The Memoir Revolution

Tag: Publishing

May 1, 2012

Tim Elhajj about Writing and Publishing His Memoir

Addiction, Author Interview, Tim Elhajj

Addiction, honesty, interview, memoir, Publishing, recovery, shame, Tim Elhajj

Most of the anecdotes in the book were ones that I tell in AA meetings or around the dinner table to entertain my kids. Telling a story doesn’t always work the same way as writing a story. You have to make certain adjustments for the page. The audience is potentially different and some things may…

Written by

Jerry Waxler
April 14, 2011

An agent teaches writers to face their hopes and fears

Publish, Writing Workshop

agent, disappointment, fear, hope, Literary Agent, nonfiction, Pitch, Publish, Publishing, Query, rejection, workshop, Writers

However, occasionally I look up to the cathedral in the sky, where happy published writers hang out at tea parties, and I wonder if I will ever gain admission. To learn how to storm those gates, I recently attended an all day workshop on the subject. The event was hosted at one of the region’s…

Written by

Jerry Waxler
July 5, 2010

Publish This Book: The Unbelievable True Story of How I Wrote, Sold and Published This Very Book by Stephen Markley

Boys To Men, Coming of age, Publish

Boys To Men, college, Coming of age, humor, memoir, Publishing

And finally, I imagine college kids themselves would appreciate it. After all, Markley recently emerged from those hallowed halls himself. If I was that age, I would be interested in knowing what to expect. I looked on Amazon to see what other readers thought. Several reviewers liked it as much as I did. The reviews…

Written by

Jerry Waxler
April 21, 2010

Fear of publishing: Try these ten (more) tips to increase courage

Courage to Write, Self Help for Writers

courage, emotions, How-to, public, Publishing, shame, Shy, social anxiety, suggestions, therapy, Toastmasters

While much has been written about how to market your book, there is relatively little guidance for the emotional struggle. Because I have had to cope with my own social anxiety, I have been studying this issue for years, reading self-help books, and incorporating lessons from my formal training in counseling psychology, and trying the…

Written by

Jerry Waxler
April 13, 2010

Too shy to publish your memoir? Try these ten tips to reach towards strangers

Courage to Write, Overcome Obstacles, Publish

courage, public, Publishing, shame, Shy, social anxiety

Reasons for avoiding the public come in many voices, each one asserting a sense of urgency or even danger. Instead of feeling overwhelmed by these concerns, seek solutions. Remember that writing a memoir is a journey. You don’t need to solve every obstacle before you start. Just solve the ones that stop you.

Written by

Jerry Waxler
December 31, 2009

Author Interview: Curtis Smith talks about publishing in Literary Journals

Author Interview, Literary Non-fiction, Literary Publication

Author Interview, Creative Nonfiction, Curtis Smith, essay, Literary Journals, literary nonfiction, Philadelphia Stories, Publishing, Short Story

At this year’s Philadelphia Stories Push to Publish conference, Curtis Smith played an important role, by throwing in a few choice comments about how much fun writing is. (To read more about his comments, click here ). One of the parts of writing that seemed to be working especially well for Curtis was his regular…

Written by

Jerry Waxler
March 12, 2009

Break the Rules! A Travel Memoir with a Twist of Zen

Book Review, Philosophy, reading, travel

Motorcycle, Publishing, Robert Pirsig, travel, Zen and Now, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

The one rule he didn’t break was to put a finite time period on his memoir. He did this precisely. Mark Richardson’s wrapper story covers the couple of weeks during which he rode his motorcycle from Minneapolis to San Francisco. It’s tight, except for the strange fact that the material actually covers decades. It’s a…

Written by

Jerry Waxler
August 20, 2008

Interview with Vietnam vet memoir writer Jim McGarrah

Author Interview, Veteran, Vietnam War

Author Inter, Jim McGarrah, memoir, PTSD, Publishing, Vietnam War

One of my university students, a beautiful and sensitive and talented young writer, had joined the National Guard the year before the invasion to help pay her way through school. She was called up and returned home a paraplegic at the age of twenty. At that point, I went back and looked at the old…

Written by

Jerry Waxler