Aspiring non-fiction/biography writer - where to start please?

[JustLikeThat647]

Hi all,

Sorry in advance for the long post and if this isn’t the right forum to post on!

I’d like to write biographies and books on French cultural history, and would love some advice and guidance - if possible - on how and where to start with this please. As a major caveat, I know the publishing industry for aspiring writers - especially for non-fiction - is super-competitive and the odds of success are low!

For background, I have a French and Spanish degree from Cambridge. I’ve always wanted to be a writer, and did a lot of student journalism at university, but due to money concerns and stability, I decided not to go into journalism but instead to go into the Civil Service - where I’ve worked full-time for several times.

To help with my overall ambition of writing non-fiction one day, I’m hoping to apply for a MPhil in French next year, also at Cambridge, where I’m aiming to write a dissertation on the work of Jacques Brel (who I’d love to write a biography on at some point).

My main reason for wanting to do that particular MPhil at Cambridge is because I’ll have the opportunity - if I get into- to work with my former final year dissertation supervisor, who I found very helpful and supportive, and who’s very knowledgeable in the dissertation area I want to look at.

I’m currently preparing to apply for the MPhil and would love some advice both on how I can use to help me with my ambition of writing non-fiction and on how I can pursue this ambition if I don’t get into the MPhil.

For further info, I’ve got a chat arranged tomorrow with a non-fiction writer I really admire, after I emailed her speculatively with a similar message to this, so I’ll be sure to find out what she thinks about my query here, but I always think lots of feedback and advice is helpful in these situations, so would very much appreciate your thoughts and feedback too please.

Thanks so much.

One thing I would say is you have to build a name for yourself. To me, it sounds like you would be writing for academics or a small niche audience with a hobby interest in this area. Generally, I think they’d want to see you have degrees and other publications (non-book length), but also that you have a public following (social media, YouTube, little lectures at some obscure local museum). Basically, you want to answer the question, why you?

That said, if you want to publish an academic book, academic publishers, at least in my area (social sciences) are gagging for books. If you come with a book proposal and can demonstrate that your book fills a gap in the market, they will absolutely offer you the chance to publish it, assuming you can write it and you’ll take direction from editors. BUT realistically, there is no money in it. It’s a passion project. You do it because you love it and you have an actual job somewhere that pays the bills. I’ve not solo authored a book, only written chapters in edited volumes or in one case a textbook, but I’ve never been paid a penny for any of them. It’s for fame alone pretty much. 😂

It's not really my area (I'm a technical writer, used to write for pleasure/creatively but don't any more) but a few things to consider:

• read widely in biography, memoir, narrative non-fiction if you don't already. Notice how the writers structure things and the techniques they use.
• write shorter biographical pieces or profiles, even just for yourself, for practice - they could be of someone in your family or community or just someone you admire.
• Get a Medium or a Substack that you can publish stuff on. It's a great way to get work out there.

There's a creative writing board on here where you might get some more specific and useful advice.

didn't have time to read your post op but just wanted to say best of luck with your venture

Hi all, thank you so much for your advice - I really appreciate it! Just to update that I met today with the writer I mentioned in my OP and she was really helpful as well, so I think I have a framework to work from and get cracking with now. Thanks so much again to you all!