Ask Jerry
The Vision for My Memoir
Asked by Grace Klaassen on June 14, 2020
How do I find a publisher to catch my vision for a 13 chapter memoir on Grace, with study guide in the back?
I love the way Joanna Weaver did her study, Lazarus Awakening, with extra materials in grey-highlighted boxes in each chapter: quotes, helps, lists, etc., as well as with appendices. In our case, with my husband's accident. I could perhaps include brain injury resources.
I want my memoir to show how God teaches His Grace through the hard lessons of life. I pray to make it the most touching, entertaining, and helpful book I can for readers.
Bless you!
Jerry's Answer
My only hesitation about the brain injury resources, Grace, is that it sounds too specific. Your memoir should communicate universal truth and transferable principles to the widest possible audience--so that means whatever the reader is enduring.
Yes, caregivers and others with loved ones suffering should be drawn to it, but I should think even victims of abuse (of all kinds), people grieving loss, those who have lost homes or have prodigal children--whatever malady you can imagine--long for grace.
The day may come for a book specifically on TBI or the drastic reforms needed in the healthcare industry. But for your memoir, hammer home the beauty of grace--which will, of course, include you and your husband's story. But this way you'll be able to focus on the grace side, not the expose or even the medical angle.