Welcome, Melinda and Christine to the group! Melinda, Congrats on taking steps towards writing your memoir and submitting your work. Christine, Congrats on your office from She Writes Press. Here is a great article from The Creative Pen on traditional versus indie publishing. I hope you find it helpful. This is also a very good website. There are a lot of resources. There is also a very helpful podcast as well. Here is the link: https://www.thecreativepenn.com/self-publishing-vs-traditional/

Hi, I’m a writer, teacher, mom, wife, and two-time cancer survivor. I write about family, parenting, illness, and resilient survivorship. I just received an offer from She Writes Press today for my memoir: Again, Surviving Cancer Twice with Love and Lists, A Memoir. I'm over the moon. I've gone back and forth and forth and back about hybrid publishing or traditional publishing. I'm a new author. I have a small social media presence, but not anything that would draw a traditional publisher. I'd love opinions and views about the paths other writers have chosen -- pros & cons. Thanks, and I'm glad to be here.

Hi. I am a sculptor and painter from California who has just moved back to Slovenia (ancestral homeland) to paint landscapes. I am working on a book length memoir about my life in Slovenia, and also on a shorter piece which I intend to enter in a literary contest. I'm struggling a bit with both. There's a difference between the literary memoirs I like to read and the quality of my own insights and writing. I'm here to work on it, though.

Welcome, Landon. Thanks for joining our group and for sharing your story. You have a powerful story and I am sure it will make an incredible memoir. There is a book I want to recommend. I think it really could be helpful. It is entitled: The Truth of Memoir: How to Write about Yourself and Others with Honesty, Emotion, and Integrity by Kerry Cohen. Stay encouraged. Write On! Phyllis

Hi, everyone, I am a personal growth blogger and recovering alcoholic with over 12 years sober. I am very proud of that! In working to get relief from the problems I began drinking to avoid, I rid myself of all cravings, including overeating. I have no cravings for alcohol or fattening foods. I can think and haven’t needed to take anything to get to sleep. My bedtime rolls around and I am sound asleep in minutes. It’s wonderful. So, that would be my second memoir subject. My first is about the child abuse and domestic violence I grew up in and how I overcame it. I am stuck on the first one because it is graphic and gory. My mother and two older sisters are monsters and it showed up in my life, being the youngest.  In working to better my mental health, I have reduced most of the fears they brainwashed me with, but some still linger. I have thought about using a penname. I am disabled, live in poverty, and have several mental health and physical health problems. I worry about death threats, with our current internet culture.  So, I am open to suggestions and feedback because I want to get it published. I know there are millions like me who can relate to my writing. And I want abuse victims to know that they are not crazy or the only ones with those problems. Plus, there is a way out of abuse. It takes a ton of work, but it is worth the work to get to the other side of what stops us dead in our tracks. I look forward to hearing from some of you.