your life is a book: how to craft and publish your memoir

SASQUATCH BOOKS1904 3rd Avenue, Suite 710 • SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 98101

206/467-4300 • TOLL FREE 800/775-0817 • FAX 206/467-4301www.sasquatchbooks.com

FOR RELEASE OCTOBER 14, 2014Contact Haley Stocking, Publicist • 206/826-4318 • [email protected]

Everyone has a life story to tell, and blogs, journals, and autobiographies are all starting places for excellent memoirs. Your Life is a Book: How to Craft and Publish Your Memoir (Sasquatch Books; October 2014; $18.95) guides budding writers through the transformative process of memoir writing to publication. Explore the unique elements of crafting a memoir—story arc, point of view, dialogue, where to start (not necessarily the beginning!)—with an accomplished memoirist and writing teacher and a successful New York City literary agent. Brenda Peterson and Sarah Jane Freymann share their decades of expertise. With warmth and wit, they teach the craft of memoir, while also sharing proven writing exercises, interviews with publishing experts, and ideas for indie publishing. Attention is also devoted to the

self-exploration and awareness that this emotional project evokes. Whether you’re writing to leave a legacy or to publish, Your Life is a Book offers practical and

inspiring support to help you skillfully tell your life story.

(MORE)

Your Life is a BookHow to Craft and Publish Your Memoir

Brenda Peterson and Sarah Jane Freymann

Your life is a story. Discover the transformative journey of memoir, guided by an acclaimed author and literary agent.

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

About the Authors

Brenda Peterson is a writing teacher and author of eighteen books,

including the novel Duck and Cover, chosen by the New York Times as a

Notable Book of the Year. Her memoirs are Build Me an Ark and I Want

to Be Left Behind, an Indie Next, named among the "Top Ten Best Non-

Fiction Books of the Year" by the Christian Science Monitor.

Sarah Jane Freymann, a top literary agent since 1974, has led memoir

workshops since 2009. Founder of the Sarah Jane Freymann Literary

Agency, she mentors writers, and helps shape and shepherd books onto

the New York Times Best Seller lists.



Your Life is a Book How to Craft and Publish Your Memoir

Brenda Peterson and Sarah Jane Freymann

October 2014 • $18.95 • 272 pages • Paperback ISBN 978-1-57061-930-4

Available wherever fine books are sold.Sasquatch Books • 800/775-0817 • www.sasquatchbooks.com

http://www.sasquatchbooks.com




Your Life is a Book Events

October 14th, 7:00 pm: Third Place Books, Lake Forest Park, WATalk, Q&A, and book signing hosted by Brenda Peterson

October 16th, 7:30 pm: Powell’s on Hawthorne, Portland, ORTalk, Q&A, and book signing hosted by Brenda Peterson

October 18th, 2:00 pm: New York Open Center, New York, NYMemoir-writing workshop hosted by Sarah Jane Freymann and Steven Schwartz

October 19th, 3:00 pm: Eagle Harbor Book Company, Bainbridge Island, WATalk, Q&A, and book signing hosted by Brenda Peterson

October 23rd, 7:00 pm: Village Books, Bellingham, WATalk, Q&A, and book signing hosted by Brenda Peterson

October 26th, 7:00 pm: Hugo House, Seattle, WATalk, Q&A, and book signing hosted by Brenda Peterson

November 1st, 6:00 pm: Water Street Books, Exeter, NHTalk, Q&A, and book signing hosted by Sarah Jane Freymann

November 2nd, 2:00 pm: Titcomb’s Bookshop, East Sandwich, MATalk, Q&A, and book signing hosted by Sarah Jane Freymann

November 2nd, 1:00 pm: Book Passage, Corte Madera, CAMemoir-writing workshop hosted by Brenda Peterson

November 8th, 11:00 am: Bank Square Books, Mystic, CTTalk, Q&A, and book signing hosted by Sarah Jane Freymann

November 9th, 3:00 pm: R.J. Julia Booksellers, Madison, CTMemoir-writing workshop hosted by Sarah Jane Freymann

November 15th, 7:00 pm: Oblong Books & Music, Rhinebeck, NYTalk, Q&A, and book signing hosted by Sarah Jane Freymann

November 15th, 10:30 am: Kitsap Regional Library, Poulsbo, WATalk, Q&A, and book signing hosted by Brenda Peterson

Events subject to change. Please contact Haley Stocking at [email protected] for up-to-date information.





PRAISE FOR BRENDA PETERSON’S MEMOIRS

I Want to Be Left Behind: Finding Rapture Here on Earth(Selected as an Indie Next and “Great Read” from independent booksellers)

“[An] unusually affecting and radiant spiritual memoir . . . witty, enrapturing account of a spiritual journey of great relevance to us all.” Booklist, *starred review

“It is a rich and often lovely life—full of humor and Peterson’s own unique brand of faith.” Los Angeles Times

“Lovely, irreverent humor . . . Her journey is fascinating, and when she writes about spiritual revelation through nature, she’s captivating . . .” Cleveland Plain Dealer

“. . . memoir that blends her unique autobiography with compassionate and levelheaded observations about family, food, religion, life and our relationships with living things . . . Peterson has a gift for describing her life’s many adventures with disarming understatement and narrative poise.” Kirkus Reviews

“Peterson wraps her story in down-home warmth and a quick wit. [Her] stories are gems . . . embrace life, be true to your morals, live passionately . . .”Christian Science Monitor, “Top Ten Best Non-Fiction Books of the Year”

“Outstanding memoir . . . her vivid imagination combined with a lilting writing style makes the book a pleasure to read.” Miami Herald Sunday

Build Me an Ark: A Life with Animals(Selected as a “Best Spiritual Book of the Year” by Spirituality and Health Magazine)

“A lifelong love of animals combined with a jeweler’s eye for multifaceted philosophical meanings provide Peterson with a wealth of fascinating anecdotes and insights in this engaging memoir.”Publishers Weekly

“Brenda Peterson fashions a sturdy ark of words and images that convince us that we must look out for these fellow travelers and carry them high in our love and esteem.”Spirituality and Health Magazine





your life is a book: how to craft and publish your memoir

Documents