Help with attribution of epigraph

[Gregg Bell]

Originally Posted by GrannyGrump

Only canoodling here, but it seems to me that the sentence "Some people not only live for their love, but die because of it " is the comment or summation of the poster (TheHeroWithinMe); he then goes on to post and cite the quote from The Crow:
Buildings burn
People die
but real LOVE is forever

But that is only an extrapolation....

Yeah. I can see that. A little bit anyway. But it's weird too because he doesn't even add end punctuation to those sentences. Maybe he's like a Rain Man savant kind of Yahoo Answers guy that only posts once every seven years and no one can track him down. (Just sayin.)

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by Gregg Bell

Thanks Doc! You know at first I thought that quote was kind of a haiku type tautology type thing, but it's been growing on me. (And I think Victor Hugo might have a little more gravitas than TheHeroWithinMe.) (Not to knock Hero, but Hugo is Hugo after all.)

I wonder if this epigraph might say romance more than thriller though. But it does say to "die" of love, which works well with my title. I wonder if it will have people as confused as I am as to what it means. I wonder if that would be a bad thing. I also wonder if it might be a good thing. Like, 'Wow, this thing is deep.' Ha ha.

Nope, I don't see thriller. It is a beautiful quote.

[gmw]

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

Don't use it.

Pretty much this. If in doubt, don't use it. Both my second and third novels got an epigraph fairly early in their writing, quotes from songs that I thought fit perfectly ... but then I worked out what might be involved in getting the okay to use those lyrics and they had to go. My first novel got to keeps its epigraph because the quote had no copyright issues (from an 1871 translation).

It becomes a question of: how important is it?

Some readers will never see it (Kindle editions made to jump right to the start of the story). Some readers won't notice it. Some readers won't like it. Which leaves you with those that see it, read it and like it. I have no idea what percentage that is, but I don't remember ever reading someone saying, "Gee, I wish that book had an epigraph."

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by Gregg Bell

Thanks Doc! You know at first I thought that quote was kind of a haiku type tautology type thing, but it's been growing on me. (And I think Victor Hugo might have a little more gravitas than TheHeroWithinMe.) (Not to knock Hero, but Hugo is Hugo after all.)

I wonder if this epigraph might say romance more than thriller though. But it does say to "die" of love, which works well with my title. I wonder if it will have people as confused as I am as to what it means. I wonder if that would be a bad thing. I also wonder if it might be a good thing. Like, 'Wow, this thing is deep.' Ha ha.

Since you're not writing a literary novel (it's a mystery novel, after all), I don't think most readers will even care.

[Gregg Bell]

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

Nope, I don't see thriller. It is a beautiful quote.

I think you're right.

[Gregg Bell]

Originally Posted by gmw

Pretty much this. If in doubt, don't use it. Both my second and third novels got an epigraph fairly early in their writing, quotes from songs that I thought fit perfectly ... but then I worked out what might be involved in getting the okay to use those lyrics and they had to go. My first novel got to keeps its epigraph because the quote had no copyright issues (from an 1871 translation).

It becomes a question of: how important is it?

Some readers will never see it (Kindle editions made to jump right to the start of the story). Some readers won't notice it. Some readers won't like it. Which leaves you with those that see it, read it and like it. I have no idea what percentage that is, but I don't remember ever reading someone saying, "Gee, I wish that book had an epigraph."

Thanks gmw. I think I'm going to go that route. (I'm just so used to reading them I never thought about doing without one. And esp. since with that "Look Inside" feature, the epigraph is just taking up valuable space.)

[Gregg Bell]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

Since you're not writing a literary novel (it's a mystery novel, after all), I don't think most readers will even care.

Yeah, I think you're right. I'll do without it. (Crisis over!) Thanks.