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Topic : Re: I'm writing a book on my life, what publishers look into these type of books? Im a Mexican/American by the border of South Texas. I have a real story to tell from crime to redemption what - selfpublishingguru.com

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The majority of memoirs are by famous people, because they are the ones who have a built in audience. It's possible to sell a memoir as an unknown if you have an extraordinary life story, but it's not common. If you're in the second category, you'll need to be a really good writer, and you'll need to write your own story as if it was a novel --meaning it will need to be entertaining. True is not enough. With that said, the crime aspect definitely helps --there's a large audience out there for crime non-fiction. (Iceberg Slim is a good example of someone who became famous from writing a gritty urban crime memoir.)
You might consider writing an autobiographical novel instead, which is fiction based on your life. The advantage is that you don't have to stick exactly to the truth. You might have fewer friends and relatives mad at you (or old enemies looking for you)! And it's typically easier to find a publisher for a novel than for a memoir.
As far as where to sell it: Most big publishers and agents will do the occasional memoir. I'm sure there are some that specialize in it, you'll need to do a search. True Crime is a recognized genre, you might do a search for that: agentquery.com is a good place to start. Cash Money Content is a Simon & Schuster imprint that currently owns the Iceberg Slim library --they might be a good fit for you. Another good idea is looking for a targeted niche publisher --maybe a regional one that focuses on the Southwest, or one that is promoting Latino or Mexican voices (those do exist). You might not need an agent if you are working with a smaller publisher.


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