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How To Get Permission To Quote Someone In Your Book
Note: the following information was collected by posting many questions on forums for small publishers; in many cases it represents opinions and should not be taken as competent legal advice.
As a compiler of a book of quotations, I sometimes get questions like, "How do I get permission to quote someone in a book?" or "What do the copyright laws say about quoting someone?"
Here are a few things I learned while researching the subject for myself.
To start, if you want to quote someone, you need to get permission from the author or publisher. Consider it to be a necessary step in writing your book.
How do you go about doing it? I sometimes had success with sending the author/publisher a faxed agreement and having them fax back a signed copy. Other times they preferred to just send a quick email saying it's ok, as long as I agreed to provide a "by-line" in the back of the book.
Let me say this: it is hard getting "permissions". If you only have 1 or 2 to go after, it isn't too tough. But in my case, with a book of quotes, wow...it was difficult.
Copyright law in this area is called "Fair Use". Fair Use says that you can copy someone without permission if it's for educational purposes or if they've been dead for over 50 years. Keep in mind that these two points aren't exactly 100% fool-proof. You can still get in trouble.
In my case, at a late stage in the publishing process, I decided to re-compile my whole book using quotes from people all dead over 50 years. This was a bummer, since I had my heart set on a few really good quotations. Why did I re-compile the whole book? Because it just became way too hard to track down so many "live" authors.
Some people gave me permission to quote them, but other people flat-out said "NO!"
Before you can ask for permission to quote someone, first you need to find out who they are! How do you find out when they lived? When did they pass away? Google is great for this...especially if you type their names in quotes: ex. "John Doe".
If you have a lot of people to track down, there are services that can do it...but I never found anyone who offered such a service. I called a few BIG publishers who said they have small departments that do this job. It's tricky, so they themselves like to stick to long-dead people to quote.
Apparently, a lot of people do quote other people without permission. Will the copyright owners find out? Will they care? Will they be honored to be included in your work? Will they look at it as promotion or damage?
What if you can't locate the owner and you really "need" to use that quote? When/if the copyright owners find out, will they take legal action against you for a small quote? And, what if you provide a generous "by-line" in the "Resources" section at the back of your book? Under Fair Use laws, they have to prove that your quote caused them financial damage. If it appears to have actually helped them, by referring people to their book/company/service/website, is that damaging? You decide.
Also, it appears that the courts will take into consideration how big your quote is in relation to the work as a whole. If it's a small quote in a big book, some people say you're "safer".
If you can't get permission, maybe you can find another similar quote, or perhaps you could reproduce/re-write the idea into your own words...without blatantly plagiarizing. Your last line of defense would be writers/publishers insurance...which can or can't be expensive. Shop around. Spannet.org has some specials if you join their association.
As one last thing to think about: please don't take my words as "Gospel" or competent legal advice. Check out publaw.com and ivanhoffman.com for some very good information on copyright law.
BONUS : How To Get Published: Eight Surefire Steps For Writing Success
How to get published? Thats the big money question for writers. Writing is fulfilling in and of itself, but every writer ultimately wants to learn how to get published.
A lot of writers think getting published is a matter of luck. Or its a matter of knowing the right person. Or its a matter of simply being born a brilliant writer.
Although all of the above will help you get published, you dont have to have any of these things. You can LEARN how to get published.
When you follow The Eight Steps Success Plan For Writers, youll no longer wonder how to get published. Youll BE published.
Heres The Eight Steps Success Plan For Writers:
1. Create a successful writers mindset.
To have a successful writers mindset, you must know where you want to go with your writing. A goal of getting published isnt enough. You must have a laser-focused intention. Use visualization to keep that intention at the forefront of your mind.
You must also take an inventory of your beliefs about writing. Any negative beliefs about writing will get in the way of your publishing success. Turn any negative beliefs to their opposite and make them positive beliefs that will serve you.
Once you have your intention, which you nurture with visualization, and your positive beliefs, youve established a success mindset that will help you get published.
