memoir

When Your Memoir Wants To Be A Novel

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In our "Breaking In" column in Writer's Digest magazine, we talk with debut authors—such as Anna Quinn, author of The Night Child—about how they did it, what they learned and why you can do it, too.

The Five Little Secrets of Memoir Writing: A Contrarian POV

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A memoir can be a massive undertaking. As writers, we sometimes take pride in this complexity. It makes us seem, well, more professional. It can also alienate us from real people. And real people have stories to tell. Very real stories. So it becomes important that we set aside our biases...

Three Keys to Building Your Life Story or Memoir Platform

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You’ve written your life story. You’ve edited and assembled it into a compelling narrative. Now a family member or friend is encouraging you to take the next step. Get your story published so the world can read it. Is that possible? Does an outside market exist for an ordinary person’s life...

How to Write Your Life

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Every life has drama: joy, loss, surprise, knowledge, conflict, wisdom — the stuff of a memoir. Writing yours can be a treasured gift to your children and grandchildren because it tells them something eloquent about who you are and who they are.

New Literary Agent Alert: Michael Caligaris of Holloway Literary

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Reminder: New literary agents (with this spotlight featuring Michael Caligaris of Holloway Literary) are golden opportunities for new writers because each one is a literary agent who is likely building his or her client list. About Michael: Michael Caligaris has been working in publishing since 2013. After earning an MFA in Creative Writing from St. Mary’s...

Helen Adams, Zimmermann, Agent, Literary Agency

Meet the Agent: Helen Adams, Zimmermann Literary

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Helen Adams (formerly Zimmermann) got her start in publishing more than 20 years ago: first at Random House—where she became Director of Advertising and Promotion—then as Author Events Director for an independent bookseller, where aspiring writers would often ask her how to get published. “I would always say, ‘You need to...

7 Things I’ve Learned So Far, by Kelsey Miller

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7. You can’t force ideas to come, but you can invite them. The muse makes her own hours and if it’s her day off, then oh well. I released my first book six months ago, and I’ve been thinking about Book #2 since the moment I finished the proof pages. But you...

New Literary Agent Alert: Jennifer Wills of The Seymour Agency

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Reminder: New literary agents (with this spotlight featuring Jennifer Wills of The Seymour Agency) are golden opportunities for new writers because each one is a literary agent who is likely building his or her client list. About Jennifer: Jennifer has five years of experience in some of the publishing industry’s leading literary agencies. She worked...

New Literary Agent Alert: Vanessa Robins of Corvisiero Literary

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She is Seeking: NA—all, especially humor; YA—gritty plots with diverse characters; Fiction—thought out thrillers, romance with strong female leads, heavily based science sci-fi, and sports-centric plots; Nonfiction—memoirs including coming of age, cultural/ethnic/sexuality, survivor, and humor themed. Bonus points for Medical Narratives (characters with medical illnesses and chronic diseases, or MS told...

How to Write About Your Pets

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You want to write about your pets. You know you do. And your pets are all for it. The cat’s been walking across the keyboard for days now. Even the dog, curled up in bed next to you while you work, looks longingly at you. You know he’s thinking: “Make me...

What We Can Learn From Multi-Genre Authors

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One of my favorite parts of my job as editor of Writer’s Digest is overseeing our WD Interview cover stories in every issue—deciding who to feature, making sure we’re hosting a conversation that covers ground our readers won’t find elsewhere, and quite often even conducting the interviews and crafting the profiles myself....