Does anyone know if there are any rules you should abide by, When writing a book and using opinions vs. facts in the contents of the book your writing?....I mean, do you have to quote where the fact came from?...Or, do you have to use sources of where the information came from?...I have read self help books and they don't use them!...? I hope i explained that right?...:) Thanks!

All Answers To Questions

If you're an expert in the field on which you're writing, you may state your own opinion based on your expertise. If, however, you are simply writing a self-help type book by compiling information written by other experts you will definitely need to name your sources and use quotes to inform the reader that you are quoting someone else's work. In some, if not most cases, if you will be quoting other sources, you must first have permission to do so from the original author or you might be accused of plagiarism and/or be sued by the original author or by the publication to which their original material was sold.

Usually, when writing a non-fiction book for the popular press, as opposed to academic press, you will credit your sources. In academia, you do it through footnotes, but that interrupts the flow of a book for popular reading. Self help books are usually written based on personal experience and for that reason seldom refer to other sources - although some do. Visit the library and have a look at some of the books in the non-fiction section and you'll see the different ways of handling information.