tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23051453.post5370916994229289473..comments2023-11-02T06:57:11.400-04:00Comments on BookEnds Literary Agency: What Is Narrative Nonfiction? and Thoughts on MemoirsBookEnds, A Literary Agencyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06287278822065839469noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23051453.post-4184447259715808372011-09-27T15:33:33.631-04:002011-09-27T15:33:33.631-04:00I'm curious about how agents regard hybrid boo...I'm curious about how agents regard hybrid books. For example: "Motherless Children" by Hope Edelman contains stories yet it's not really a narrative. It seems like the kind of idea that would benefit from a platform, e.g., a counselor who works with women on mother issues or a lay person who's started a popular support group could get speaking gigs and television experiences.<br /><br />Would an agent expect this project to be near complete, or could the author sell it with a proposal that demonstrates, "I plan to compile interviews with several dozen women and research on hundreds of others"?Barbara Ruth Saundershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01799097040002221934noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23051453.post-18537461576460502272011-03-06T10:51:37.325-05:002011-03-06T10:51:37.325-05:00Can someone please tell me what is meant by "...Can someone please tell me what is meant by "platform" in publishing? I'm trying to sell my narrative nonfiction "Girl With Green Hair in Landscape," a personal narrative about my father's stroke, and two agents have told me I lack a "platform." Does having a platform mean you must be famous, like, say, Ron Reagan? Or is it something else? I've published more than 150 articles in Wash Post, Houston Chronicle, Dallas Morning News, etc. And excerpt of my book ran in the Wash Post Sunday mag. Any info you have on "platform" would be most helpful. -- pampamela gerhardthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15255222925112094463noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23051453.post-76110879900038930792010-03-08T17:18:29.345-05:002010-03-08T17:18:29.345-05:00Thanks for the clarification. I think it helps to...Thanks for the clarification. I think it helps to see it spelled out this way. It is always critical in narrative nonfiction to develop plot and characters. I'm not exactly sure I understand the difference between that and prescriptive nonfiction though? Tiia<br />http://teacherintl.typepad.com/blog/Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23051453.post-22679499796045359712009-11-22T18:55:13.040-05:002009-11-22T18:55:13.040-05:00Who knows where to download XRumer 5.0 Palladium? ...Who knows where to download XRumer 5.0 Palladium? <br />Help, please. All recommend this program to effectively advertise on the Internet, this is the best program!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23051453.post-12826145927669887982009-06-17T18:45:05.027-04:002009-06-17T18:45:05.027-04:00Thank you so much for posting this. I had just ab...Thank you so much for posting this. I had just about decided to give up on writing nonfiction, because the buzzword today is "platform, platform, platform." I understand how this would be true for a book about gardening or open heart surgery, but I just couldn't see why it is so important for nonfiction that is basically telling a story. You've given me hope.Marcia Chttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08036674226398660758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23051453.post-75941858599613912192008-10-20T18:34:00.000-04:002008-10-20T18:34:00.000-04:00THANK YOU IM DOING HOME WORK AND IT SAYS THAT ON I...THANK YOU IM DOING HOME WORK AND IT SAYS THAT ON ITAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23051453.post-7901054606112910532008-04-09T21:56:00.000-04:002008-04-09T21:56:00.000-04:00Thank you for posting this. I've started a memoir...Thank you for posting this. I've started a memoir (after publishing four novels and numerous short stories), and any advice on the genre is very appreciated.<BR/><BR/>---EllenEllen Guonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10810888910897188264noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23051453.post-27779549875511268142008-04-02T13:59:00.000-04:002008-04-02T13:59:00.000-04:00Thank you - this clears up a major misconception I...Thank you - this clears up a major misconception I had.Karenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04558984795488343792noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23051453.post-77148894450400275272008-04-02T13:46:00.000-04:002008-04-02T13:46:00.000-04:00A Slippery SlopeFrom narrative nonfiction to those...A Slippery Slope<BR/><BR/>From narrative nonfiction to those novels referred to as "thinly-veiled autobiography," to a flat-out novel where you've taken the basic outline of your experience, and from there built a story that is completely fiction...<BR/><BR/>I think memoir is kind of limiting, because there might be more interesting questions you want to address, but within the confines of "what actually happened," those questions never came up. And then again, maybe you yourself are comfortable with putting your business out there for the whole world to see - but maybe someone else isn't, so you have to respect their privacy...I mean, you don't HAVE TO, but there's that conflict, my truth/their privacy, to contend with.<BR/><BR/>A first-person account of a disaster on Mount Everest, which is "news" already - public - that's a little different than, say, something between two siblings, which is assumed to be private.<BR/><BR/>I think I give up for the moment. Although I marvel at how someone else's health crisis can cause a person to kneel down before the unholy trinity of chocolate, sugar and butter. I like the heft of a 5-pound bag of sugar (it's comforting), the way paper wrappers from unsweetened chocolate and butter accumulate on a countertop. Soaking cherries in bourbon left over from the Christmas fruitcake, why not get a match and light them, an offering on the altar? To Hygeia, the Greek muse of health. C'mon Hygeia, chocolate, sugar, butter, cherries, it's the best I've got.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23051453.post-50531158736193201712008-04-02T11:16:00.000-04:002008-04-02T11:16:00.000-04:00I'm in the editing process of my memoir and figuri...I'm in the editing process of my memoir and figuring out how agents viewed it was very confusing at first. Knowing it's treated as fiction is very helpful, but I have a question regarding queries: should it be written in first person? I've heard that first-person novels should be queried in third but I'm uncertain if that applies for narrative nonfiction.<BR/><BR/>Thanks!Melanie Hooyengahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08781235493983907234noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23051453.post-19007011821208694412008-04-02T09:36:00.000-04:002008-04-02T09:36:00.000-04:00The trick is, it has to also be TRUE.Sigh.The trick is, it has to also be TRUE.<BR/><BR/>Sigh.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23051453.post-4640681424018050892008-04-02T07:51:00.000-04:002008-04-02T07:51:00.000-04:00Thanks for posting this. I had really wondered if ...Thanks for posting this. I had really wondered if this wasn't the case. Storytelling seems to be very important, so I'm glad you confirmed it.<BR/><BR/>JulieJulie Weathershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13725236516593676381noreply@blogger.com