For would-be nonfiction authors, it may be dispiriting to learn that nonfiction books sales have been slumping of late. Over the last year, The Week has noted that “sales have tumbled,” The Spectator has wondered if podcasts are “killing off nonfiction books,” and The Guardian has asked if readers are “falling out of love with nonfiction.”
This sentiment has been reflected in Gotham’s conversations with agents and editors around the industry, particularly when it comes to one of the most popular categories for our clientele: memoir. In the last few months alone, more than one agent has told Gotham that memoir as a genre has become almost impossible to sell to Big 5 publishers without a huge platform attached, and that they are actively looking to avoid representing memoirs when possible. It’s safe to say that for non-celebrity memoirists without millions of followers, the dream of a Big 5 publishing deal has become a longshot.
What’s a prospective memoir author to do? One option is to consider alternative publishing options outside the Big 5. A quick perusal of Publishers Marketplace shows that plenty of memoirs by non-celebrities are still being sold — just to independents and smaller houses, where typically smaller advances may limit the risks of acquiring memoirs. Similarly, the lists of many of the top hybrid publishers are replete with narrative nonfiction, making them an attractive route for memoirists with the means to pursue hybrid publishing.
But what about authors who still dream of a deal with a big trade house? One option is to pivot away from “pure” memoir to a more prescriptive category. Self-help and business haven’t been as hard hit as memoir has by the collapse of nonfiction sales, and many books in those genres can be built around telling a life story if they also find ways to incorporate prescriptive takeaways. Maybe that rags-to-riches story could be reconceived as a business advice book that draws lessons from a successful career. Or a memoir of surviving trauma could be reframed as inspirational self-help that helps readers to overcome challenges in their own lives.
In other words, it’s not that a life story is inherently unsaleable — it’s just rarely sufficient on its own. Find ways to take what is extraordinary about your story and turn that into prescriptive takeaway and you may find agents and publishers are more receptive to taking a chance on your book.
