Have You Ever Been Here?

hmm... if you know nothing about novels, I'd say hold off on calling it one.

There are lots of novels in first person, btw.

I've wondered this same thing myself. Having just finished an essay collection, I find myself concerned that I didn't change any names to "protect the innocent," as they say. I mean, most of the stuff is fairly benign--some occasional kidding on the square, but rarely do I give it to anyone worse than I give it to myself--but you never know what might set someone off. Is it considered common practice to change the names of characters in nonfiction works? I'm pretty sure some of the authors I admire don't, but then I also have no idea what kind of permission they obtained from their "characters" either.

Have you spoken to a lawyer and shown him/her what you have in terms of evidence of the truth? If you really want it to be a memoir, you might want to do that before turning it into a novel.

Truth is a complete defense to defamation/slander. But I understand what you are saying. In the "My Story" portion of my book (which is self-help after that), I only recounted the last episode of abuse by my ex-husband because we went to court and I testified and he did not offer rebuttal testimony. So the court record stands as the truth of the matter. But if I had other proof, I would have gone further. You might want to ask an attorney if what you have is good enough to prove "truth" of what you are saying.

I know that many people who tell their truth are sued and usually settle out of court even though they were telling the truth. For me, there was no way I was going to be in a position to have my ex sue me. He had taken enough.

On the other hand, Nora Ephron wrote Heartburn as fiction when everyone knows it was true.

OCEAN said:

I've had my cry... and now I feel numb…It’s like a loss...
Forty years of suffering and ten to get it on paper as the story continued to unfolded, with the ending just months ago. I thought I was protecting myself with a life time of letters and paperwork that shows my credibility in regards to my true story.
I even changed names, and places in the book to protect those that hurt me. Also changing my real name, but not because of the book, but because I couldn't stand having her name another moment.

Yet the whole time my life story I kept true, every word. I loved writing due to the fact I wasn't able to open up all my live. It was the hardest, yet most liberating I have felt in my life.....writing my memoir, and being heard, if only on paper.

God, next week was a go, and I could have made the biggest mistake of my life. I guess things happen for a reason.
A lifetime of madness and hardship that will never be heard...
Thanks

Click to expand...

Well, it depends on how you wrote it. Or if you try it again, how you write it. If you want to tell it as a novel, go immerse yourself in novels and see how you can adapt your material. Or keep it as a memoir but change names, change locations, change descriptions.

If this is the story you have to tell, it can be done. It's tricky though.

If you haven't tried to shop it around to publishers yet, give that a try before self-pub. You might get some good feedback.

I guess the other question is to publish or not to publish. Do you want to make a few dollars or is it a story that needs to be told and seen? Getting it seen as a self-pub is harder than publishing it with a traditional publisher (and even then it's still very hard.)

Once you publish it....it's out there for the world to see. Of course, unless you self-market it hard it may never get seen on Amazon. There are millions of books on Amazon. A book can go there and never see the light of day.

I remember when my book came out... it was kind of freaky that people were reading it and judging it. It was a work of fiction, but it all came from my head.... so it still felt "personal." I can't imagine what it would feel like having a memoir out there in the world.

You have a bit to consider. I wish you well. I'm sure whatever decision you make will be the right one for you.

John

I wouldn't count on it.

Basically if the person is recognizable to a third party they can sue, whether you change the names and places or not.

It's definitely risky if not done properly.

First off, please do not feel like all of your hard work was for nothing. You stated quite beautifully how much putting your own truth on paper effected you. Even if your book was published by one of the "big six" New York publishers and hit the bestseller list on the day it came out, that is nothing compared to the experience of writing your story, of telling your truth. You wrote about your life and that is something to be proud of. Honor your story by holding that manuscript in your hands and celebrating. You did it!

Whether you decide to publish your book for others to read is irrelevant. If that's what pushed you to finish it, then it played its part. But now the decision is yours.

From a practical standpoint, I would suggest hiring a good editor to go through your manuscript, and if you haven't already done so, take it to a critique group. After you've done those things, you might want to pitch it at a writer's conference in your area.

From a legal standpoint, it sounds like you have good documentation. I wouldn't worry about it too much. I was told it's quite rare for anyone to sue an author (unless it's a celebrity you're talking about in your book). A regular attorney is not appropriate for a book. You would need a book publishing attorney - the laws are very specific to the industry and your standard attorney wouldn't have a clue. Hopefully, they'd let you know that up front. It's a bit of a specialty, so I'm not surprised there isn't one in your town. There's not one in my town either. If you do as someone suggested and work on getting it published through a traditional publisher, the publisher will have their own attorneys who will work on it.

Best of everything. You have a lot to be proud of! ~Karen