David Mehegan, writer at the Boston Globe Asks How much responsibility do publishers have to ensure that the memoirs they publish are accurate? The continuing success of ”A Million Little Pieces” — it is No. 1 again on Sunday’s New York Times paperback nonfiction bestseller list — also raises the question of why people are so easily deceived when a story meets their longing for a tale of redemption.
Some publishers dispute Winfrey’s statement that when publishers consider a memoir they should carry out the same fact-checking process expected of newspapers and magazines.
Yes
I had to provide more proof to get my job as a librarian than Frey had to provide to get his ‘memoir’ published.
Yes, publishers have a responsibility to vet their authors works. They have staff and editors responsible for assuring the accuracy of non-fiction works they need to assure that memoirs are checked as well.
Criminal records, simply a criminal history from the FBI or state agencies in which he was arrested would be sufficient. Not that I suggest they spare no expense in digging into someone’s background, but checking the high points. Make sure your expert has his Ph.D. from the university he claims, make sure your physician is truly licensed and attended a medical school somewhere, and in the case instant, spend the and get the FBI background check.
A little work can save a lot of embarrasment.
Re:Yes
Whoops, clicked submit rather than preview.
The sentence about spend the …. should have “eighteen bucks” as the link rather than what is hyperlinked. Oh, well like I said a little checking know would save embarrasment later.
Appropriate punctuation would have been used had I previewed, but you get the raw version today.
No
Publishers publish fiction too.
Publishers also don’t generate revenue the same way that newspapers do, and thus don’t have the resources to dedicate to fact-checking novels/biographies.
And they shouldn’t have to.
If the author lies to the publisher, and lies to the public – saying, yes indeed this is a completely true story – then he should be sued; class-action or what-have-you. He should be in breech of contract (he contracted to tell a true story, not write a fictional novel), and his royalties should be garnished. Simple.
— Ender, Duke_of_URL