Articles on defamation and libel for authors: the legal risk of writing false damaging statements about real people.
DefamationWhen a book uses real names, everyone who helped publish it can be sued, from the author to the ghostwriter to the publisher. Here is how the dead, the living and celebrity estates differ, and how to settle the risk…
Character DevelopmentWriters have always turned people who hurt them into villains. Why a fiction disclaimer won't protect you, what makes a character too recognizable, and how to borrow a real villain safely.
DefamationA ghostwriter can turn your life story into a novel, starting with the same interviews as a memoir and then changing names, places and timelines to build a plot. How to choose between memoir and novel, and what fiction does…
DefamationYour story is yours, but the people in it have rights of their own. A memoir ghostwriter explains release forms, photo and letter permissions, libel insurance and what a legal read catches.
DefamationSome books I turn down in the first conversation. The revenge memoir has a sound: I am a victim, I am a victim, I am a victim. It fails on the page and in court, and sometimes a better book…
DefamationA ghostwriter can help you write about your divorce honestly without turning the book into a weapon. Here's what to check first, how to protect your children, and how to center the book on your own rebuilding.
Contracts and AgreementsA ghostwriter can refuse to write something in your book, and a fair contract says so. Here's why refusals happen, what your options are, and how to get past a disputed chapter.
Contracts and AgreementsA ghostwriter can help you write about your ex, your old boss or your former company, but the agreements you've signed and defamation law set the limits. Here's how to tell the truth without walking into a lawsuit.
DefamationWanting to get even with a book is human, and the anger is often justified. Revenge memoirs still backfire. Here's how to turn a betrayal into a book readers trust.
DefamationA book can help you take your story back after a scandal or an online pile-on, if it's written at the right time and in the right spirit. Here's how.
Contracts and AgreementsMemoir, business book, or exposé, if your manuscript touches your time at a former employer, you have to reckon with NDAs, non-disparagement clauses, trade secrets, and defamation. Here is what your old NDA actually restricts, what non-disparagement really prevents, what…
DefamationWriting about family is the most legally and personally fraught part of a memoir, and the worry stalls more projects than anything else. The legal exposure is real but narrower than most authors fear, and the relational side has techniques…
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