A presentation by Brooke Warner about how to write a memoir book proposal that will sell.

1. W I T H B R O O K E WA R N E R
HOW TO SELL YOUR MEMOIR,
STEP-BY-STEP

2. 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

3. 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!

4. 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

5. WRAP YOUR MIND AROUND IT
 2 COMPONENTS—EDITORIAL & MARKETING
 EDITORIAL
Overview
Chapter summaries
Author biography
 MARKETING
Marketing & publicity plan
Competitive/comparative titles
Target audience

6. 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?

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. TARGET AUDIENCEMARKETING
 Bullet ‘em!
 Drill down—specificity is a good thing.
 Picture your reader, then identify them.
 Don’t resist going niche.

11. 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.

12. TYING IT ALL TOGETHER
 THE FINAL ELEMENTS:
Title page.
Proposal table of contents.
Sample chapters.
Query letter.

13. 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.

14. 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

15. 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).