# Using Quotes in non-fiction



## J.L (Oct 3, 2010)

Hey guys,

I joined here long ago and haven't used this site much, but I think I will start to come here regularly now...

Anyway, I am a magazine editor and have been given a publishing deal from HarperCollins for a non-fiction book.

I wanted to get peoples opinion on what you think is the right thing to do with taking quotes from other sources.

I want to use many quotes from interviews from other magazines, books, websites etc.

I think I would like to put in the quote and reference it with a number and list the source in the back.

What does anyone else think?

Is it lawful to use any interview quote with permission as long as it is credited somewhere? Is it lawful to use it uncredited?

I have seen various versions, but I don't know what the preferred Australian practise is... anyway, any help would be great.


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## The Backward OX (Oct 3, 2010)

_You're a magazine editor and you're asking us?_

ROFL


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## garza (Oct 3, 2010)

Here is a general guide using the U.S. based Modern Language Association Style Guide. The basic ideas presented are fairly universal: 

Purdue OWL

For more comprehensive explanations of this and other subjects you need this on your bookshelf:

OUP: Ritter: The Oxford Style Manual - Oxford University Press

I'm curious about how you have functioned as a magazine editor without knowing this or at least knowing where to find out. When I submit an article to a magazine I depend on the copy editor to be certain that citations follow the law and conform to the practise of the magazine.


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## J.L (Oct 5, 2010)

It was a question for opinion, what do you prefer etc. as I should have expected I got a typical keyboard warrior answer that you get whenever you say you're an editor.
Just like when I spell something wrong, people jump on me, yeah, I'm an editor, not a grammar robot...

Believe it or not (shock, horror!) some people in publishing don't even follow a style guide! That's right kids! Some people are even sneaky and don't use references for every quote in their book... that's right!

I live and work in the real world, believe it or not, my grammar is not perfect and it's a normal job like everyone else.
Even though I don't have a full degree, I edit two mainstream magazines and have had more than a hundred articles published and now have signed a very lucrative deal with HarperCollins.

Guess what else? I don't belong to any writers group or association and... I don't mind SMS grammar! Mu ha ha ha ha! The terror I know!

It's like I'm a normal person, but also a writer!

I also hate it when people tell you to look elsewhere, like my style guide or Google or use the search function. What is the point of a forum???

Anyway, that's is my rant. 
Sorry to most, as it isn't intended to offend all, but this is the reason I have posted three times, even though I have been a member for three years.
Same old writing crowd. They usually hang out at coffee shops pretending to write, but are usually too brilliant to actually make a living out of it.

If anyone has any preferences to the original questions, I'd still like your feedback.

PS- Feel free to point out any mistakes, because I am a casual interweb user, I write and click and forget... no time in this fast paced world, right? Maybe not


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## The Backward OX (Oct 5, 2010)

J.L said:


> Same old writing crowd. They usually hang out at coffee shops pretending to write,


 
Or in writing forums, doing the same thing. :-\"


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## J.L (Oct 5, 2010)

LOL

Well, at least you have a sense of humour...


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## garza (Oct 5, 2010)

I started selling non-fiction articles and photographs in the 'real world' when I was 14. I had over a hundred articles published before I was 16. I'm now 70 and still selling in the 'real world'. It's the way I've made my living all these years, and for all these years I have paid attention to spelling, grammar, usage, and the technical details required by different book publishers and media houses. 

The question you asked is a kindergarten question. It indicates a lack of basic technical knowledge. I directed you first to OWL, which is on a writer's kindergarten level, and to the OUP manual, which is a grown-up's guide to the technicalities. It is written for and used by professional writers. 

Unless HarperCollins has outsourced their editing to Backbushastan, as a certain wire service appears to have done, they have copy editors who will guide in technical details if your writing otherwise is satisfactory. They will probably be happy to direct you to a style manual that they use, and I can assure you that the editors at major publishers and media houses do use style manuals. 

In looking over the present state of HarperCollins, I have to ask this. Is you 'lucrative contract' with HarperCollins itself, or with its new subsidiary HarperStudio, which appears to border on self-publishing?

The question Ox asked is a legitimate one. The references I cited are legitimate references used by many writers. The tone of your reaction indicates that perhaps you are still in your teens just getting started as a professional writer, but your claim that you edit two 'mainstream' magazine argues against that. How do you guide the writers whose work is used in the magazines? What standards do you apply? 

I personally have no further advice to offer. I confess to having used style manuals, usage manuals, dictionaries, advanced grammar references, and other such sources all my life. I also must confess that today I use resources available for writers on the Internet. All of that is part of the 'real world'.

Good luck to you.


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## J.L (Oct 5, 2010)

Ha ha ha ha, case in point.

You didn't read my response at all, what a surprise.
I use a style guide everyday, you completely missed the point.

As per your first post, you just insult me and try to build yourself up.
Though your assumptions are way off line, even if they were true, maybe you could help, instead of put me down and tell me how little I know. Which is basically the keyboard warrior behavior that I was getting at.

Again, all I wanted was a preferred opinion on style and a bit of feedback.

You gave me the typical answer of a typically old and stubborn self-inflated writer. You think you deserve a medal because you read a dictionary? We all do mate, we just don't jam it down people's throats.


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## garza (Oct 5, 2010)

I did read your response. Every word. My initial answer to your question is the best answer I can give. I'm really not _self_ inflated. It's all those cheques that have been sent my way over the years that's done the job. 

I apologise for making all that money, for being old, for having spent 30 years of my life in the bush on the frontline, writing the story of wars and revolutions, starvation and disease, suffering and death, and for still believing in writing as a serious craft requiring serious attention to detail.


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## J.L (Oct 5, 2010)

You truly are the king of kings


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## garza (Oct 5, 2010)

Between us we have seriously derailed this thread and that is not good. I answered the original post to be best of my ability in my first reply. I forgive you your teen-angst rant in reply. You'll grow out of those in time. 

Good luck to you. I mean that sincerely.


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## J.L (Oct 5, 2010)

As apposed to your grandpa rant?

See old fella, you keep saying good luck, but I'm not really feeling the love


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## The Backward OX (Oct 5, 2010)

J.L said:


> Is it lawful to use any interview quote with permission as long as it is credited somewhere? Is it lawful to use it uncredited?


It's unknowing questions like these that got garza and me going. They're just plain dumb, coming from a magazine editor.


J.L said:


> As apposed to your grandpa rant?


Maybe you should really _use_ your dictionary instead of just saying you do.


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