What is a memoir? A biography? A personal, family, or company history?
Is a memoir only about you or can it be about someone else? Is it about your whole life or just a part of it? Can a memoir be about someone who is not famous?
The answer is yes to all. A memoir can be about you or a family member, a colleague, even a best friend. It can cover a specific time, such as surviving a concentration camp during the Holocaust, or a lifetime ― growing up in a polygamous society. A memoir can also be about a specific event or milestone, such as living through divorce or overcoming addiction. Most important, a memoir is your story, whether you are a celebrity or just celebrating life.
Stephens Press has considerable experience publishing a variety of biographies and memoirs. The Voices in My Head by Las Vegas entertainer, Danny Gans, and To Dance on Sands by Death Valley’s famed ballerina, Marta Becket, are examples of work that famous people have written about themselves. Bing: On the Road to Elko was written by Bing Crosby’s niece, Carolyn Schneider, and Amelia’s Long Journey: Stories About a Brave Girl and Her Fight Against Cancer was written by Amelia’s father, Nevada’s Writing Hall of Fame winner and #1 newspaper columnist, John L. Smith.
Betty Auchard’s memoir of losing her spouse in Dancing in My Nightgown: The Rhythms of Widowhood, and Stephen Nasser’s story of surviving a concentration camp in My Brother’s Voice, are examples of LifeStories told by “ordinary” people.
Memoirs can take many forms and focus on different times of a person’s life — childhood, teen angst, the parenting years, even widowhood. Or it may examine a particular subject such as ranch life, being a missionary in another country, war times, or one’s career. When a memoir is quite comprehensive, covering a person’s entire life in detail, it is usually considered a biography, and when it is written by the subject him or herself, it is an autobiography.
The opening pages of any book are key to engaging the reader and pulling them in so they want to keep reading. Here are some books in the memoir/biography category published by Stephens Press and the first chapters so you can see not only the different approaches these authors took but the wide variety of subject matter that can become a memoir.
Howard Hughes: Power, Paranoia & Palace Intrigue offers a glimpse into the bizarre world of legendary aviator, movie mogul, and businessman Howard Hughes. Veteran author and journalist Geoff Schumacher separates the truth from the truly bizarre in this engrossing portrait of a man whose impact on the city is still being felt today.
READ FIRST CHAPTER
HowardHughesinLasVegas.com
Dancing in My Nightgown is a memoir about life after death — in this case, life for widows after their long-time mates pass away. The book won a gold IPPY medal from the Independent Publishers Association. These short, upbeat, inspiring stories tell us how spunky Betty Auchard decided to dance instead of sitting on the sidelines. Betty laughs and cries her way through grief and, ultimately, comes to see her situation as normal and shares her journey of widowhood with poignancy and humor.
Amelia’s Long Journey is a memoir about a father coping with the news of his daughter’s cancer. A compilation of author John L. Smith’s Las Vegas Review-Journal columns lead readers through the heartache of a brain cancer diagnosis to the hope of young girl’s love for life.
A New Day recounts how Dora Barilla’s perfect life came to a screeching halt when her firefighter husband suffered a traumatic brain injury in a horrific car collision. Dora recounts the fears, struggles, and frustration as she and her family come to terms with their new reality. An honest look at a very painful moment in a family’s life and the role one’s faith plays.
NewDayBook.com
Beyond the Glimmering Lights is a memoir that recounts a period in history that many might be unfamiliar with – how African Americans worked to brake the “color line” in Las Vegas. Through weaving her Great Aunt’s experiences within the framework of the battle against segregation, readers gain an understanding of the roles entertainers and everyday people played to finally end legalized racism in Sin City.
READ FIRST CHAPTER
BeyondTheGlimmeringLights.com
Bing, On the Road to Elko is a memoir by Carolyn Schneider about her famous uncle Bing Crosby. Most of the world knows about his career in Hollywood and his hit records, but few know that Bing owned several ranches in remote Elko, Nevada. Far from the bright lights, Crosby enjoyed hunting, fishing, and horseback riding.
READ FIRST CHAPTER
BingCrosbyBooks.com