Writing Wednesday: Memoirist Patricia Volonakis Davis on Finding a Direct Line to Your Readers

In my last Writing Wednesday post, I wrote about how memoirist Patricia Volonakis Davis discussed the role of marriage and moving in one’s sense of cultural identity in her deliciously titled memoir Harlot’s Sauce.  In Jane Friedman’s Writer’s Weekly interview, “How to Find a Direct Line to Your Readers,” with Davis, the memoirst divulges some great tips on building a platform and reaching out to potential readers.

When thinking about her readership and trying to build an audience, Davis says:

I contacted Italian-American groups, and philhellenic groups (groups of people who love Greece).

I contacted websites, magazines, blogs that focused on female empowerment and personal growth.

In short, I made a list of the topics I visited in my story, and worked from that, writing articles to appeal to those readers in particular, and posting them on sites that had already cultivated a readership catering to those interests.

This is such great advice!  When I was discussing my memoir with someone recently, the woman with whom I was speaking wondered why I was writing about growing up Greek American.  She happens to know me very well and suggested that I have much more to share with the world than my ethnicity.  She’s right, of course, and I tried to explain that my memoir is actually about so much more than just growing up Greek American.  If I were to make a list similar to Davis’, the topics I touch on and the readers I would reach out to include:

Greek Americans

Swedish Americans

Expatriates: Americans (and other foreigners) living in Greece

First- and second-generation Americans: besides Greek and Swedish, also Korean and Japanese

Protestants

Greek Orthodox believers

People from northern New Jersey

Children of the 1980s

Graduates of women’s colleges

It’s my sincere hope that my memoir speaks to a wide variety of people, uniting readers of various upbringings.

Tags: 1980s, cultural identity, expatriates, first generation, Greek American, Greek Orthodox, northern New Jersey, Patricia Volonakis Davis, Protestant, second generation, Swedish American, women's college, Writing Wednesday