A good beginning exercise for writing your memoir is to read the memoirs of others.
Bestselling memoirs might be the place to start for excellence in writing and understanding the different processes. You may be surprised at how differently they can be written and still grab and hold your attention.
Look at some of the less popular memoirs to give you an idea of what doesn’t work. What makes the difference between selling ten copies and ten thousand? It is just as powerful to find out what you don’t like in a memoir as to what you do.
If you have an ebook reader you can often download a chapter or sample of different memoirs to make the search short and affordable.
Finally, check out the memoirs in the area that your story will most likely fit. By reading memoirs in your own genre you can check out if is a popular niche. Going to Amazon and checking the popularity rank will give you a general idea if there is big enough of an audience for good book sales.
The following is a partial list compiled from Goodreads. Not only will it help you to target your own niche, a casual look at the many different areas of memoir writing will show you what popular market memoir writing is today.
1. Memoirs by women
2. Memoirs by men
3. Humorous memoirs
4. Strange and twisted memoirs
5. A day in the life: Work memoirs
6. Drum memoir
7. Food related memoirs
8. Travel memoirs
9. Foreign country memoirs
10. Local and state memoirs
11. Spiritual memoirs
12. Family and relationship memoirs
13. Sporting memoirs
14. Oxbridge memoirs
15. Domestic violence and abuse memoirs
16. Female celebrity
17. Graphic novel memoirs
18. War memoirs
19. Business memoirs
20. Lesbian memoirs
21. Gay memoirs
22. Farming memoirs
23. Old West memoirs
24. People in Peril
25. Kids in crisis
26. Dance memoirs
27. Christian memoirs
28. Yoga memoirs
29. Parenting memoirs
30. Lovers memoirs
31. Adventure Travel memoirs
32. Immigrant memoirs
33. Heartbreaking memoirs
34. A year memoir
35. Fat girl memoirs
36. Mental illness memoirs
37. African American Memoirs
38. Coming of Age memoirs
39. Slavery memoirs
40. Health memoirs
41. OCD memoirs
42. houses memoirs
