Q: What exactly needs to be cited when writing a non-fiction e-book on passive income and side hustle ideas?
I got most of the general ideas from ChatGPT and some from articles. I have sections labeled pros, cons, and tips, which are collected mainly the same way. I'm including sections about initial investment and expected income based on the average price of things taken from a multitude of sources. For example, one idea is to rent out a room in your house. I looked up rooms for rent in my area, and found the average across different sites listings, then did so again in other cities to add in higher or lower averages like the high costs of New York.
What of this needs cited? I'm obviously trying to avoid citing as much as possible so my entire book isn't just full of in-text citations. I'd be perfectly fine adding all the sources to a reference section, however, but at the end of the day, I need to do whatever the law allows. I looked at articles on the same subject and none of them, including Forbes and Time, cited anything within their articles, so wasn't sure if I could not, too?
A:
When writing a non-fiction e-book on passive income and side hustle ideas, it is important to cite any sources that you use to support your ideas or claims. This includes any statistics, data, or other information that you gather from external sources.
In general, you should cite any sources that are not common knowledge or that are not your own original ideas. This includes information that you gather from websites, articles, books, or other sources.
For example, if you are including information about the average price of rooms for rent in different cities, you should cite the sources that you used to gather this information. This may include websites or articles that you used to research the prices.
It is also important to be aware of copyright laws and to ensure that you are not infringing on the rights of others. If you are using content from other sources, such as images or text, you should obtain permission or ensure that you are using the content in a way that is allowed under fair use or other copyright exceptions.
Overall, it is recommended that you err on the side of caution and cite any sources that you use in your e-book. This will help to ensure that you are not infringing on the rights of others and will help to establish the credibility of your work.
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