Step 3: Submit a Book

Submit a Book

Now that you’ve successfully scanned a book, you’re ready to submit it to Bookshare®'s Proofreading Queue.

  • Login to www.bookshare.org and go to "My Bookshare"
  • Under Volunteer Home select “Submit a Book” 
  • Select the scanned book (the RTF file) from your computer and upload it. The entire book must be saved in a single file
  • If you're submitting a book in a language other than English, please first contact us
  • Select "upload" and be patient. Bookshare is analyzing the scan

Book Information

Once you have submitted the file you will be taken through a series of pages asking for information. Read on for details.

  • Quality Analysis:  This is simply a computer-generated flag based on the number of perceived errors. No action or changes should be made in this section
  • ISBN: At the bottom of the same page as the Quality Analysis you will find a place to input the ISBN number. This number should match the ISBN number listed in the copyright page of your file. If the copyright page does not list an ISBN, do not add it in from another source. If your file does have an ISBN, when you enter it and click "Next," information will auto-populate

Book Information (next page)

If you have entered an ISBN on the previous page you will find much of this information auto-filled. Please input any information that has not been auto-filled.

  • ISBN: This should match the ISBN in the file. If there isn't one, do not add one from another source
  • Title: Make sure the title matches up with the title on title page. If there is a subtitle, include it after the main title and a colon. If this book is part of a series, format as follows: Book Title (Series Name #1[or whatever number it is)). If you are working with a proofreader and want to put a hold on this book, write the words "HOLD FOR [PROOFREADER'S NAME]" before the title of the book in all caps
  • Author: Multiple authors should be separated by a comma. Author's names should be entered as: First Name Last Name
  • Copyright Holder: This should match the information on the copyright page
  • Copyright Date: This should match the information on the copyright page
  • Publisher: This should match the information on the copyright page
  • Brief Synopsis and Long Synopsis: Keep the "brief" synopsis, well, brief. You may expand the description in the long synopsis. In both synopses, make sure to write complete sentences that are grammatically correct
  • Country Restrictions:  This relates to geographical copyright restrictions:
    • Mark the country restrictions as “The Americas” and “United States”
    • Do NOT check any "State Restrictions"
    • Under "Usage Restrictions" you will likely select "copyright" and, if not, you must be able to prove that it is in the Public Domain or Creative Commons
    • Select “Next”

Book Information (next page)

  • Categories:  Categories allow members to find appropriate books for their interests
    • From the list of categories, choose up to four that will be most helpful. For example: a children’s story about a family in the Midwest in pioneer days who happen to have a pet dog should be marked (1) Children's Books, (2) Literature and Fiction, and (3) History. The categories Animals or Outdoors would not be as helpful in this instance
      • If this a children's or teen's book, that category takes priority
      • If this is a textbook, please mark that category
  • Adult Content: Material containing explicit sexual content of the type which would not be available for purchase by a minor (age 18 or younger) and which would not be found in a public library, should be designated as "adult content"
    • Bookshare members under the age of 18 will not be allowed to download material with this designation
    • Material which anyone of any age could obtain from a store or library, whether or not it contains mature content, should not be classified as "adult content"
    • Material with mature content, such as graphic violence or explicit scenes of intimacy, may be flagged in the synopsis with descriptive wording. For example, "Attack of the Killer Clowns depicts the gruesome and bloody tale of two teens that get lost in an amusement park and hunted by evil clowns"
    • If the book does contain adult content, click the checkbox
  • Select "Next"

Comments and Submit

  • Enter your email address in the space provided so proofreaders may contact you with questions
  • Select “Submit” and your scanned book will be added to the Proofreading Queue. You will receive an email within minutes verifying that the submission has been received
  • As part of our quality assurance process, we require that a scanned book must be proofread by someone other than the volunteer who prepared the scan*

*Exception: universities which have been granted partner status may check the box bypassing the Proofreading Queue and submitting directly to the Approval Queue.