Windmills of My Mind…Memoir Markets

Everyone has a story, and it seems that more and more people are telling theirs. Browse the "memoir" subcategory on Amazon.com and up pops more than 24,000 titles. In a day of reality TV, "reality" books also hold the public's interest.

The term "memoir" refers to a reminiscent story, literally "memory," and it can be short, like a personal essay or narrative, or it can be book-length. It is always written in the first-person voice.

Do you want to write a memoir?

Writing a memoir can be a daunting task, but Scholastic.com has a great site with a step-by-step guide to beginning memoir writing. It is a site aimed at teachers and students but "Teachers: Write It / Memoir" will lead you from brainstorming to polishing your finished manuscript. And if you’re a student writer, there's also a list of contests where you can submit your work.

Some people will tell you if you're not a big sports star or a Hollywood celebrity or some other larger-than-life public figure, no one's going to be interested in your life story. The thing about a memoir is that you don't have to tell your whole life story. You can tell one event out of it if it is big enough for a book and has the universal appeal to attract an audience.


For instance, the number one seller in Amazon's memoir category is Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson. It is not Mortenson's life story, but the one of how he repaid the kindness of a small Pakistani village by building a school and how he turned that one school into 55 schools, primarily for young girls.

Where can you publish your memoir?

Most of the major publishers have a memoir imprint. However, they also seek work only from agented writers. If you don't have an agent, here are some publishers that will consider your memoir. Most request proposals with an outline or synopsis, sample chapters as well as a report on how you would market the book. Click each publisher's name to go their website.

Barricade Books - seeks books with a "controversial lean" ad expects authors who will be instrumental in publicizing their books, review the online catalog before submitting, hard copy proposals only.
Bunker Hill Publishing - guidelines online are almost nonexistent, check out the catalog titles.
Chicago Review Press - guidelines page gives a list of components to include in your proposal. CRP has three other imprints.
Covenant - This is a LDS publisher. Any books submitted must appeal to LDS readers, promote the LDS faith and be consistent with the LDS standards and principles.
Seal Press - publishes books for women by women, there is also a detailed list of components on the website that should be in your proposal to them.
University of New Mexico Press - requires authors to send an "initial query letter" and provides five questions/prompts to answer.


International Publishers:
Birlinn Ltd (United Kingdom) - no guidelines on the website, only an email to send submissions or queries.
Coteau Books (Canada) - accepts proposals and queries only from Canadian writers.
New Society Publishers (Canada)- specializes in books that promote building a sustainable ecology and other environmental concerns, the guidelines have a list of topic areas.
Outback Books (Australia) - manuscripts have to deal with the Australian outback or history, prefers Australian authors but doesn't limit.

Not ready to write a book-length memoir?

Try your hand at something shorter…much shorter. Smith Magazine is all about stories and on their website you can submit your "six-word life story." They have already published one book of these stories, entitled Not Quite What I Was Planning and are seeking more stories. There is no pay, just the challenge to cram your life into six words.

Memoir (and) - pictured above - says it is a journal for "the exploration of the memoir as 'the' genre of the 21st century." The reading period is May 1-August 15. The guidelines page is extensive and detailed. Submissions may be in print or via email.


Seal Press also is compiling an anthology about women and horses and has asked for essays 2000-4000 words long. There is a PDF file of guidelines you can download and save. It has a long list of potential essay topics. Deadline for submissions is August 15. You can submit the manuscript by email.