Diary of a Mad Editor

If you’ve followed this blog over any length of time, you probably are aware that one of the things I am constantly carping about in the Digital Age of small press publishing is a lack of professionalism among many practitioners of the literary arts. A lot of writers and editors in the small press are self-taught. Mind you, there is nothing wrong with this if you are actually learning something of value. Unfortunately for some, “self-taught” translates into a sense of entitlement to one’s ignorance. In the Digital Age, either through ignorance or willful disregard, it’s easy to cut corners. Sometimes manuscripts are not properly vetted before the file is uploaded. When we consider how easy it is for any ignoramous to set himself up on the Internet posing as an expert despite dubious credentials and, how easy it is to publish a book using Lulu or some other POD services, it’s easy to imagine how small press writers and publishers can get into legal trouble over the things they publish.

One of those issues that we don’t hear much about — one that doesn’t necessarily apply to authors of fiction and poetry for the most part, but certainly applies to writers of non-fiction is the concept of “negligent publication.”

What is negligent publication, you ask?

When information and/or advice is published in a book or periodical (or on the Internet) that causes harm either to the reader or leads to harm caused by the reader based on use of that information, the publisher is potentially liable for “negligent publication”.

Probably one of the more infamous cases of this in which a publisher was sued and lost is the 1997 case Rice v. Paladin Press. For those of you who are not familiar with Paladin Press, they are an independant publisher that specializes in publishing controversial anti-establishment non-fiction titles on a variety of topics like how to evade paying taxes or how to survive in the wilderness, etc. Well, back in day, they published this little book called Hitman: A Technical Manual for Independent Contractors. The book explains, in some detail, how to become a contract killer, the methodologies for committing murder and getting away with the crime. In truth, most of the people who bought the book were either writers of crime fiction who bought it for research purposes or true crime afficionados. Unfortunately, one guy who bought it was a career criminal who was looking to commit murder. The guy was later found guilty and sentenced to death for triple homicide. When it was discovered that Hitman served as a bible of sorts for his crimes, the family of the victims sued Paladin. Paladin offered the 1st Amendment as a defense and lost. Rightly or wrongly, the Right of Free Speech was not deemed an adequate defense in this case despite the fact that in most cases of negligent publication, the law sides in favor of the defendant.

Why did Paladin lose?

The book presented the information matter-of-factly and the author did nothing too dissuade anyone from actually using the information.

In reality, the book isn’t even a work of non-fiction. The author, Rex Feral is a pen name for a wannabe mystery author who repackaged a crime novel as nonfiction to suit the needs of Paladin. Either Paladin knew this and didn’t care or didn’t vet the author or manuscript at all before they published it.

Using the 1st Amendment in this case was probably viewed as arrogance by the judiciary. After all, speech that can be seen as advocating or inciting illegal violent activity has never really been fully protected as free speech in this country.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve purchased titles from Paladin, myself (for research purposes only of course) and it’s probably true that lots of people have a hard-on for Paladin because of the controversial nature of their publications. But if there was ever a clearer example than Hitman of what not to do when publishing a book, I’m not aware of it.

So this is something to consider, my small press comrades, should you try this at home:

Ask yourself whether the information you are publishing is even accurate. Did you factcheck?

Ask yourself if the information provided can potentially cause harm. If you are publishing an article on how drinking Drano can cure cancer — guess what? Drink Drano and you will die regardless of cancer. So, is there irrefutable proof of your claims to the contrary? You know — case studies, research, boring stuff like that. Make sure you’ve added a clear “explain-it-to-me-like-I’m-a-4-year-old” disclaimer and never underestimate the stupidity or desperation of your readers.

Ask yourself if the author is who they say they are. Are they really an expert on the subject they are writing about? If the very notion of a “Drano” cure for cancer isn’t enough to tip you off, maybe the fact that the author isn’t a licensed medical professional in good standing but, instead, works at Walmart, might do the trick.

Being a small press publisher isn’t easy. Limited resources just makes the job harder. But that’s no excuse to cut corners or be irresponsible. You can’t control who your readers are. You can, however, protect yourself.