Publishing Hub: Does anyone have tips about asking permission to quote from other authors?

Katherine

I have a wonderful quote from another author that would have made the perfect epigraph (I think that’s the correct term for the bit at the front before your own literary masterpiece starts?!) for my memoir, but I wasn’t sure how to go about asking permission for its use, which I know would be a legal necessity. Does anyone have any experience of this? Is it simply a matter of contacting their publisher and asking? Thanks for any advice, Katherine

Anna

Yes – I believe that you should usually contact the publisher to get permission. If it is a large publisher, they will generally have a permissions person (or team) and there should be contact details on their website.

Harry

A couple of lines one can usually get away with as a credit in the references but anything longer ought to mean an application for permissions. This is not usually a problem but best to play safe, specifically if there are no other references as in a novel.

See

http://www.thomasnelson.com/consumer/dept.asp?dept_id=1117912&TopLevel_id=100000

http://www.faber.co.uk/about/permissions-guidelines/

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=H8f-WfdTMFUC&pg=PA8&lpg=PA8&dq=quotation+permissions&source=bl&ots=tYgk-ILBBy&sig=y-K8QsykVvvRav-XimlPPN8W5vA&hl=en&ei=NTQhTO-QGeSVsQbU35TVDg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CDQQ6AEwBjgU#v=onepage&q=quotation%20permissions&f=false

There area many more examples on the web

Cheers

Harry

Katherine

Thanks Anna and Harry for your helpful suggestions. I’ve had a quick browse, and although I’m not put off by the process, it hadn’t occurred to me that payment might be requested for permission … so I’ll have to think seriously about whether it’ll be worth it!