A Meaningful Memoir Refuses to Be Sensationalized

Why Danna Horwood rejected a tell-all version of her memoir, choosing to self-publish to protect her story’s integrity

This piece by Rebecca Shapiro was originally published on Times of Israel, and a portion of it is republished here with permission.

Danna Horwood’s memoir was not written for the public. It was a collection of letters full of engaging stories spanning nearly one hundred years of family history, from pre-Holocaust to the present day, combined with pop culture, and personal reflections on themes of courage, survival, identity, motherhood, grief, legacy and intergenerational healing that she wanted to bundle together and give to her children as a gift.

When Danna first showed the manuscript to her father, Tom Weisz, he was deeply moved and encouraged her to share it more widely. He believed it could help others better understand themselves and their relationship with their past.

But when Danna started working on a book deal, the editor attempted to push her toward a more marketable version, a “tell-all” angle designed to capture attention, something didn’t sit right. Actually, everything about that version felt wrong. I couldn’t even read past the first few paragraphs when she showed it to me. It was not Danna.

This wasn’t the book her now late father had read. This wasn’t the version he believed in and encouraged her to publish.

This editor’s suggestions didn’t feel honest. Even though on a technical level much of it was (sort of ) true, it didn’t feel authentic. He pushed unbridled authenticity as if it was her moral obligation. The book no longer felt helpful. It was not something she wanted to pass down to her children and definitely not her grandchildren.

It felt loud. Sensationalist. Hungry. Ok, maybe it demanded a lot of attention… but definitely NOT in a good way. In an attempt to be authentic, the editor actually took away Danna’s true voice.

Years ago I wrote a blog post about finding the balance between sharing and over sharing. It feels weird to quote myself, but when I was googling to find the quote I was looking for, my blog To Share or Not to Share came up. In it I explained that “You CAN be an authentic person and maintain your sense of privacy at the same time. It’s not mutually exclusive. Being honest and ‘sharing your story’ does NOT mean sharing your deepest darkest secrets with the world. Using social media like a personal diary and relying on likes, comments and shares to build your self esteem can have serious consequences.” If you are considering sharing your story, I would advise a quick review of my blog post.

So, after many long discussions about the pros and cons of traditional publishing vs. self-publishing (or in this case, turning Margaret’s Legacy into its own boutique publishing house), Danna made a decision.

To maintain control over her manuscript, she chose the self-publishing route. If, down the line, a traditional publisher would be willing to embrace her memoir in its purest form, without distorting it for attention, she may reconsider. Maybe.

But for now, Danna’s integrity comes first.

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