How to Write a Memoir
This post tells you how to write a memoir. Without too much trouble, or too much money.
You may need a memoir written, for either yourself or a family member. But first, what is a memoir, exactly? And how do you go about writing one; how to write a memoir, is that your pertinent question? Should you write it yourself, or should you hire a professional ghost writer to create or at least assist you in creating your memoir?
And what is a memoir exactly, you may ask? How is it any different from a biography, an autobiography, a journal or a life story? A memoir is different in that it may feature only part of someone’s life, the significant portion that you might want to write a book about, or it could feature the person’s entire life story.
This is the memoir or the memoirs of someone, no matter who it is about. Another writer creates a biography about the book’s subject. And the book’s subject is the author of an autobiography. While a life story is similar to a memoir – it’s about the person’s history and life. And a journal is similar to diary entries, compiled personal notes made in intervals, by the subject of the book in question. Some people like their memoirs to read like journal entries.
Can you tell me more about how to ghostwrite a memoir?
But when you determine how to write a memoir, how do you go about hiring someone to do the work on it? Well, it depends on for whom you’re having the memoir written. If it’s just going to be for family and friends, you might want to write out the manuscript yourself. And then find a professional book editor or book coach to complete it. If you’re not interested in book sales, this could be a more cost-effective method for you. Editing a book costs much, much less than having it ghost written.
When you hire a book ghost writer, if you use someone decently experienced who can help you create a salable, marketable book, you will be laying out thousands of dollars. But if you hire a book doctor or editor instead, the work may only cost a few hundred dollars. Or at least only a couple thousand dollars, not in the tens or hundreds of thousands like ghostwriting costs.
So if you don’t want to create a huge market for your book and are only having it prepared for a small circle, this is how to write a memoir. Hire an editor, and possibly a book coach, to assist you. The book coach will help you structure your manuscript in a polished manner, and a book editor will help you prepare it for publication, making it read soundly and professionally.
Should I hire a ghostwriter – is that how to write my memoir?
If you really want to hire a ghost, research your choices carefully. You will be laying out a significant chunk of your money. Be sure you have researched the ROI potential of your book sales. Do you have an audience for your book? Are you targeting the writing and ideas of your book for that specific audience or audiences?
Do you know how to structure the keywords of your book title? And within the content of your book, so that it will come up in search engines, etc.? The latter is important nowadays, especially when it comes to ebooks versus print copies. But even hard copies of your book will need to contain several relevant keyword phrases.
You should get your book onto Amazon, Barnes & Noble, SmashWords and Google Books, too. The last one on that list is the one you mainly need to target your keywords for, as your book will come up under searches for specific keywords mostly on that site. So you want to get a published copy, full of relevant keywords where your book can be found on Google, Yahoo, MSN and Bing, onto Google Books.
How to write a memoir involves relevant keywords and SEO practices
Include the most important keyword in your book title. That way, your book will be found by your most appropriate audiences when they do an online search. Of course, a lot of people don’t really want to sell their book. So much as they simply wish to get the memoir of a family member down in permanent book format.
But if you want lots of people to actually read your memoirs, it’s advisable to remember your audience. And the keyword method of enclosing these highly advisable terms within the title and pages of your manuscript. So that it will be found by the most appropriate readers for your completed, polished and professionally presented beloved family member memoirs.
How to write a memoir