Delighted to welcome guest writer, singer/songwriter guitarist Michelle Monet to the blog today who explores the concept of fame and the inclusion of ‘big names’ in memoirs to catch the public’s eye.
I Was Told That My Memoir Could be a Huge Bestseller If — I do more celebrity name dropping. Huh?
“Fame means millions of people have the wrong idea of who you are” — ERICA JONG
“Fame is proof that the people are gullible” — ANONYMOUS
I recently sent the first few chapters of my Memoir in progress to a popular Memoir Author friend/mentor. She has 9 Memoirs published. I respect her and her writing. She is prolific as hell too, which I admire most. She just keeps flinging her books out there.
She responded:
“Honestly Michelle, this could be a huge best seller. Especially if you have any other big names to drop in there, you know how the celeb-worship scene is today! I loved it. Go girl!! xxxx You are the only really famous person I know these days . You stand the best chance of all the writers I know of making it big, really big…”
Hmmm. The part that made me ponder was ‘…especially if you have any other BIG NAMES to drop in there..’
I might not want to do that.
So, what she’s saying is that if I get BIG NAMES TO DROP into my Memoir it could help it become a bestseller?
That just doesn’t resonate with my heart.
I mean, I can be a name dropper I suppose — if I want to.
In Las Vegas and Atlantic City, back in the 90s I sung for audiences that included President Gerald Ford and Betty, Michael Jackson and even Donald and Ivana — back when he was married to his first foreign wife. Ohhh, and I had a bitch fight with Donny Osmond once at his theater in Branson, Missouri — and did a gig with Tiny Tim in New York once. Do these count? LOL
I asked another fellow Memoir writer friend about this.
She said:
‘I don’t think you have to add big names. Your story stands all on its own… Sprinkle them throughout if they add to your story.’
I mean I COULD add a few stories about these celebrities and famous people that I had encounters with, like this title:
My Bitch Fight With Donny Osmond (That’s an attention grabbing one eh?)
• Would that title intrigue you?
• Would that make you want to buy my Memoir if you found out I had a fight with Donny?
• Do you think that would make the book more worthwhile viable and/or sellable?
To be honest, my goal is just to write the Memoir with authenticity and purpose.
I started writing this Memoir 4 years ago and have put it aside a few times to ‘let it simmer’.
Many emotional derailments. The best feeling of all would be to get this book done. Like an Exorcism THIS BABY WANTS TO GET OUT OF ME ALREADY!!
I think getting it done would be far more fulfilling than for the book to become a bestseller. I mean, I wouldn’t say NO to having a Best Seller. I do think my story is a damn good one. Some say it’s riveting. I think it can also help inspire others, not only help me to heal by writing it.
I’ve had some fame and some fortune in my past, as I wrote about here. I discovered its not all its cracked up to be, although I wouldn’t mind the fortune part to be honest…
Photo by Tinh Khuong on Unsplash
I wrote about the Downside of Fame in another article – My Story The false promises of fame and fortune.
So, I’m asking YOU as readers of memoirs
Do you think if I drop some ‘famous names’ into my Memoir that it would somehow make it more valuable or successful?
More than that I’m asking myself: Do I really wanna go down the salacious path of the Kardashian culture insanity who drop names and write about their wild sexual positions, people they’ve slept and hobnobbed with, all to sell more books?
Nope. I’d prefer to just tell my truth.
I think my story has enough in it to keep readers interested and that’s all I want from my memoir.
Thanks for reading….
©Michelle Monet 2019
About Michelle Monet
Michelle Monet is a multi-faceted creative human being.
Her career began as a singer/songwriter guitarist act in lounges around the Denver area. She progressed to performing her original music in cabaret clubs and concert halls around the US. In 1989 she landed the role as a Barbra Streisand impersonator for the hit show Legends in Concert. She traveled throughout the US appearing in Las Vegas, Lake Tahoe, and Atlantic City, and around the world in countries from Russia to Japan to South Africa.
