LOVE your book but….

I am deep in the querying process for my recently completed memoir. It’s a pretty tough process, one characterised by constant rejection and unfiltered feedback – both good and bad.

Last week, I spoke with an agent who I got connected to via a writing group I belong to. It was a remarkably short conversation, all of 15 minutes, but in that time she was able to convey a huge amount of feedback.

She started with the positives: She loved the premise of my book; loved the flawed, layered and complex character of my protagonist; loved my writing style. She said it’s the sort of story that she could see made into a TV series or a movie. She said she could see and smell the landscape of the 1970s that I had portrayed. She also said that the con, that lies at the heart of the story, is really captivating and the sort of hook that would resonate with a wide group of audiences.

But as  I listened, languishing in this torrent of unrestrained praise, I could feel my heart start to sink into my stomach as I could sense a ‘but’ coming and what a “but” it was.

“But,” she started, “Memoir is really hard to sell at the moment – what was the last memoir that really made it?”

“Educated?” I cautiously replied.

“THAT’S WHAT I MEAN!” she shouted back, throwing me off slightly. “Hundreds of memoirs have been written and published since Educated came out, many just as good as Educated, but people are not buying them, publishers are not seeing traction.”

I’ve heard this before, just like I’ve heard that short story collections don’t sell. But every week, I see announcements in The Bookseller or Publisher’s Marketplace of a new memoir being sold. It’s true that many of these memoirs are by celebrities or experts with some sort of platform. But amidst this barrage of celebrity and platform-driven memoir, I see often the odd memoir written by writers like me – writers with a compelling story to tell.

“Thank you for your feedback,” I began to reply, bringing the conversation to a close, resigned to the rejection implicit in her words.

“Would you consider turning your book into fiction?” she interrupted me, not missing a beat.

I have never considered making my book a work of fiction. Honestly what happens to my father, which I reveal in my book, is so shocking that I almost feel it’s stranger than fiction. I think that old trope is true – some stories are indeed stranger than fiction!

Our conversation came to a close with an invitation to “continue talking”. She encouraged me to get more feedback from other agents but – again another but-  if I would consider turning the book into a fictional novel, she would be interested in talking further.

Interesting.

So, this is feedback from ONE agent, but it’s interesting feedback nonetheless. 

I spent all of yesterday reeling from this conversation, turning the feedback over and over in my head, playing out all the scenarios.

The positives about my story are REALLY POSITIVE – 1) the fact that the story would resonate with wide audiences, 2) the characters, setting and writing is strong and 3) the story would translate well to screen.

The negatives about my story are to do with CATEGORIZATION and MARKETING 

As I thought about the pros and cons, I couldn’t help thinking about what strengths I have that I need to highlight more in my query documents:

• I have written a damn good story (I’m trying to be badass here!)
• I have spent my entire 27 year career in Marketing. I have worked in entertainment marketing – promoting movies, plays, books and content. I know how to do marketing. I am also sitting on a goldmine of original content (20 years of correspondence between my father and the mysterious entity that orchestrated a long-con against him). This stuff is fodder for some cool tiktok and youtube activations that can SUPPLEMENT the traditional marketing for the book.
• I actually know how to write screenplays – this was the focus of my creative writing masters. I need to play up the fact that I can write the screenplay for this baby too.

Here is where I have landed:

I will continue on my current path to seek representation and publication for my book as a memoir. So far, I have queried 35 agents. I’ve had about 8 rejections, 2 quick calls with agents wanting to “explore and provide feedback”, radio silence from many agents, and 4 agents have requested to see my full manuscript. I am nervously waiting to hear back from them.

I will query a max of 100 agents and consolidate all the feedback I get through this process. I am really only at the start of my journey and I already have some valuable insight so I can’t give up. I am hopeful that someone out there will share my passion for my story the way it is presented.

I will also highlight my screenwriting creds and my marketing ideas in my proposal.

BUT, I am a writer alas and one should never say never. If plan A does not work, then maybe I would consider a pivot….

Or maybe, I publish my memoir myself and then write a fictional book “inspired by the memoir”. Lol. Two books, one story.

I am making light of this, but this is a conundrum for sure.

Keen to get feedback. What do you think?