Publishing Other People’s Non-fiction Stories Can Get You Sued!ĭid Your Lawyer Say, “You Can’t Be Sued?” BEWARE! HAVE YOU EVER BEEN AFRAID OF THE LEGAL CONSEQUENCES OF WRITING ABOUT YOUR PAST? PLEASE SHARE YOUR ADVICE IN THE COMMENTS BOX BELOW.ġ2 Ways to Avoid Getting Sued When Writing Your Memoirsĭon’t Invite Lawsuits by Real People Featured in Your Book! (Hint: You Can Still Be Sued Even If You Don’t Name Them!)īoldly Assuming You “Can’t Be Sued” Will Likely Lead to a Lawsuit And, the emotional damage you would be forced endure by interacting with your abuser all these years later could be devastating for you and for your family. I know this is discouraging but even one such lawsuit could bankrupt you in legal fees – even if you win in the end. If you tell people, word will get around and, even if you used a pseudonym and called it fiction, he could still sue. Never tell anyone but your publisher that you are the actual author of the book. You can do all of this without changing the core message you want to convey to other victims (your readers).ģ. Change names, dates, locations, and descriptions of events.

Anonymize and fictionalize the entire story (state on the copyright page that it’s fiction based on actual events). Ways to lessen your chances of being discovered as the author are:ġ. True sociopaths can resort to violent crimes to protect their past secrets. You also need to be concerned about your safety. You can bet news of your book will get back to him in one way or another. Anyone who knows you personally likely knows who he is. Not naming him can’t protect you from that. The abuser could (and, if he’s a true sociopath, probably would) sue.

Could this have legal consequences? Would you advise a different strategy? I would not name him in any book I would write, but I would have to refer to him as my relative. I would tell my personal story to illustrate this subject.

I am thinking of writing a book about my recovery to help others who have also been abused. I was abused by two family members for several years.

Short stories to write about abuse