If you or your family are interested in writing a memoir, you’re in luck. In fact, there’s never been a better – and less expensive – time to publish your memoir.
For our purposes here, “memoirs” can be classified into at least two distinct categories. There’s the typical memoir, which is often the collection of stories and reminiscences of a person or a couple. The audience for such a book is, generally, that person or couple’s family.
The second category is what we call “Memorable Moment” books. These are usually – though not always – eBooks because they are inexpensive to update and there’s no printing involved. Also, an eBook provides the opportunity to use video, audio and image files, as well as standard word files. (There is a full explanation of Memorable Moment eBooks in the reprint below.)
The following is a reprint of a blog by Stephen Smoke detailing why now is the best time ever to write and publish your memoir.
For more information or to talk with an expert about your project, click here.
The Top 6 Reasons to Write and Publish Your Family Memoir NOW
Printing costs. Today when you publish book on-demand, you can quite literally print one copy at a time. I often use, and advise clients to use, CreateSpace. In some cases, we don’t print any books, except for proof copies and personal appearances. CreateSpace has no setup costs. If you can do the setup yourself, or hire those services done, you will have very little out of pocket costs.
No marketing costs. It’s a family memoir. Your audience is your family and friends, and they are already probably on speed dial or in your “contacts” list.
Unlimited and incredibly inexpensive NEW EDITIONS. I really like this. Obviously a family continues to add to experiences over time. It stands to reason that new additions to the family will only be more computer savvy. With a little help and understanding of the process, families can add chapters to the family story endlessly! Every year brings interesting – on often memorable – experiences in every family. Future generations will be able to add their chapters to the family memoir, and they’ll be able to do it as easily as copying, pasting, saving and uploading to Amazon or an on-demand printer.
Multi-media capabilities. If those reasons are not enough to get you off the dime, consider that even a couple of years ago Kindle didn’t support multimedia, which means it didn’t support audio or video files. Now Kindle has caught up with the iPad and it supports multimedia files. Now, if you want to interview a family member or capture a special moment in video, all those moments can be recorded and included in your eBook! Five years ago, eBooks were not ubiquitous. Today, when you make your book available as an eBook file, everyone in the family will be able to enjoy it.
Help at a reasonable price. With the popularity of independent book publishing, the marketplace of editors, illustrators, and book designers has exploded and prices have become much more competitive. Also, using organizations like IBMG (Independent Book Marketing Group), people who know nothing about the publishing business can find quality services and advice without getting taken to the cleaners. The more you know, the more you can save. Some families pool their skill sets by recruiting family members who are writers, editors, and illustrators.
“Memorable Moments” eBooks. This is an incredible new, and easily understood concept. All family members get the same assignment: Describe the 5 Most Memorable Moments of Your Life. (Obviously, it could be 2, 3, or a dozen; it doesn’t matter.) Family members can use word files, image files, audio files, video files or a combination of all of them. Some memorable moment examples are the birth of a long-awaited child, getting married, graduating from college, the last night with a parent, your best vacation, the death of a friend… Each family can determine the criteria for “memorable” along with any other stipulations. It’s a fun project that everyone participates in. You may find that you’re surprised by what others contribute. The stories may make you laugh or cry, or merely understand that person better than you thought you did. The best part is that the book theoretically has no ending. Every year family members can contribute to the eBook. Some years everyone will contribute, some years there’s nothing memorable to record. Remember the question, “What’s the one book you’d take with you to a deserted island?” This may very well be that book.
For more information about ‘Memorable Moments” books and Memoir books in general, click here.