The commercial firms, Silver Burdett and Lerner, specialize in biographies for the junior and senior libraries. For example, the Achievers series from Lerner focuses on contemporary sports figures such as Florence Griffith Joyner and Joe Montana. The Lerner biography series features more traditional heroes like Dwight Eisenhower and Douglas MacArthur. The Artist and the Process which includes playwright Arthur Miller, poet Maya Angelou, painter Pablo Picasso and musician Duke Ellington. According to Nilsen and Donelson the success of an autobiography depends on the quality of the writing.
Personal experiences written in the first person have greater believability.
Biographies tend to be appealing because they present a uniqueness and authenticity of one person's life, but at the same time emotions and problems are shared that are universal. The reader is able hopefully to share emotions and problems that are universal. Nilsen and Donelson point out the importance of setting realistic goals considering the reading level of the audience. They seek real-life stories about heroes and heroines who resemble characters in their fiction. Theme -proves that history is interesting.