2. Develop the habit of journaling regularly.
Journal writing isnt just for memoir writers. Every serious writer MUST keep a journal. It is a tool that will improve your ability to notice the events in your world. Good writers are good observers.
It is also a tool that helps you mine your emotions and thoughts. Writing is revealing. If you dont understand yourself, your writing will seem flat and uninteresting. Get to know yourself, and you create a goldmine of emotion and thought that will make your writing rich.
Creating rich prose is a key to how to get published.
3. Practice writing daily.
The other way to improve your writing daily is by doing a daily practice. Writing is like playing a musical instrument. You must practice in order to improve.
The easiest writing practice to do is timed writings. Choose a length of time (at least 5 minutes; more is better). Set a timer and just write.
The only rule to timed writings is dont stop for any reason. If you cant think of anything to say, write, I cant think of anything to say. But KEEP WRITING! The flow of words limbers up your creative pathways.
4. Understand your strengths and weaknesses and write to your strengths.
Every writer has specific strengths and weaknesses. For example, my style is spare and direct. I wouldnt do well as a literary fiction author. I am better suited for genre fiction and direct nonfiction.
Discover what you do well as a writer and be okay with what you dont do well. When you know yourself as a writer, you can choose the projects with which you can have the greatest success.
5. Write with feeling.
Writing is all about emotion. If your writing lacks emotion, it will be flat and uninteresting. You must know your own feelings about what youre writing, and you must also know what feeling you want to evoke in your reader. Keep these emotions in mind as you write.
6. Fill your writing with just the right details.
Detail is essential to great writing, but too much detail can bury good writing under a layer of distraction that turns the writing dull. When you learn to create the perfect balance of detailsjust enough, but not too much, you become a writer who can easily get published.
You can choose the perfect details by knowing what it is you want your reader to focus on. For example, in a scene with a man and a woman in a bar, you could focus on the details of the brawl going on behind them or you could focus on the details of their fingertips touching. If its an action story, youd choose the brawl. A romance story would be better focused on the fingertips.
Some writers try and describe everything in a scene in great detail. This just bogs down the writing. Choose details carefully and then describe them well.
7. Make your writing hypnotic.
Hypnotic writing is a term created by author, Joe Vitale. Its a wonderful term that explains how a writer must be able to write in a way that grabs and holds a reader. You must have the ability to mesmerize your reader.
You create hypnotic writing with the use of short phrases, the use of rhythm, and pacing. You also create it with perfect word choice and a constant awareness that your writing must be for the reader.
Understand that the reader always has in mind as he or she reads, Whats in this for me? When you write with that awareness, you can make word choices that will make your writing hypnotic.
8. Always have a writing plan.
An absolutely essential element of writing success is motivation. You must be able to stay motivated to start and finish your writing projects.
Many writers fail for lack of motivation. Procrastination and writers block are two common writing career killers.
You can avoid both procrastination and writers block by always having your projects planned out. Create a short term and a long term plan. List the projects you want to do this week, this month, and this year. Once youve created the list, get out your calendar and make a schedule for how you can complete your projects.
Creative people have a tendency to resist structure, but the irony is that structure can actually enhance creativity. So be willing to structure your writing time.
Thats it--The Eight Steps Success Plan For Writers.
These steps are not a quick-fix publishing solution. They wont turn you into J.K. Rowling overnight. But The Eight Steps Success Plan For Writers will, if you work the steps diligently, turn you into a quality writer. It is also the foundation of how to get published.
How to get published? Thats the big money question for writers. Writing is fulfilling in and of itself, but every writer ultimately wants to learn how to get published.
A lot of writers think getting published is a matter of luck. Or its a matter of knowing the right person. Or its a matter of simply being born a brilliant writer.
Although all of the above will help you get published, you dont have to have any of these things. You can LEARN how to get published.
When you follow The Eight Steps Success Plan For Writers, youll no longer wonder how to get published. Youll BE published.
