How to share a quote from a book

Keep the source with the words

A quote without a source is just a nice sentence. Always include the title and the author, and the page or chapter if someone might want to find it. If you read a translation, the translator’s words are what you are quoting, so it is fair to mention them too.

Copy the passage exactly. If you leave something out in the middle, mark it with an ellipsis in brackets, […], so nobody thinks the author wrote it that way.

Choose text or an image

Both have their place:

• Text is easy to copy, search and quote back. It works best in messages and posts where people may want to look the book up.
• An image stands out in a feed or in stories, and a short line on a clean background is easy to read at a glance.

Long passages rarely work as images: the text gets tiny or has to be cut. For anything longer than a few sentences, share text, or pick the one line that matters most.

Think about spoilers

A line from the last chapter can give away the ending. Before you post a quote from a book other people are still reading, check that it does not reveal who dies, who wins or who did it. If it does, share it with someone who has finished the book, not with the whole group.

Keep your own words separate

If you want to add what the line means to you, put your thought under the quote, not inside it. Readers should always be able to tell the author’s words from yours.

Share from Pagetime

In Pagetime, open a saved quote and tap “Share”. A preview shows it as a card: the quote on cream-colored paper with the book and author underneath. Next to it is “Share as text” if you would rather send the words. Your own thoughts and ideas can be shared the same way, and the card names the kind of note first, so a thought of yours is not mistaken for a line from the book. Notes longer than 560 characters are shared as text only.

Cards are made on your phone and work offline, without an account or subscription. To save a quote from a paper book in the first place, see the guide on how to save quotes from physical books.

Pagetime is coming to iPhone and Android; you can leave your email below to hear when it is available. Until then, a photo of the page with the title in the caption works too.

The free version holds up to 5 books and includes 20 page scans with text recognition in total. Deleting a note does not restore a used scan. Notes and the timer work offline without an account; sync is free after signing in. A subscription removes the book and scan limits and unlocks your full stats history, year in review and folder export.

This independent guide is published by Pagetime and is not authorized, sponsored or endorsed by Apple Inc. or Google LLC.