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FROM: Nev Alson by email

Question: I am editing by late Fathers memoirs and hoping to get them published. Should I change the names of people mentioned or keep them (or just some)? Some accounts of people are less than favourable and I would not like to upset any of their family. Your advice please?

Answer: Many thanks for your question through the WritersReign website.

It’s great to hear that you are hoping to publish your father’s memoirs. I wish you every success and hope it works out well for you.

To answer your question: This is a really thorny one because there are so many if’s and but’s, but here are my basic suggestions.

The simple answer is to use alternative names for everyone, alive or dead, other than of course, your father himself. The reason for this is that you will want to avoid repercussions in the form of libel actions should anyone mentioned take exception to what is written. And even if an event is told in such a way as to enable a person to identify themselves you could still be in trouble!

I don’t know if your father was a celebrity of ‘famous’ in any way, but the more famous a person is, the more the people mentioned are likely to complain if they feel they have been misrepresented or maligned, because the book will sell more copies.

All of this may seem a bit grim, but I need to make you aware of it. Folk can, and do, take exception when some account which includes them is not described in a way they remember it happening or puts them in a perceived bad light. This can happen in the most innocuous fashion and people still get upset. Also, remember, everyone has their own take on an event which differs from person to person, and even though your father will have written about events and people as he remembered them, they may remember them differently.

Before you wring your hands in despair, there are things you can do to cover yourself and mitigate any disasters..

You would be advised to contact every person mentioned, if that’s possible, explain what you are doing and say that you would like to mention them in the biography. Send the actual wording you will use. Also send a pre-written letter which you will ask them to sign and return, in which they give you permission to use the quotation you sent.  Include a stamped self addressed envelope. It’s not sufficient to pick up the phone and get their verbal agreement. You can, of course, phone them first and, if they are agreeable to the idea, then say you will send them a letter to sign and return. If they object to that, or don’t send the signed letter back, don’t use their real name.

Then we come to relatives. It may or may not be easier to talk to family members, but the basic rule above still applies.

Some of those mentioned will no doubt have passed on by now, but it would be just as well, and a matter of courtesy, to contact any of their relatives with the same query and seek permission from them as well.

Nev, you are the one who knows what the contents of the book are and are best able to judge what effect the biography will have on those included in it.  But I strongly advise you to err on the side of caution on this particular element of your project.

You don’t say how you anticipate publishing the memoirs, but if you are going through an agent, or using a publisher direct, they will no doubt have the legal eagles on hand to deal with these matters. But if you intend to self-publish, then these precautions are essential.

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