NewMemoirs.com: An Offer to You

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Have you written and/or published a memoir?

If so, please read on.

NewMemoirs.com is all about new memoirs, both published and unpublished.

This is not a review site. In other words, I will not review your memoir, but I am offering you a highly targeted web space where you can blurb and brag about your new memoir.

For free.

Once your blurb appears on this site, it will remain here, unless you request that it be removed.

No obligation, ever. In fact, I have nothing to sell.

So why am I doing this?

1. I am a writer who has written a memoir that I'm trying to shop around, so in 2007 I registered the domain NewMemoirs.com. My hope: to use the site to convince agents and editors to represent my memoir I, Driven: a teen's memoir of involuntary commitment. I was going to keep this site all to myself, but then I started thinking: why not offer web space to other writers who also have their memoirs to shop around and sell?



2. To be honest, this is not an entirely a selfless offer. The internet is all about numbers; the more relevant pages a site has, the higher it ranks in the search engines, which means higher traffic to the site. So you see, it's a win-win situation for everyone who has a spot on this site. We will all get better exposure, which is all we really want for our books. In exchange for a highly targeted web space, you are giving me free content for my website. On the internet, content is king, and targeted free content is the best kind yet.



3. You will see tasteful ads on this page, but never pop-up, pop-under, slide-across, or "Welcome to My Page" ads. I don't like those annoyances either and have no intention of filling my sites with such irritating nonsense. If you ever see those kinds of ads on my pages, let me know, and I'll make sure that they are removed. Furthermore, web surfers who land on this site are never under any obligation to click on any of the ads.

So are you interested? If so, I'll need some text, which must be pasted in your email to me, and a photograph from you (thus, no email attachments except for the photograph).

For already-published memoirs:

• Title of your memoir with full publication data: date, publisher, number of pages, ISBN number, price, and an ordering information link. This info can be obtained from Amazon and/or your publisher. If your memoir is self-published and printed, you may have your ordering information placed directly on your web space.


• A blurb, 100-250 words, about your memoir.


• Your full name and bio, about 100 words, or a link to your longer online bio.


• If applicable, one book review of your memoir.


• One photo of your book cover (attached as a JPEG file). Be sure to give credit to the photographer and cover designer, even if it's a friend, relative, or just you.


• A short excerpt from the memoir, no more than 500 words.


• A link to your web page. Not required, but a reciprocal link to www.NewMemoirs.com on your web page would be greatly appreciated.


• Email your text and photograph to me.

For unpublished memoirs:

• An open letter to agents and publishers (see sample--my own open letter), with a compelling opening, title of your memoir, number of manuscript pages, and other pertinent information.



• Your full name and bio, about 100 words, or a link to your longer online bio.



• If applicable, one pre-publication book review of your manuscript.



• One photo that captures the spirit of your memoir (attached as a JPEG file). Just be sure that you own the rights to the photograph or have permission to use it. Be sure to give credit to the photographer, even if it's a friend, relative, or just you.



• A short excerpt from the manuscript, no more than 500 words.



• A link to your web page. Not required, but a reciprocal link to www.NewMemoirs.com on your web page would be greatly appreciated.



• Email your text and photograph to me.

Other than running a quick spell check, I will not be editing your work, so please make sure that your text is exactly the way you want it; due to time constraints, I will not be able to go back and do edits on your page.

Please read the disclaimer below.

Take a look at some new memoir blurbs.
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In the Shadow of Mercury. A Memoir of Mid-Life and Dogs (Melanie Coronetz)

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Title: In the Shadow of Mercury. A Memoir of Mid-Life and Dogs

Published: August 15, 2008, by Xlibris

Softcover: ISBN 978-1-4363-5674-9, 165 pages

Softcover: $19.99 at Amazon.com and Xlibris.com.

Website: ShadowOfMercury.com

The Author with Her Dogs
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Blurb:

In the Shadow of Mercury explores how one woman’s search for identity in middle age brought her into the show ring at Madison Square Garden. After trying and discarding a series of possible careers, the author settles in with a Schipperke she names Mercury. On the advice of friends, she then attempts to show him.

This book traces her missteps as she tries to learn the ins and outs of the purebred dog world. Meanwhile, her marriage slumps towards indifference, and the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show looms. What happens with Mercury and the subsequent dogs in the author’s life makes this memoir a lively and touching read for dog lovers and anybody else interested in a good story that has been described by one reader as an amazing roller coaster ride.

Bio:

Melanie Coronetz grew up with pet dogs. She stumbled into the world of showing by accident, as she approached middle-age. Throughout her life, she’s had a variety of careers, some satisfying, some not. A native New Yorker, she lives in New York City with her husband and their three dogs.

Book Review:

By Richard Pulfer in the Rockford Review, Winter-Spring 2009: “Absolute Must for Memoirists …”

Distance is one of the most crucial elements in writing non-fiction memoirs. Is the writer too close to the event and its implications, or too far away? Luckily, Melanie Coronetz puts her perspective squarely on focus to the impact of dog owning in a story of fresh dreams and new beginnings in mid-life.

Struggling to find her calling in life, Coronetz finds her relationship with her husband slowly deteriorating after his struggle with cancer. This relationship is further strained by several failed endeavors before Coronetz settles on something seemingly left field—purebred dog showing. Falling for a new Schipperke pet named Mercury, Coronetz flies through the dog showing industry by the seat of her pants.

Coronetz has certainly mastered the art of the hook. In a turn of a few words and a few paragraphs, she’s able to hook the reader into emotional investments. I didn’t think a story of dog-showing at mid-life would be such a rapid page-turner, but clearly I was wrong. Coronetz’s passages are exciting and breathtaking, with experience ranging from uplift to heartbreaking, making this book any dog owner’s dream come true.

The book’s failing is that the story of the dogs seems to overshadow the story of Coronetz. In particular, Coronetz’s relationship with her husband seems pushed too far into the background. This is one of the biggest elements of the book, but we really don’t hear enough about either the low points or the turning points.

Coronetz’s book is a powerful read for pet owners and mid-lifers alike. Coronetz succeeds in making the narrative suspenseful, and the outcome never realized until the very end. In the Shadow of Mercury is an absolute must for memoirists.

Excerpt:

In 1984, on my fortieth birthday, my husband, Bruce, took a picture of me in our living room. I was wearing a silver unitard, and the camera flash made it glint like polished steel. I made a copy of that photo and sent it to my brother in Seattle. I wanted him to see his older sis looking as sleek and shiny as a barracuda, just like the one he saw up close on one of his scuba diving trips to warm waters. Maybe prancing around the living room in that stretchy jumpsuit was a sign that ordinary middle age wasn’t for me. I’d soon quit my job, try new careers, and follow a path that eventually led to a little black dog I’d name Mercury.

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