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33 sats \ 4 replies \ @Malachi17 19 May \ on: I need to find an editor! BooksAndArticles
Yep. People like the subject matter of your book will try to sue the crap out of you if you write a book in this style. You could write a "fictional account" instead. If they sue you over a fictional account, who has the problem, exactly?
I had a conversation about this with someone - apparently (in the UK anyway), even if I was to write it as a fictional account, I could still get sued. The only way I could do it fictionally would be to write it under a pseudonym and EVEN then, if it got traced back to me, I could get sued.
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People can sue on any pretense, but if you say, hey, it's fiction, that's a strong defense. How do you argue with "I made it up?"
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I see your point - there are two points though, the second being most important to me...
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If the characters are in any way identifiable then they can sue and making it up isn't a defence and if I used that then I could be charged with slander.
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For longer than I remember I was called a liar so that the people I have written about could get away with what they did. Writing about my experiences and then saying that they were all made up - well that would go against everything that I am.
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You can always be charged with slander. There is no guarantee that just writing normally about anything won't do that. You put the disclaimer on of "any sort of stuff that is related to living people is totally not a thing and blah blah blah."
Point 2 is a problem. I guess you have to pick between whether your story is more important, or your label by society.
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