I spent quite a while trying to get my travel memoir published, and here’s what I learned.
Write the whole thing first.
Forget about trying to get an agent when you’ve only written a few chapters. Agents and publishers want a full manuscript for a memoir. In that way, memoirs are much like novels. Sample chapters often won’t do. Agents and publishers want to see a complete and compelling story. So, take your time and get into the writing. Focus on publishing once you’re certain you’ve written your heart out, and revised, revised, revised.
Make sure your book is the right word count range.
In my experience, agents and publishers want to see books between 80 and 100k. Anything over that, and they won’t be interested. Anything under won’t really add up to a book length work.
Decide on your goal.
Do you want to be published in a mainstream publishing house? Or an independent? Or whoever will take you? Or do you want to skip all of that and self-publish? I can only provide information about traditional publishing, but think about what you want and throughout the writing process always stay in tune with what feels right to you. With each decision you make, check in with yourself if this is what you truly want, or if you’re making compromises that are too great.
For traditional publishing, query agents first.
In my opinion, this is the best thing to do first if you aim to be published by one of the big or even small publishers. Unless you are planning on self-publishing (a topic I don’t know much about at this point), it’s best to try to secure an agent. To do this, you’ll have to get organised. Create a spreadsheet or some kind of document that details who you’ve queried, and what their response was. A query is what agents call the pitch letter you send them describing your book in an enticing way.
There are plenty of examples online, but here’s the one I wrote for my travel memoir. I’m not saying it’s perfect, but I hope you will find it useful as an example:
I’m impressed by the philosophy of your agency and the list of books you represent. I hope you will find that my travel memoir, Abu Dhabi Days, Dubai Nights, appeals to you. Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat, Pray Love meets Geraldine Brooks’ Nine Parts of Desire, my story is both an account of self-discovery and an exploration of the cultural issues that face two of the fastest growing cities in the modern world.
Two weeks before moving to Abu Dhabi and beginning my grand adventure teaching in the Middle East, I meet Andres, a man who is everything I believe I want in a life partner. On his first visit to Abu Dhabi, we fall in love and begin planning our lives together. Yet I find myself drawn to glimmering Dubai, an hour’s drive from Abu Dhabi and a world away. Suddenly, my life hinges between loving a man and loving a place.
Filled with romance, insight and nuance, Abu Dhabi Days, Dubai Nights, portrays my relationships to two enigmatic, multi-cultural cities. In Abu Dhabi, I teach covered women who only leave their homes to attend university; a year later in Dubai, I find myself explaining feminism to a classroom full of Arab men. Through friendships with local Emiratis and expatriates, I come to understand a cross-section of opinions on the changing identity of a country caught in the midst of rapid modernization and an influx of foreign workers. From decadent Dubai nights to traditional Ramadan celebrations, my work with a controversial women’s shelter to Andres’s jinn-exorcism, I experience both the ultra-modern and conservative lifestyles available in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. Each chapter explores the complexities of daily life in the newest global cities to date, all from the perspective of a young American woman trying to find her place in the world.
While there have been several widely-read articles about Dubai tourism, no in-depth portrayal has filled this gap in the travel memoir and general nonfiction market. Almost all of Dubai’s western press is either superficial or unfairly negative, focusing solely on available luxury, wacky construction projects, economic disasters or the seeming underbelly of this conservative society. Yet corruption, financial setbacks and hyper-modern absurdity are not the only stories to come out of Dubai. While my book accounts for the presence of these elements, it also gives a nuanced representation of this complicated place. In all of my wide reading on western perspectives of Dubai, my memoir is the only depiction that allows for sustained experience and reflection on the issues facing that city and nation.
I graduated with an MFA in creative nonfiction writing from West Virginia University in 2006. My personal essays and travel memoir pieces have appeared in journals such as Brevity, The Common Review, Fourth River and Literary Traveler.
This 95,000 word travel memoir is my first book. I’ve included the first chapter below. Upon your request, I am prepared to send the complete manuscript. Thank you for taking the time to consider representing my memoir. I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Jillian Schedneck
If you get a lot of rejections from agents, as I did, take heart. You’re not alone.
Keep trying, but if you give up on traditional publishers, there are other options. Some independent publishers accept manuscripts without an agent. Check their requirements, but basically you can send them the same pitch letter you already created for agents, and see if they request the manuscript.
Try to get excerpts from your book published in magazines or literary journals.
Start the buzz on your book on your own by publishing widely with selected excerpts from your book, or separate stories from that same travel experience that didn’t make it into your book.
Join online groups focused on book publishing and writing to learn more about the process and what others have gone through.
But try not to get bogged down—as there’s a lot out there. Stay true to yourself and your goals.
