can assure you, there are very real and distinct differences especially among the three.

Literary agents, in my experience, appear to prioritize "platform" when acquiring in the memoir genre.  One friend of mine that I recently had lunch with thought this meant that the literary agent wanted a memoir writer who was also a good speaker.  If that were the case, she thought I would have no problem because I have a background in education and have taught public speaking.  I informed my friend that for many a literary agent "platform" means you are a celebrity, rock icon, gangster, morning show host, or sports figure.  Someone who is a household name.  Now "platform"for many literary agents can also mean you have a grand social media following. This type of  "platform" can take the form of a writer with 6,000 Twitter followers, 1,000 Facebook friends, or a gazillion blog followers.  To this my friend said, "But what about the content, the experience? Shouldn't that be the top priority?"  Well, you would think that should be at the top of the list, but again, based on my experiences as a writer, I'm not sure that really matters to many a literary agent acquiring in the memoir genre.  And quite a few literary agents want to acquire memoirs written by journalists, reporters, opinion columnists, or academics.  Now maybe those writers do come with a built-in audience, but I often find that memoirs by writers with that type of background write a memoir like it's a report they will discuss on the six o'clock news or a subject on which they will give a research lecture.   Their memoirs often do not flow like a story or personal tale and  those memoirs have very little of the author's voice conveyed in the writing so the book comes across to me as dry and boring.  Finally, literary agents have indicated in their query guidelines that they just want a good story well-told.  From my experience, this usually means the agent wants lyrical, poetic or what I call "sing-songy" writing.  When I read memoirs written in this manner,  I usually find myself putting the book down and thinking, could you just tell the story and get to the point!  And usually the theme or lesson of the memoir may or may not be readily identified and explained by the average reader. 

Now, as a writer in the memoir genre here is what I think about when I question if I should consider writing about specific experiences:  Is this experience relevant?  Will my story resonate with other readers, primarily women?  Does the experience I am writing about reflect important women's issues?  Is there anything from my experience that would be helpful to someone else?  Are the experiences I am writing about going to reflect my life passion and distinct southern voice?  And above all, will my story hold the attention of the reader and keep them interested?  To me, social media is not as important as the story I am telling and if I have a unique way or manner of communicating that story.  And let's be honest, social media did not always exist.  I have no problem with maintaining a website and blog as well as being connected on LinkedIn and Goodreads, but Twitter I find obnoxious and Facebook to me is just too invasive.  I don't need to share every detail or picture of my life with the whole world.  To me, Facebook is a way of people tooting their own horn, sharing way too much information, and a way for many people to find validation.  I've never needed Facebook or MySpace to know I'm a worthy individual with valuable insights to communicate whether via writing, speaking, or teaching.  So sue me!  I LIKE being considered "old school". 

Finally, as a reader I will tell you that I most likely will NOT read a celebrity memoir.  I want to read a memoir written by a female writer that is telling a story about experiences that reflect an issue that is timely and important to women today such as overcoming domestic violence, finding your calling in life, the strong bonds of female friendship, dysfunctional families, developing a brave soul and standing up for yourself, elder care, being your own best patient advocate within the quite chaotic medical establishment we have today, and handling family drama as well as coping with the death of a parent.  And here's another tidbit:  many memoir authors today have websites, blogs, etc. and offer ways to contact them.  The problem is this:  many of those memoir authors do not respond to their readers or the people who bought their book, paid good money for it, and helped put the writer on the bestseller list.  And to me, that's just shameful.  If you can't be bothered to respond to your readers then what was your real motivation for writing the book?  If you can't at least send a proper "thank you" when a reader writes you then I think you might need a good and serious reality check.  Never, ever take your memoir readers for granted.  If you do take them for granted, they probably will not be buying your next book, recommending a book of yours to others, or supporting you in growing your writing career. 

Thanks Lit Loves.  I really needed to get that off my chest.
Happy Reading!
Grace
(Amy)


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