Writing a book about your life in the cult

posted on MovingOn, reposted here)

I took a good course in creative non-fiction writing a few years ago --as well as some courses on publishing and things. Some of the info I gleaned from it may be helpful to you.

Usually you get an offer for the book or article BEFORE you write it. For example, you send a query letter along with a sample chapter to a publisher. A deal is struck BEFORE you write the book. This means that you have to do all the research before you contact the publisher, have an idea of the market, target audience, etc.

It's difficult to make money off a book. Publishers may expect you to do a lot of promoting at your own expense.

Self-publishing, or publishing on demand is growing in popularity. All sorts of formulas are available.

Some books that might help you in writing your lifestory, or memoirs:

Inventing the Truth -- William Zinsser, 1987

Writing Life Stories -- Bill Roorbach 1998

Turning Memories into Memoirs -- Denis Ledoux, 1993.

I got all of these from the public library -- very helpful.

Good luck! The business of publishing can be utterly brutal, but the craft of writing your story can be empowering and liberating. Everybody should do it. As Socrates said, "The unexamined life is not worth living."

Cheers