Hello, I need advice on writing my experiences of living in a small town for three years where I was sexually assaulted twice (by two different people), was kidnapped by a crazy ex, wasn't believed by small town crooked cops nor by my church since I had a history of being promiscuous, got into drugs and how I found my way to sobriety, spirituality, and true inner healing. I need advice on how to write this book without getting sued.
You can't control other people, so even if you write a really positive account and only say nice things, there's no guarantee you won't get sued.
If you want advice on how to protect yourself legally, you need to pay a good solicitor for their time. We can't help you.
I'll change names but can I use the name of this small town?
Changing names won't protect you. Using a pseudonym won't protect you.
I also worry that no publisher will believe that I was assaulted twice and kidnapped by my ex. I think this comes from the cops not believing me. How can I handle these fears? Do you think publishers would believe my story?
Publishers will believe you if you write the book well enough. If your writing isn't good enough, they won't believe you--and they won't publish your book. All you can do is write as honest an account as you can, write it as well as you can, and hope for the best.
I can see the conflict between your account and the police not believing you could make a very interesting book, if it's written very well. But you are at risk of libelling the police officers who didn't see truth in your story, so you must take legal advice before trying to get this published. A publisher will take legal steps to protect themselves: but they won't protect you, so you have do make sure you know what the realities are before going ahead.
I'm writing this to help other victims and addicts find healing and sobriety like I did.
Any help is much appreiacted.
Thank you.
This is a big problem.
Publishers don't publish books to help other victims: they publish books to make money. If you suggest that other victims are the market for this book, you're telling them that the market is limited.