Live The Questions – Q&A for Big Girls Don’t Cry: A Memoir of Taking Up Space

The Carol Shields Prize for Fiction (CSPF): Was it hard to get the right cover? What inspired the image of lemons?

Susan Swan: Covers are like posters for your book. If you don’t get it right, fewer people will buy it, so that’s why editors and writers sweat over what works and what doesn’t. One writer I know went through 25 different covers before they were satisfied. We wanted to come up with something new. I’ll leave it to you to figure out what the pink lemon means.

CSPF: How different is writing a memoir from writing a novel?

Susan: Not as different as you might think. Both forms dramatize and distill, so you need to write actual scenes instead of reciting a litany of events. The big difference is the detailed way lawyers will check over your manuscript to ensure you aren’t compromising someone’s privacy. Memoirs can be court cases waiting to happen.

Continue Reading