In 1996, while starring in a production in Sun City, South Africa she suddenly had a passion to switch callings. She began studying visual art. Since then she has sold her art in her gallery/studio and at art shows and festivals. She continues to make and sell her unique creations for happy customers and collectors.
Her upcoming Memoir will be about her life in show business including her surviving domestic violence, panic disorder and a dependency on prescribed medication.
These days you can find Michelle typing away on her next few books and chilling with her five cats and boyfriend Bob in the Smoky Mountains.
Books by Michelle Monet
One of the reviews for Catch a Poem by the Tale.
She tapped into my inner child and that’s not easy to do. Her poems are often simple but that’s just the point. Whimsical, childlike and at turns profound, there Is the sense of true poet playing a flirtatious peek-a-boo game with her first published audience, like the lament on menopause interrupted by the phrase “I just want pie.” That one made me laugh out loud. She’s a bit of a tease and at her best when she teases us to confront life arduous challenges, with a playful and unbounded sense of humor.
As the old saying goes, “God is a comedian playing to an audience too afraid to laugh.” Michelle Monet’s courage isn’t all that emerges in her poetry – she also seems to get the joke. She in on the act, part of the punchline, writing from the wings. Though personally not polished enough to earn a perfect score (I don’t think I have ever given a five), she’s a refreshing and fun voice, with some dark moments to share, but always prepared to rebound with enthusiasm. Highly recommend it for those who need a lift in mood…or want to spend time with a kindred spirit who has learned to ride life’s up and downs like a roller-coaster ride to what-the-heck and back!
Read the reviews and buy the books: https://www.amazon.com/Michelle-Monet/e/B01J5X26QS
and on Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Michelle-Monet/e/B01J5X26QS/
Read more reviews and follow Michelle on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7209847.Michelle_Monet
Connect to Michelle
Website: www.michellemonet.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MMonet
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michelle.monet.77
Thanks for dropping in today and I know that Michelle is looking forward to your feedback on the subject of ‘name dropping’ in memoirs…thanks Sally.
Michelle, you go, girl; you don’t need anyone to shore up your memoir. Your own life, challenges and talents, are quite relevant enough.
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thanks thearamsay! YES. I think my own challenges and survival story is quite relevant enough too!
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Oh yes, I also have a cat. Not five; I couldn’t do five. Not because I wouldn’t want to but because of physical limitations. Still, from one cat lover to another, please pet your five fur kids for me.
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thanks I have 4 cats now. One’s gone…but thanks for commenting fellow cat lover!
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I’d only drop the name of a celebrity if it had some importance to the story.
I’m a little afraid of writing a memoir. Not only about getting sued, but about hurting feelings. Fiction is a lot more liberating. You can use real people but change them up a bit so they won’t recognize themselves.
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haha Sharon. I hear you! I’d almost like to write fiction more than this memoir. I love the quote “Memoir is not for sissies’. It applies! Id hate for Donny Osmond to somehow find me and sue me. NOO! haha
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I agree with Michelle. Big names don’t matter much to me. I know that is not the case with many people, but I would want my book to stand on its own merits, not on the coattails of someone else
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I agree bmauthor. I do have a few funny memorable celebrity moments that might add intriguing scenes that will move the Memoir forward. So, I might sprinkle one or two in. Thanks for commenting.
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I agree with Barbara Anne..Michelle, if you have some gems to share then why not…xx
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Very true Barbara Ann.. but if you lived a moment even with someone famous it is still your life…xx
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Have you ever looked in book stores at the shelves of autobiographies/memoirs? They’re usually about celebrities, lol!
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And such a shame in many respects as people without celebrity status have something to share too.. such as in Understanding Anthology… xxx
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Absolutely, but it seems readers want to know more about celebrities. They can always get an agent with no difficulty!
