SCBWI's Blueboard - A Message & Chat Board
Writer's Room => Kidlit Genres => Topic started by: jeannette-lee1 on May 29, 2019, 10:07 AM
-
I've written my first picture book biography and am confused as to how to cite sources. I have a few quotes that I use, and have used several books and magazine articles as general sources for the information. Since it's a picture book manuscript, it seems clunky to include footnotes within the text of the manuscript. Do I just include a bibliography at the end, and call it a day? But how do I cite where each specific quote came from? Or is it accepted to include footnotes within the text of the manuscript?
If there is a book you know of that you could point me to, in order to better understand these formatting questions, that would be great too! I'm not sure where to look to get this information.
Thanks!!
-
Purdue Owl has information about both MLA and APA citation rules (how to cite within text, as well as how to create a bibliography or works cited page): https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_formatting_and_style_guide.html
(The link above is to the MLA resources, as that's the style I generally teach and use.)
-
Jeannette, I always have a list of my sources at the end of my text. And that's what I typically submit. But I also keep a footnoted copy for myself so that I don't lose track of where I found my quotes or facts. This comes in very handy because lots of times by the time a piece is accepted you have forgotten where that little tidbit came from and you will need to know it as you revise with your editor. Also, some editors will ask for a footnoted copy.
-
And don't forget about the handy-dandy EasyBib to make your bibliography for you! Wish it had been around when I was in grad school :).
-
Publishers will have different ways of handling this in the final book. The key for you is to have the sources in a biblio submitted as part of the manuscript and footnotes available as V says. Primary sources are best.
-
Welcome to the wonderful world of nonfiction!
As Vijaya suggested, use endnotes, not footnotes and include your bibliography.
CMS is the commonly used format for citation in our industry, though I sometimes use MLA and include the web address.
EasyBib is a helpful resource (though the ads have become very annoying). Some people use Zotero as well.
Best of luck!
Kirsten
-
Everything Kirsten said. She's a smart cookie. The end notes probably won't show in the published book, but you want the editor to see that you've done your work, and they can rely on your facts.