I am an avid collector of quotes and it has been my dream for a long
time to put together a few books of quotes on inspiring subjects like
the meaning of life. I've also found some interesting bookmarks and
stickers with inspiring quotes on them. I am wondering how to go about
obtaining permission for using the quotes in a booklet and what
publishers are interested in this type of book. If you can answer part
but not all of the question, I am still interested.

Thanks a million!

Hello Lizabiz,
I've looked around the web to see if I can find a premise on your
using quotes for free, but the idea struck me that since you are going
to publish the books and most likely make money out of them, you are
utilizing the quotes commercially. This would require obtaining
permission for copyright.

I don't know if your sources would be books of quotations themselves,
but if you have some, you could look in the publisher's page (the one
a few pages after the front cover) and inquire from that publishing
company, if you can use  Maybe a few quotations of the back of your
mind would be allowable without permission, as long as you know who
said it (the important thing is that the original speaker should be
mentioned). Your actions would perhaps be governed by the rule of
"Fair Use" in copyright law. I'm sure you are aware of the people
publishing free quotes sites on the Web, but I believe they are not
earning from these websites.

As for a place to publish, I wonder if your community library has the
latest copy of the Writer's Market. That's certain to be available in
most major libraries. That lists all kinds of publishers. Maybe you
could ask the publisher of a certain quotation book you have if they
are interested (Although I do think that the Big Publishers like
Warner, Dell, Penguin and others would not be interested... maybe
smaller publishers would like to try).

For sources on copyright law and FAQs, I used the following to get the
idea:

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) - The Quotations Page
http://www.quotationspage.com/faq.php

Copyright Law FAQ index
http://www.faqs.org/faqs/law/copyright/faq/

Mother, May I? by Lin Stone
http://www.talewins.com/Permission.htm

ONLamp.com: Sound Bites on Fair Use and Copyright Law [June 30, 2003]
http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/wlg/1982


On Publishing (I'll see if I can help you by pointing to websites):
Writing, Publishing and Book Marketing Links
http://www.museummarketingtips.com/links/links_writing.html

The Writers Home: On Books - Publishers' Web Sites
http://www.writershome.com/on-books/pubwebsites.htm


Google search strings used:
copyright law famous quotations 
copyright quotations law
copyright quotes law
collecting quotes
quotes books publishing

I hope this answer has been most satisfactory. If you have any problem
with it, do please post a request for clarification, and I shall
respond. Thank you.