Helen Ginger blogs at Straight From Hel and moderated a panel discussion called Getting Published at the Stories From the Heart conference. In this post, which originally appeared on Matilda Butler and Kendra Bonnet's blog called Women's Memoirs she shares with us what the discussion was about. There is good information here!
Recently, I had the opportunity to attend the Story Circle Network national conference and sit in on the Getting Published panel with five fabulous memoir writers: Kendra Bonnett, Matilda Butler, Laurie Wagner Buyer, Susan Tweit, and Linda Wisniewski. Put five successful authors at the front of the room and dozens of up-and-coming writers in the audience and all I had to do as moderator was sit back and let the questions and answers fly.
The first question, Are memoirs growing or waning in popularity? received a definite “growing” from all panelists. Matilda presented convincing statistics to prove that memoirs are becoming more and more popular. When you also take into consideration the popularity of TV reality shows, the increasing number of baby boomers, computers making it easy for anyone with a story to write a book, and the rising number of authentic, unique voices, it’s easy to predict that memoirs will continue to sell.
Some wanted to know how to find an agent interested in representing memoir. First, do your research. Check sites like Preditors and Editors. Check the acknowledgment page of memoirs you like–see if the author thanked her agent, then Google the agent’s name and visit her/his website to see what kind of material she/he likes to represent. Follow agents’ blogs. Go to conferences to meet with agents and editors. If you can’t afford a conference or can’t find one nearby, check conference websites. There most likely will be bios on all the agents and editors attending, and you can see up-to-date info on what they’re looking for.
A large part of the panel’s time was spent talking about that ominous word “platform.” What is an author’s platform? Platform isn’t just for celebrities who can get their face on television to promote anything. Platform is for you and me. Publishers want us to have a platform, too. A platform is a means to promote and sell your book. Clearly, you and I may not be able to get on Oprah or Good Morning America, but we can build our own platform. To build a platform, you have to start now. If you don’t have a blog, start blogging. Join Twitter, Facebook, and whatever other ways you can network and build your “presence” online. Claim your domain and create a website. Write articles for other blogs or sites. Get your name out there! Hand out business cards. Go to conferences and meet other authors and readers. Join writers’ groups. As one person said, “Be persistent and passionate.” But don’t let it take up so much of your time that you forget writing and editing your work. If you start building a platform early, you can build it slowly and solidly.
There were so many questions and so much great advice from the authors that the panel’s hour and a half flew by. As soon as we all stood up, the doors swung open and wait staff rushed in to rearrange our room to make it part of the luncheon. Although there were others waiting to eat, those of us who had been part of the Q&A were still chatting and getting to know each other as we left. Without even thinking about it, we were meeting new people and taking a step up onto our platform-in-progress.
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