Sales-wise, the memoir’s heyday is over. A recent panel of librarians at this year’s BookExpo America (
http://bookexpoamerica.com/) pointed out that the market is saturated with memoirs right now, and readers just aren’t reading them. Though some publishers continue to publish memoirs, new memoir manuscripts are likely to be rejected unless the author is Barbara Walters or is running in the presidential election. Memoirs became overwhelmingly popular a few years ago after the release of
A Million Little Pieces and Bob Dylan’s
Chronicles.
Book trends come in tides. Given time, publishers and readers will once again be eager for memoirs. In the meantime, continue working on these projects on your own and with your editor, focusing on edits and revisions so your manuscript is ready when the time to submit to publishers or agents returns.
Instead, you might consider sending out how-to manuscripts that match the current economy—how to save money, live on a budget, decrease gas consumption, become a bicycle commuter, etc. Watch the news for more insight. See a problem/current event that you think you can help others solve or cope with? Write it down and submit to keen publishers!
Industry Trend Spotlight by Adriel Gorsuch, Indigo Editing, LLC
