How can I publish a true adventure novel if the people described in it are easily recognizable and may sue me?

Question

30 years ago, I was in a sort of Robin Williams "Good Morning Vietnam" situation, only mine was in 1974 Korea. The station, all the people, the $2 women, the pot parties and generally FANTASTIC adult Disneyland nature of Ietaewon in Seoul (look it up) are all mentioned in this book I have been writing for three years. The story is unbelivable. I went back after discharge and lived in the red light district until Dec1980, purchasing a 'slave girl' who was lovely as Miss Oriental July. I married her and we returned when they had a revolution and we barely escaped with our lives. (She's my ex now, no kids, thank God.) But what do I do with this great story? Merely changing the names won't hide who these people are. The station and base still exist. The time line will have people recognizing themselves immediately. It could bust up marriages, destroy careers and worst of all, get me sued. It's too neat a story to just drop it. It reads like "The Orient Express". How could I publish this?

Answer 1

I am well aware of your dilemma. I have written an autobiography in which the real names (mostly) are used. Go ahead and write the book using the real names. After the first draft is complete go back through and change the names of any characters that would be hurt. As far as the names of locations, no problem. If anyone questions you as to whether any particular character was based on them , use your own discretion, but doing it this way gives you the benefit of a doubt. Using the real names(in the first draft makes it so much easier to keep the time line straight.

Answer 2

I'm not an expert, but I'll give my suggestion:

Publish and advertise your book as being an historical narrative based on events experienced by you. In the introduction to your book make it clear that the book is based on actual events and that the people in it actually existed and did the things described. Since you say that most everyone mentioned will know who they are anyway, I wouldn't worry about being sued so long as everything you say is true. If you're worried about hurting people's feelings, marriages, careers, etc., don't be. If what you said these people did is accurate, each individual is responsible for the inevitable consequences, regardless of how those consequences come about.

In short, go ahead and get your story published. Whether you use real names or not is really a matter of comfort for you, not for those depicted.

Answer 3

If you saw a soldier high on LSD try to eat a live grenade, you can change it to having a soldier kill himself when he was banging a couple of 30 mm HE round like drumsticks while high on pot.

You could also make parts that you saw, side stories. For instance a hero could stumble on such a party in another part of the world while chasing a bad guy.

Answer 4

The story could bust up marriages, destroy careers, etc, but you still want to write it because it’s too ‘too neat a story to just drop it’? Personally, I wouldn’t write it, because I would not want to destroy people’s lives like that. But that’s just me.

I have no advice about how to avoid being sued because there’s a very good chance you will be sued. I’d certainly sue anyone who wrote something about me that destroyed my life. I might not win, but I’d sure sue and cost them a whole lot of money in legal fees and a whole lot of bad publicity too.

Answer 5

you will have to decide whether you want to write a novel work of fiction or a memoir/some kind of autobiography. if you tell it like it happened, don't claim you invented it. and if you tell it like it happened and call it a memoir, you might still peeve the people whose lives are laid bare by your version of events, but they can't sue you for it. you could always change the names, dates, locations if you have any interest in protecting the privacy of the real people in your story. if you have good relationships with them you could discuss what you are doing and let them read what you've writeen once you're ready. you could also thank them at the front of your book.

Answer 6

Consult a book editor to get the wording correct. But...
All you need is to write a disclaimer to the effect that the "stories within these pages are true" but "the names have been changed."

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