The Muse & The Marketplace 2020

Arguably, memoir is the toughest genre to sell. Two dozen agents told me my memoir was beautifully written but that no publisher would buy it because I wasn’t a celebrity. Instead of getting discouraged, I retooled my approach, found an agent, and got a publishing deal. 

In this session, I’ll reveal how I turned things around by identifying and amplifying themes that resonated with current cultural conversations. We'll broaden the scope with examples of other memoir successes by non-celebrity authors, such as Educated, Sick, and Maid. Extensive handouts highlight passages where these writers connected their prose to a broader conversation as well as positioned themselves as credible voices with valuable insights to share. By the end of the session, you’ll see your writing from a new perspective. And you’ll walk away with concrete examples for how to communicate what's urgent and important about your nonfiction writing to agents and editors.