In January 2022, I gave a presentation in French about self-publishing, aimed at people either retired or close to retirement. All were interested in publishing their book and or memoirs. As I had started my own indie company Echofictions to make my published books and short-stories available, I could help them navigate the main hurdles on the way to get a book published, starting with the ISBN number.
Why writing a memoir is not a simple hobby
As history goes, most of what make up our daily lives vanishes quickly after our passing. The “big” history deals about big events (and wars, and colonisation) but this is not by far the whole fabric of our lives. And I am currently doing a research for an historical novel set in my own city, Mississauga, in 1979. Even if I remember that year, a lot of details get lost.
We are barely discovering through archival and legal papers, the everyday life of our ancestors. Some journals are unearthed. But even one or two generation spans can be difficult to recall. So this spurred me to call out, “write what you can about your parents, friends, and grandparents!”
Because you never know what will spark interest of the next generation, or the future historians!
You don’t need to wait !
I am currently writing a book of my mother’s memoirs. (After her passing last year, she won’t see the book, but she did enjoy getting her story published in the French lit magazine VIRAGES .)
After both my parents (and my grand parents’) passing, I measured how fast the funny anecdotes, the marking events dwindle in our memories. I had some anecdotes told to me by my paternal grandmother Laframboise, and at a point, I urged her to start a journal. She did, but did not complete it before passing. All I can tell is: she had a very beautiful writing hand.
So this is why, reader, whatever your age, please, write. One of the new authors attending my presentation was over 80. And one 77-year-old self-publisher told me, at a meeting in Oregon, that she did not aim for the glory, but to leave something for her grandchildren. It is a perfectly sound goal.
For myself, if my non-fiction reaches about 50-100 people in my extended family, I will be happy.
Nor do you need to sell a million books!
You don’t have to write like Stephen King or Barbara Kingsolver (my favorite author). Let the words pour from your heart, plunge deep in the well of memories of your parents, grand-parents, so the children coming after you can appreciate a little bit of life in our times.
None of us need to reach a billion readers, but your words will reach the people who matters to you.
And, for that activity, there is no mandatory retirement if it pleases you!
Echoes of a Sunday artist 