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Self publishing a memoir

(13 Posts)
Aveline Mon 15-Jun-26 12:39:48

Writing a book is the easy part. Publishing then launching and marketing is when the work really starts. Think about getting a copy editor then a proof reader then think about a cover. All of this is easily available to would be self publishers but at a cost! As said before, there are sharks circling memoir writers.

Cossy Mon 15-Jun-26 12:33:32

Amazing! Good luck, I’ve thought about writing, in various forms. Best of luck

henetha Mon 15-Jun-26 12:25:58

I'd love to do this but don't have the skill.

JamesandJon33 Mon 15-Jun-26 12:24:09

I did have a friend who published her memoir about six years ago. My it was boring. Most of the things she had done or written about I and my other friends had also done. It was very much, been there, done that. There was nothing terribly original about it. She did send it to several publishers, including a hybrid one, but they all declined it.
So I would say make sure your story is special and get a good editor .

Aveline Sun 14-Jun-26 19:11:18

An interesting hobby.

tanith Sun 14-Jun-26 19:09:32

Yes you’re right he would take a weeks holiday to go all over Wales visiting chapels to look at the parish records my poor sister tagging along on ‘holiday’ 😂 I suppose it was his hobby apart from visiting the local hostelries too.

polomint Sun 14-Jun-26 18:26:16

That's so sad tanith. I hope he enjoyed doing all the research of his family history though

Aveline Sun 14-Jun-26 15:35:51

I expect he enjoyed collecting all the info though. Useful archive for family.

tanith Sun 14-Jun-26 15:19:21

My late bil self published a family history with family trees birth,death, and marriage certificates, wills property deeds it took him years to collate and put it all together and cost a lot to publish. He gave family members a copy and very sadly never sold any at all, who'd be interested? When my sister had to move house after he died she had to dump several hundred copies it was very sad.

Aveline Sun 14-Jun-26 14:52:18

Before embarking on self publishing which can be expensive and there are sharks around looking to capitalise, think about your potential market. Who is going to actually want to buy your book? How are you going to market it? There are tens of thousands of books published each year, what is your book's special attraction?

Macaydia Sun 14-Jun-26 13:06:25

I dont know about self publishing but maybe amazon has information?

Congratulations on accomplishing this. If I were to try, it would take me a lifetime and I've only got one.

Retread Sun 14-Jun-26 12:49:57

Firstly, congratulations on writing your memoir 😊 I think it's marvellous.

I don't have advice about publishing, but a relative who has had a very interesting life wrote a memoir and it was clear from the feedback that she got, that it needed editing, which is a skill not everyone has.

I read a book on the craft of writing and what struck me as good advice is that it's a good idea to share the final draft of the book with a few trusted readers, friends, relatives, "opening the door a crack", before "throwing the door open wide" (publishing).

Contraryme Sun 14-Jun-26 12:03:56

I have written a 64,000 word memoir. I was wondering if anyone had experience of self-publishing? I was also thinking of using a ghost writer to maybe make it more interesting. I would welcome any advice -thank you