Can an author be held liable for something they write?

Anyone can be sued for anything nowadays.

No. People can’t sue you because of their own stupidity, but that doesn’t mean it won’t happen anyway. If it’s fiction then there’s no need to worry.

Tricky. Depends how it’s worded. If it’s fiction, then it’s the parents’ liability if they miscommunicate or the child simply misremembers what they were told. Jumping out through the roof because you read it in a James Bond novel might get you away from kidnappers, for example, but there’s a lot of variables in doing it successfully! If it’s non-fiction then I’d get an appropriate person to endorse it. If a publisher thought it would be worth publishing, they’d run it past their legal team anyway. ‘The inner workings of a car’ is a lot for a child to remember, and your advice may not work in every car. There are also plenty of parents that wouldn’t remember enough about a car to do the right thing in a panic situation, let alone teach a child what to do, so the chances of someone miscommunicating would be high. If you’re aiming to give advice that would be relevant nationally, then you’d really need it backed by a federal agency? On the other hand, once your advice was public, would potential kidnappers read it and make sure the child couldn’t do what you suggested? Complex one!

Unfortunately, precedent has proved otherwise - did you hear the one about the guy who crashed his Winnebago because he put it on cruise control and went to make a sandwich? He won.

Right.. a friend of mine is actually writing a self-help type book, and I was worried about what the book advised. It actually advises parents to teach a child how the steering wheel works, and advise the child that a seatbelt is their enemy if they are kidnapped.. different things of that nature. I’ve sent this question to a few lawyers, with the actual paragraphs in question, because he’s going to self-publish. I’d just wondered if I had a reason to worry.

my thoughts exactly, Colleen. Just like the guy who sued McDonalds for hot coffee, and the lawsuits people file because fast food restaurants made them fat.

How would you word it though? Could you put a disclaimer in the front of the book, that says something to the effect of “The contents of this book are informational purposes only, and the author is not responsible for damages that may/may not occur from heeding the advice contained.”

I’m more with Onemandog on this one, you won’t know until it’s tested in court. OK, so McD and others now put a ‘this drink may be hot’ disclaimer on all cups, because they have a duty of care even to those who might be expected to know that a hot drink might indeed be very hot. Apparently reasonable self-help info might also lead to a negative outcome even with a disclaimer. It’ll be interesting to see whether any of your legal contacts are prepared to define a ‘safe’ disclaimer - as your friend will be suing them in turn if they get it wrong! It all comes down to the ‘reasonable person’ argument, what can they reasonably be expected to do or not do as a result of the advice given. In any event, I doubt your friend will feel at all comfortable should just one serious injury or death occur as a result of his advice being followed, disclaimer or not. If he were to self-publish online, there’s no guarantee that the disclaimer would stay with the advice, or remain solely as an English language document - which is why I made the Federal authorisation point. If the advice is sound, and the risk/beneift balance reasonable, then everyone should know about it, not just those who might happen to acquire a copy. If others were to adapt your friend’s advice and publish their own versions, you could also end up with a situation where several (presumably untried) solutions were provided and parents wouldn’t know which to choose as the best. You’re right to be nervous!