THE ART OF THE MEMOIR: TELLING & SELLING YOUR LIFE STORIES
BARNES & NOBLE COLONIE CENTER ALBANY
SEPTEMBER 18, 2008, 7 p.m.
THE ART OF THE MEMOIR:
TELLING & SELLING YOUR LIFE STORIES
“Everybody wants to make their mark. Nowadays, that means everybody is writing a memoir.” – CNN, April 18, 2008
Find out what it takes to write and sell your life story from trained professionals who’ve actually done just that. Memoirists David Henry Sterry and Jeff Berman will read from their memoirs. Then they will discuss with Arielle Eckstut, one of America’s greatest book supergurus and author of seven books; a book doctor who has helped dozens of first time authors get published; and the author of Putting Your Passion Into Print the definitive book on how to get published; the joys and the perils, the agony and the ecstasy of writing and selling the stories of your life. Making a narrative of events of your own life, dealing with issues of privacy and the lunacy of family, figuring out how to navigate the stormy seas of the publishing world, and bringing your story to life as you read it before an audience are all topics that will be bandied about. This will be followed by a Q&A session. All questions will be answered. And perhaps a few audience members will get to tell their own life stories.
Do you want to write your life stories? Come find out how.
DAVID HENRY STERRY
MASTER OF CERIMONIES: A TRUE STORY OF SEX, DRUGS, ROLLER SKATES & CHIPPENDALES*
(Canongate/Grove Atlantic, 2008)
1985. Smack dab in the middle of the cash happy/coke crazy 80s, when it was raining men and girls just wanted to have fun, David Henry Sterry became the MC at Chippendales, when it was the hottest show in the city that never sleeps. Find out what it was like to be the ugliest man at Chippendale’s. He has appeared on NPR, the BBC, and his first memoir, Chicken, is being made into a TV series by Showtime.
“‘Master of Ceremonies’” is a dizzying, tender story resplendent with seedy glamour, hilarious backstage madness, and unflinching honesty… maximum entertainment value… There are two underlying love stories, one between Sterry and a coworker, and one between Sterry and his craft..”- Katherine Litwin, Library Journal.
*Anyone who buys this book will get a free 10 minute consultation on how to get a book published.
ARIELLE ECKSTUT
PUTTING YOUR PASSION INTO PRINT
Arielle Eckstut, in addition to being a sock mogul, is one of America’s greatest book supergurus, and author of seven books, including Putting Your Passion Into Print (Workman, 2005), the definitive book about how to get happily published, that removes the smoke and mirrors from the book biz. It is a step-by-step, blow-by-blow description of how to take an idea you’re passionate about, make a book out of it, get it published and deliver it into the hands, heads and hearts of readers all over the world. As an agent, Arielle Eckstut has helped dozens and dozens of writers become professional authors. She has appeared everywhere from Fox Business News to NPR. Plus, she’s married to David Henry Sterry.
JEFF BERMAN
DYING TO TEACH: A MEMOIR OF LOVE, LOSS, AND LEARNING
Jeff Berman is a Distinguished Teaching Professor of English at the University of Albany and author of 10 books.