Do you know the difference between a memoir and an autobiography? Do you know which sells? Chip MacGregor weighs in on the issue in his latest blog post entitled Let’s Talk Memoir:

There’s a difference between “memoir” and “autobiography.” An autobiography is a straight retelling of one’s life — what happened, what were the events/decisions, what did those result in. A memoir is a more personal narrative of the significant change points in one’s life. It doesn’t have to be linear, whereas an autobiography is almost always linear. And the focus can be more on the effects in your personal life — what you were feeling, what you learned, how you changed. The emphasis is almost always on a catharsis of some kind. So while the goal of autobiography is to get the facts straight, the goal of memoir is something more akin to “reveal myself and my story, in order to reveal principles that will help others live more effectively.” (This isn’t a dictionary definition; it’s a MacGregor Definition.)

Read the rest of the post for more tips on writing a great memoir.