Square pegs to round holes issue here.

Question to literary agents, or traditionally published memoirists who have successfully navigated this issue please.

I am about to go over the top to start querying and don’t want to splat head first in the agency trenches if avoidable. I am sure this is a dilemma that frequently occurs so I am hoping there is an answer.

I write narrative non fiction, that is stories with fully developed characters following a narrative arc. They look and read like a novels except that the characters are revealed rather than created and the narrative arc is shaped by experience rather than imagination.

(On a separate point this also makes comparisons difficult, all of my comps are novels. So what do I say- stick it on the memoir shelf but at the edge where it butts up to fiction, where readers of the ‘fiction’ are wondering whether it is autobiographical? Anyway)

I understand anecdotally that agents will bin any query where the author does not follow instructions to the T, as they have failed their comprehension/biddabilty tests.

So, my dilemma is this- the non fiction guidelines are sensible for non narrative books ie qualifications and following of experts, proposal and chapter breakdown but the instructions are clear that they also apply to memoir. But a story telling memoir is a completely different beast to a cook book, self-help or academic work.

There are really good agents out there who I would love to query with, but I stumble at this first obstacle- how to present it to them.

For me the obvious thing is to present a synopsis and the first 10,000 words ie to present as if writing fiction and disregard the non-fiction/memoir instructions.

It feels to me complete nonsense to write a proposal and chapter breakdown. I cannot bring myself to do it, it’s time consuming, and I don’t have confidence that a failure to comply won’t lead to an automatic, unopened rejection. So I end up swerving agents that look like a really good fit.

So, what is the answer?

To breach instructions and present as if it were a novel whilst stating its memoir?

Or to follow the instructions even though to me they seem nonsensical, a waste of time and condemned to fail?