Publishing essays adapted from your memoir manuscript is one of the best ways to get your story out there in shorter form, while increasing your chances of finding an agent and publisher. Here are some of the top reasons publishing essays from your memoir can be useful.

So you’ve drafted some pages. Maybe you have a complete draft of a memoir, or you finally cranked out that essay that’d been simmering in the back of your mind for the past year.

Now what?

If you’re anything like me, you’ve reread your words so many times they barely make sense anymore. Your prose might be gorgeous, or utter garbage, and as much as you thought you knew about “good” writing, you honestly can’t tell which. I hit this wall often. It’s a place where obsession takes over, making us want to tear up the pages or tear out our hair. It’s a place where our inner critics take the mic and won’t shut up.

Whenever I get there, I look at an index card I keep on my writing desk, which reads: “Fresh Eyes.” These words remind me that drafting is a solitary activity, but revision doesn’t have to be. They remind me I need a new set of eyes on my work.

Rejection is an unfortunate, but inevitable, part of the querying process for memoir manuscripts. Agents receive thousands of book queries a year, and they have to pass on the vast majority of them. In fact, many memoirists end up querying 50-100 agents before they get a “yes.” However, there are still concrete ways of improving your chances of catching an agent’s attention. The odds of getting interest from agents increases when you understand what they’re looking for, and what might make them pass on a project. Want to learn why agents might say “no” and how to maximize your chances of a “yes”? Read below to find out.

If you want your memoir to be published by a major publishing house, you’ll need to pitch agents with a query letter. Query letters are notoriously difficult to write. They require a bird’s eye view of your manuscript, where you articulate the arc and overarching story being told. What’s more, query letters are brief, which means you need to distill your manuscript to its essence. Agents are strapped for time, and this is your one chance to impress them. If an agent isn’t immediately pulled in by your query, you’ve likely missed your chance. Need tips for writing a successful query letter? Read below!

So you’ve finished your manuscript and want to take the next step toward publishing your memoir. Maybe you’re asking yourself: How do I know if I’m ready to look for an agent? While you might be eager to start querying agents right away, there are some benchmarks you should meet before moving forward.