W I T H B R O O K E W A R N E R

HOW TO SELL YOUR MEMOIR, STEP-BY-STEP

BROOKE WARNER

Publisher of She Writes Press

President of Warner Coaching

Co-teacher with Linda Joy Myers of Write Your Memoir in Six Months

Author of What’s Your Book?; Green Light Your Book (coming in spring 2016); Breaking Ground on Your Memoir (with Linda Joy Myers); and HOW TO SELL YOU MEMOIR.

Active online at Facebook.com/warnercoaching and @brooke_warner

LET’S RECAP!

What agents and editors are looking for.

Put nothing but your best foot forward.

Platform matters (more than you’d hope it would).

This process is a long haul—hang in there!

LET’S GET STARTED!

Do proposals really matter?

What your proposal represents:Sweat equity

Partnership

How your proposal will help you: Your book as product, if not a business

Understanding your readership

The value of a marketing plan

WRAP YOUR MIND AROUND IT

2 COMPONENTS—EDITORIAL & MARKETING

EDITORIAL Overview

Chapter summaries

Author biography

MARKETINGMarketing & publicity plan

Competitive/comparative titles

Target audience

OVERVIEWEDITORIAL

Keep it short and to the point (1-2 pages).

Lead with a hook or something universal—a statistic, a fact, a question.

Keep it in the first person voice.

Is there a takeaway evident for the reader?

CHAPTER SUMMARIESEDITORIAL

Ding! Ding! Ding! This is what makes readers keep going.

Your objective—to convey why your book is relevant.

Nail your takeaways.

No single summary should be longer than a page.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHYEDITORIAL

Modesty has no place here!

Let your personality shine, but keep it professional.

Don’t include your CV.

Personal details relevant to your book are fair game.

MARKETING & PUBLICITYMARKETING

The beast of the marketing section!

Make it robust.

Do your research.

Smoke and mirrors…

Save who you think your readership is for the target audience.

TARGET AUDIENCEMARKETING

Bullet ‘em!

Drill down—specificity is a good thing.

Picture your reader, then identify them.

Don’t resist going niche.

COMPARATIVE TITLESMARKETING

Yes, you have “comp titles.” Every author does.

Understanding their purpose.

Two ways to “comp”—style or theme.

Breaking comps down by topic.

“Compare and contrast” is not a slam fest.

TYING IT ALL TOGETHER

THE FINAL ELEMENTS: Title page.

Proposal table of contents.

Sample chapters.

Query letter.

DID THAT FEEL LIKE A LOT?

Don’t worry, you’ll get your copy of HOW TO SELL YOUR MEMOIR tomorrow.

Take it one step at a time.

Proposals are for agents and editors—and YOU.

MAGIC OF MEMOIR 2015JOIN US!

Weekend long memoir event—October 17 & 18— in Berkeley, CA.

HIGHLIGHTS:Craft and process sessions

2 panels with experts and published memoirists

Networking opportunities

Incredible bonuses (manuscript assessment)

EARLY BIRD: $299 | MagicOfMemoir2015.com

THANK YOU!

URLS:

MagicOfMemoir2015.com

Facebook.com/WarnerCoaching

Twitter: @brooke_warner

WarnerCoaching.com

SheWritesPress.com

WriteYourMemoirinSixMonths.com(Next Free Webinar: What Made H Is for Hawk a Best-selling Memoir? September 14).