Heres The Eight Steps Success Plan For Writers:
1. Create a successful writers mindset.
To have a successful writers mindset, you must know where you want to go with your writing. A goal of getting published isnt enough. You must have a laser-focused intention. Use visualization to keep that intention at the forefront of your mind.
You must also take an inventory of your beliefs about writing. Any negative beliefs about writing will get in the way of your publishing success. Turn any negative beliefs to their opposite and make them positive beliefs that will serve you.
Once you have your intention, which you nurture with visualization, and your positive beliefs, youve established a success mindset that will help you get published.
2. Develop the habit of journaling regularly.
Journal writing isnt just for memoir writers. Every serious writer MUST keep a journal. It is a tool that will improve your ability to notice the events in your world. Good writers are good observers.
It is also a tool that helps you mine your emotions and thoughts. Writing is revealing. If you dont understand yourself, your writing will seem flat and uninteresting. Get to know yourself, and you create a goldmine of emotion and thought that will make your writing rich.
Creating rich prose is a key to how to get published.
3. Practice writing daily.
The other way to improve your writing daily is by doing a daily practice. Writing is like playing a musical instrument. You must practice in order to improve.
The easiest writing practice to do is timed writings. Choose a length of time (at least 5 minutes; more is better). Set a timer and just write.
The only rule to timed writings is dont stop for any reason. If you cant think of anything to say, write, I cant think of anything to say. But KEEP WRITING! The flow of words limbers up your creative pathways.
4. Understand your strengths and weaknesses and write to your strengths.
Every writer has specific strengths and weaknesses. For example, my style is spare and direct. I wouldnt do well as a literary fiction author. I am better suited for genre fiction and direct nonfiction.
Discover what you do well as a writer and be okay with what you dont do well. When you know yourself as a writer, you can choose the projects with which you can have the greatest success.
5. Write with feeling.
Writing is all about emotion. If your writing lacks emotion, it will be flat and uninteresting. You must know your own feelings about what youre writing, and you must also know what feeling you want to evoke in your reader. Keep these emotions in mind as you write.
6. Fill your writing with just the right details.
Detail is essential to great writing, but too much detail can bury good writing under a layer of distraction that turns the writing dull. When you learn to create the perfect balance of detailsjust enough, but not too much, you become a writer who can easily get published.
You can choose the perfect details by knowing what it is you want your reader to focus on. For example, in a scene with a man and a woman in a bar, you could focus on the details of the brawl going on behind them or you could focus on the details of their fingertips touching. If its an action story, youd choose the brawl. A romance story would be better focused on the fingertips.
Some writers try and describe everything in a scene in great detail. This just bogs down the writing. Choose details carefully and then describe them well.
7. Make your writing hypnotic.
Hypnotic writing is a term created by author, Joe Vitale. Its a wonderful term that explains how a writer must be able to write in a way that grabs and holds a reader. You must have the ability to mesmerize your reader.
You create hypnotic writing with the use of short phrases, the use of rhythm, and pacing. You also create it with perfect word choice and a constant awareness that your writing must be for the reader.
Understand that the reader always has in mind as he or she reads, Whats in this for me? When you write with that awareness, you can make word choices that will make your writing hypnotic.
8. Always have a writing plan.
An absolutely essential element of writing success is motivation. You must be able to stay motivated to start and finish your writing projects.
Many writers fail for lack of motivation. Procrastination and writers block are two common writing career killers.
You can avoid both procrastination and writers block by always having your projects planned out. Create a short term and a long term plan. List the projects you want to do this week, this month, and this year. Once youve created the list, get out your calendar and make a schedule for how you can complete your projects.
Creative people have a tendency to resist structure, but the irony is that structure can actually enhance creativity. So be willing to structure your writing time.
Thats it--The Eight Steps Success Plan For Writers.
These steps are not a quick-fix publishing solution. They wont turn you into J.K. Rowling overnight. But The Eight Steps Success Plan For Writers will, if you work the steps diligently, turn you into a quality writer. It is also the foundation of how to get published.
