Magdalena Ball

This guest post was written by author Magdalena Ball, whose most recent novel, Black Cow, will be released by Bewrite Books later this year. She lives in New South Whales, Australia. Visit http://www.magdalenaball.com for more information on her work .

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We all know that fiction is a harder sell than nonfiction.

A perfectly valid selling tactic for fiction writers is to pick out the nonfiction elements in their work—to talk about the subject matter (eg my upcoming novel Black Cow is about a family that downshifts from a high flying life to a simpler more self-sufficient existence—there’s a big movement around that and these people might be a good target audience), or to appeal to readers who might mirror their characters in some way.

However, a more controversial “tactic” is to actually pretend that the events in the work are real.

That might involve calling your novel a “memoir” even if it’s not—such as James Frey’s notorious A Million Little Pieces, or Greg Mortenson’s Three Cups of Tea. If you’re a fiction writer, should you consider faking a memoir? Even if you’re caught, is the scandal itself a promotional tactic? After all, Frey would never have been featured so prominently on “Oprah” with a mere novel.

Here are three reasons why you might consider faking your memoir, and three reasons why you shouldn’t.

Why fake a memoir?

1. Readers prefer “facts” to truth.

I’m not entirely sure why this is the case, nor, being primarily a fiction reader myself, do I subscribe to it. However, as a fiction writer, I’m well aware of the public’s insatiable hunger for “what really happened” and the flow-on effect this has with publishers, who are generally more willing to take on memoirs than fiction. ”Reality” sells. We want to listen in and peep through the keyhole.

2. There’s bound to be an element of fact and fiction in whatever you write.

Memory is complex, unreliable and subjective. We don’t all perceive reality in the same way. Any type of writing involves the creation of episodes and storylines—a creative, and primarily fictive process. All fiction is ultimately born out of perceptions and observations. There’s no memoir that is 100 percent factual, just as there is no fiction that is 100 percent made up. The very notion of a re-telling involves exaggeration and construct.

With such a fuzzy distinction between nonfiction and fiction, why shouldn’t genre be determined by the author and publisher as a marketing exercise?

3. Media coverage

That’s buzz, the thing that everyone needs. Buzz doesn’t only equal sales, although there is that.

It also equates to appearances on guest shows, potential film interest, and social media ratings. If you base your story on “true events,” there’s a built-in sensationalism that provides a greater chance of buzz.