A writer told me he didn’t want to use the Hero’s Journey to structure his story because he was worried it would mean his story was the same plot as everyone else. A carbon copy. A duplicate. The funny thing is, the literary memoir examples I use in the masterclass here (where I explain framework I teach to write and revise a memoir in months inside The Art of Memoir) are all completely different stories, written from completely different perspectives, and if you can see how Crocodile Dundee and MAID by Stephanie Land and A LETTER FROM PARIS by me are similar, please let me know! Another told ..read more

Nonfiction book deals come down to showing a potential agent AND a publisher AND even negotiating with media to reveal to all the major players involved why your concept is timely and relevant and will interest the book-buying public RIGHT now. Watch this short video where I explain how this works. It’s often JUST as hard to get an agent as it is to get the publishing deal itself… and then when you get the deal, who educates you on how to ensure the book sells beyond the first print run? Or what to do in the months leading up to publication day to sell thousands of copies on launch week? Becom ..read more

I’ve been working with a nonfiction writer on her book draft for the last month. She has a 73 000 word draft with dozens of case studies, and wants to get it finished in the next few weeks. I’m going to share how I coach a writer to revise their nonfiction draft without reading the manuscript or providing a manuscript critique. The synopsis is key to this approach, because if you can master your synopsis, you’ve also nailed the structure of your manuscript. Let me explain. We started with her sending me her one page synopsis, and she also sent me a page of one of the chapters, much as you woul ..read more

Strategy and action will only get you so far in the land of publishing deals and creative manifestation. You might have heard the saying: “rejection is God’s protection” and (like me) believe that to be true when you’ve had some space and distance from the rejection.  But in the moment when your ego is bruised and you have immediate unfulfilled needs, rejections can make you feel like you’re back in childhood and your ice cream has fallen SPLAT onto the footpath before you even got one bite. WAH! In this post, I’m going to share what I’ve learnt after a season of rejections, and share wha ..read more

If you want to sell your story to a traditional book publisher, the most important connecting cord between your creative ideas and getting published, is knowing how to query – aka ‘pitch’ your story and get a response. The query letter is how you get a potential literary agent or editor requesting the memoir or nonfiction book proposal you’ve worked so hard to write, or even to see some memoir sample chapters. The only goal of the query letter is to get this response – and get it fast! The ability to write a GREAT query letter that gets a literary agent or publisher wanting to see more of your ..read more

If you’re aiming to get your memoir to submission-standard, you probably think you need a critique or a developmental editor to take it to the next level. Day after day, I find the same email in my inbox from a writer with big dreams: “Louisa, it’s taken me years to find the manuscript structure and make sense of it all…I have a memoir draft and I’m not a beginner so I don’t need a class… I just need to re-write the end of it and I’m looking for some feedback… so how much will you charge me for a manuscript critique or a developmental edit?” I don’t offer memoir critiques. Not now, not ever. H ..read more

The end of the year is the perfect time to reflect on what we’ve accomplished, experienced, loved and let go of in the year that’s passed. I also love to do a reflection exercise that helps me know where to place my focus and attention in the year to come! It’s a powerful exercise because it’s really key to manifesting change and transformation around really important areas in our lives. If you’re like me, you probably have a hundred and one visions, dreams and desires for things you wish to achieve and do and be and feel in the future, but your struggle is with narrowing it down! And, you may ..read more

If you’re seeking a memoir writing expert (as I did) who knows what no-one else does about the genre… allow me to recommend Mary Karr. The author of memoirs Lit, Cherry and The Liar’s Club, Karr is sometimes credited with reviving interest in the memoir genre. But what I really appreciate about Karr’s work is that I think she’s helped a lot of people (like me) to understand what the term ‘memoir’ actually means in a literary sense. And this is why, when I was looking for a name for my comprehensive memoir programme, I renamed it  ​The Art of Memoir​ in homage to Karr’s book of the same na ..read more

From 20+ years experience working with editors, publishers, writers, agents and authors, I’ve learned that most writers start their memoir manuscript in the wrong spot.  This is because with personal storytelling, while it’s narrative – like a novel or a fiction – it’s much harder to SEE it as a narrative as a novelist would, because, well – we LIVED the experience. With personal experiences, it can be hard to separate the stuff we need to write from the most captivating way to tell the story. But a book is a STORY – and a story needs to take a reader on a journey. It needs to flow from a ..read more

Book Publishing in 2023: What’s working for writers If you’re a success-minded writer who wants to make an impact and get your book published traditionally, this post is for you. Whether you’re seeking literary agent representation, and /or a book publishing deal with a commercial publisher or a small boutique press, traditional publishing has changed a little in the last few years. I’m going to share what’s working right now for nonfiction and memoir writers and what they’re doing to get wonderful book publishing deals in 2023. I’ll also share some digital strategies for writers that are curr ..read more