Introduction and a question

Hello! I'm Patty and I'm a new member. I stumbled on AbsoluteWrite.com a couple of hours ago and I'm SO glad I did! This is a great place, although I feel a bit overwhelmed :snoopy

I have a question for the experts. I'm writing my first nonfiction book but I'm concerned about something. For every chapter, I begin with a short quote. It includes the author plus the book he/she wrote that contained that quote. My question is... do I need to ask for permission from the publishers/authors before I attempt to get my book published (e.g., query a publisher or agent)? I have about 60 chapters, so there are 60 quotes from 60 books. Each quote is relevant to the chapter where I'm using it. Also, each quote is less than 50 words.

Any help would be much appreciated! Thank you very much and I hope to learn from the fine writers in this forum.


Patty :jump

Welcome Patty.

And yep, to be on the up-and-up I think you need to prepare to write 60 letters to ask for permission. Chances are good you'll get it as long as you emphasize you're crediting the author and book.

Patty,



How long is your book, and what is the subject? 60 chapters is a lot of chapters for most NF books.

Welcome Patty !

And good luck with the book :clover

Welcome to the Cooler, Patty.