What you need to know about defamation issues in non-fiction books, particularly memoir

Hey TikTok, this is Tisha Morris, and today I'm talking about defamation. All right, so this mostly applies to non-fiction writers, but it also applies to fiction, and there's a certain component about defamation I want to talk to you today about. And that is, um, a lot of people think that you can just change the name and be okay and talk about people the way you want. However, um, technically under the law, it's about if someone is identifiable. And so what makes someone identifiable can— is more than just a name. So it, um, it can be an event that happened or anything that makes this person identifiable in the eyes of a reader. Okay, and this is for published work only. If it's just on your computer, you don't have to worry about it. So don't let it stop you from writing. Never let legal issues stop you from writing. It's when you get to the publishing process is when you start thinking about, um, am I, uh, is this a legal red flag? And if you are a self-publisher, you are definitely on the hook. And also my hybrids are