Ask Jerry
Alcoholics Anonymous requirement for Pseudonym
Asked by Thomas Keefe on July 9, 2020
Any recovering alcoholic must use a pseudonym to be granted permission to quote from Alcoholics Anonymous published material.
Do you know recovering authors who navigated this requirement? I prefer to write under my real name. Maybe I could cover the topic with my characters another way?
Jerry's Answer
I guess that would depend, Thomas, on what AA means by quoting from their material. Maybe all you have to do is paraphrase rather than directly quote? AA's maxims are so well-known that most people are acquainted with them already.