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Hi Stevie. YES. I agreeee, but so many memoirs are published ONLY because of the name dropping. My story stands on it’s own, trust me. Even if I were not ‘on a stage’ I think I have a great survival story to tell. 🙂
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I’m not impressed by celebrities just because they’re celebrities. In fact, I might avoid a book that mentions a brawl with Donny Osmond! Ha ha. When I read a memoir, Michelle, I want to know about the person and his or her life’s journey, the profound and universal truths that speak to our human struggle. I want to find the gems of commonality so that I care about the person. Celebrities? Meh. Great post, ladies.
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Thanks Diana…I did read The Moon is A balloon and Bring on the Empty Horses by David Niven but he was a true star.. some of the ‘celebrities’ today as Michelle mentioned with Mel B.. want to share the most salacious things they can.. xxx
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Paul Newman changed my flat tire at the side of the highway ages ago. Now that kindness was always worth sharing … my claim to fame!
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Wow.. that is something to tell your grandchildren… lovely man… xxx
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The grandchildren will have no idea who he is. I was impressed and a little starry-eyed too.
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D. Wallace. I hear ya. Most of my Memoir is about my own struggles and life lessons. How I dealt with chronic panic and anxiety while singing on stages around the world and surviving a man who stole all my money, and left me alone in South Africa is a good enough story, I think, without having to drop my celebrity encounters in there! 🙂 Thanks for commenting.
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I like to read autobiographies and biographies and I like to read about the persons life. If there are celebrities that fit that is fine but I don’t think they have to be forced into the book. Of course, what that woman said to you is true, there are lots of people who are obsessed with celebrities. Whether those people read books and not just magazines though, I couldn’t,
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Thanks Robbie..hugsx
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HI Roberta! Great point there about whether those people read books or just flip through magazines! My mom used to sit home and read the ‘rags’ obsessively. ,(The Enquirer and The Star.) haa. I appreciate your comments!
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No celebs needed, unless they’re an important part of your story, Michellle… It’s your story that counts!
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Thanks Bette..hugsx
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Hi Michelle, long time no see, glad to see you here at Sally’s blog. Glad you’re coming along with your memoir. And in answer to your question – if your story is about you, I don’t see where the famous names come in if only as a mention. The book is about you, not Donny or Michael Jackson. 🙂 ❤
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♥
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hahah . Hi Deb! Great seein you. I agreee with you about those celebs BUT there IS one story about Donny Osmond that moves my narrative forward. It was an emotionally charged time in my life when I had a severe panic attack at his theater and he fired me. I think it might add some drama but also some ‘entertainment ‘value. .IF he were to see it and sue me then ..hahah..I don’t know how that would turn out!! 🙂
((DEB)) thanks for writing.
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Now that’s a story about Donny. That may fit well, but be careful about bring famous people into your book with accusation . 🙂
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Michelle, I agree with most of the other sentiments—if someone has an interesting story to tell, then this should be all that’s important. At the same time, your memoir writer friend is telling you a hard and perhaps sad truth as we all have seen the power of celebrity. If a Kardashian writes a book, many people will buy it whether it is good or not. That, in itself, is a little discouraging for those of us who would like it to be about the quality of the writing.
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Thanks Pete… hugsx
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Pete. I hear THIS: If a Kardashian writes a book, many people will buy it whether it is good or not. That, in itself, is a little discouraging for those of us who would like it to be about the quality of the writing.
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Oh, Michelle !! I am convinced your story will sell all by itself, I’m still amazed that anyone buys my bio about unfamous and unimportant me – I didn’t have the courage to include any of the famous people I worked with. They have big bank accounts when it comes to lawyers. You have had a fantastic life and from what I’ve read you are writing it beautifully. You did quote me correctly, but you should do what your heart tells you. Personally, I hate the celeb culture. We should give our admiration to the scientists and philanthropists etc. And BTW only 3 memoirs not 9!! All the rest are fiction. Go girl!!! 🙂 🙂
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Ahhh thanks lucinda!! Haah.Little ole you..arendoing quite good.
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