[David Alastair Hayden]

I don't do footnotes in my books. I'm terrified of boring the reader with exposition as it is.

Footnotes automatically pull me out of the story and ruin my suspension of disbelief. This is probably the result of reading a lot of non-fiction scholarly texts where footnotes are common. I like to stay in the flow of the story.

 

[David Alastair Hayden]

Sometimes, if you know bits of information are going to be needed throughout, you can begin each chapter with a sentence or two from a fictional book within the world. Gives you a way to impart a little setting information, and since it begins each chapter, it's not so intrusive as footnotes. Of course, you have to keep it simple and only one per chapter.