Frequently Asked Questions

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What is StoryForge?

  • StoryForge was created for writers and readers of both fiction and non-fiction novels, poems, short stories, and more. It’s a safe space where authors can hone their skills and find their readers; and where readers can discover a ton of new and upcoming stories for free!

    We believe writers of all races, sexualities, genders, and backgrounds can be published authors. StoryForge is our way of giving you access to the tools and community you’ll need to achieve those dreams.

  • For writers, StoryForge is a place to develop your writing or build a readership, no matter where you’re at in your writing journey. We’re ultimately interested in helping you publish your work, if that’s your goal, and we make the writing / rewriting / publication process more fun than any other option!

    For readers, you get to discover new authors and works for free as they’re being developed. You could even help authors by giving them great feedback, and get paid for your comments!

  • StoryForge is free to use. There are some things that you can purchase in the web app, and a subscription option, but none of those impact your ability to read or write. Our in-app currencies can also be earned simply by using the app—more on that in the shops section.

  • Did you know that Apple and Google take a significant amount of every in-app purchase? StoryForge is built by a small team, and we’re not backed by billionaire investors. Every purchase means a lot to us.

    We won’t rule out ever building an app. For now, however, our focus is on making StoryForge the best it can be as a web app, while making sure it’s accessible on any device and browser.

  • Simply put, ads help us keep the lights on. As we mentioned above, our company is small, and it costs money to update the app regularly. For that reason, we ask that if you have an ad blocker to please whitelist StoryForge—allow ads to appear on the website and app.

    That said, we don’t like ads either, which is why we’ve stuck them in places that are out of the way enough to never disrupt your writing or reading. If you would like to get rid of all ads from the web app, subscribe to StoryForge! A subscription removes all ads and helps to support our team.

  • There are no generative AI tools in the web app. At StoryForge, we prefer to celebrate human creativity. Even our writing prompt tool was 100% sourced by real people! If you’re interested, read StoryForge’s full statement on AI.

Writing with StoryForge

  • As many as you like! Unlike some other writing platforms, we don’t limit how many stories you can be writing, or make you pay for the ability to write beyond a certain amount.

  • You can assign genres to your story when creating or editing it. Our list of genres includes most popular fiction and non-fiction options. However, at this time, you cannot add custom genres. If you feel the need to expand upon the list of genres, we recommend doing that by adding tags—which you can select from a list or create custom ones!

    If there’s a genre that you think is missing and needed, email us at help@storyforge.com. We won’t add every genre that is suggested to us, but we’ll certainly consider your recommendation.

  • Not at this time, but is something we plan to add in the future. Currently, we offer one free cover art per story provided via Pexels. Changing it costs a few Quills.

A graphic showing mockups of StoryForge on multiple devices' web browsers.

Publishing with StoryForge

  • StoryForge is also a publisher! We’re only just getting started, but we’ve already published an anthology of stories written on StoryForge: Voices Like These. When similar opportunities open up in the future, we’ll make sure to tell writers on the platform so they can submit their work.

    We’re actively planning a third path that will see your stories “level up” as you write and engage with readers on StoryForge. We’re still ironing out the details, and will make sure to share them once we can.

  • Publishing your work on StoryForge does not lock you into publishing with us in any way! If you intend to publish elsewhere, or self-publish, you can still share your work on StoryForge for free and tap into the community. Help build your readership, see their reactions, and ask questions with Feedback Bounties. When you feel it’s ready for a traditional publisher or self-publishing, you can take it off StoryForge.

  • Yes, with the appropriate content warnings. You can write spicy, gory, NSFW (not safe for work), and all kinds of explicit stories. However, if you share it publicly on StoryForge, we ask that you make sure that the appropriate content warnings are added. 

    If we discover a story has been published on StoryForge without the proper content warnings our team may add them for you, or remove the story until the correct warnings have been included.

  • Authors keep all rights to their work. For content published on our platform, StoryForge retains a limited license to do things like promote your story or share it on our social media (“Universal Rights”). If we do this, we’ll credit the author, and we’ll never sell your work or share the rights with anyone else.

  • Maybe! That’s going to depend on what agreements you have, who they’re with, and where you published your work originally. If publishing the work on StoryForge doesn’t violate any of those agreements, go right ahead!

  • Fan fiction is welcomed on StoryForge, but likely won’t be eligible for publishing. There are a number of legal issues with that, since the author of a fan-fiction often does not own the rights to those characters or settings. However, stories inspired by other works made without borrowing the IP may be considered for publication.

Reading on StoryForge

  • There are two ways that you can comment on a story. The first is at the end of what you’ve read, in a comments section like most other writing websites. You can also respond to a paragraph with a reaction or comment. When you do, the author will see it attached to that paragraph so they’ll know exactly what you’re reacting to. So, you can leave general feedback in the chapter comments, but if you really love a specific moment in the story, make sure to let the author know!

  • Yes, some stories have Feedback Bounties and replying to them gives you a chance to earn Credits for free! Credits can be used in StoryForge, or cashed out and sent to your bank in whatever currency you use.

    If you decide to cash out your Credits, we’ll need to ask for your bank information so we can send your money to the right place. If you run into any issues with this process, contact Stripe support.

The StoryForge Community

  • We run semi-regular writing and reading challenges, such as our 30K in 30 Days event which occurs each November! They’re completely optional, but those who participate can earn some fun rewards like exclusive avatars or extra Quills.

  • Circles are like little writing and reading communities inside of StoryForge. Typically, Circles have some kind of theme to them, such as a group dedicated to gothic horror or who love great character banter! Join as many as you want.

    You can create your own Circles for a few Quills! When you do, you can set it to be public, private (visible, but requires approval to join and post), or secret (hidden to non-members, invite-only).

Our Shop & Merch Store

  • Quills are an in-app currency on StoryForge, often used to purchase cosmetics like avatars and library furniture. Basically, Quills are to help you express yourself! There are a couple of exceptions, however, where Quills have a more practical use: for example, changing the cover image on your story or creating a Circle.

    Earn Quills for free by completing daily tasks, or by visiting Robin in the shop. You can also purchase Quills directly from the shop. Or, if you have any Credits available, you can also exchange those for Quills!

    Credits are another in-app currency on StoryForge, which are used to purchase Bounties, which help you reach readers and get feedback on your story! Learn more about Feedback Bounties.

    Earn Credits for free by responding to bounties with thoughtful answers. You can also purchase Credits from the shop.

  • Your library is your space to customize and express yourself! Decorate it with your favorite furniture, decorations, and more. It doesn’t do anything, but it’s a fun way to show off your style. Keep an eye out for special events and offers in the shop—some library items are only available for a limited time!

  • Heck yes, we have merch. If you’re looking for gear, check out our Redbubble shop!

    If you’re more interested in writing resources or a Draft the Cat plushie, check out our online store. 

    We also have an agreement with our friends at ScribeForge that will give StoryForge users a discount. You have to be a StoryForge member to access it within the platform, though.

A graphic showing examples of libraries that authors and readers built in StoryForge.

How to Contact the Team

  • Visit our Contact Page to get help! It outlines the best way to report an issue or ask a question. You can also find StoryForge’s social accounts here, if you’d like to follow us elsewhere. 

    In the StoryForge web app, you can find tools to submit feedback or report a bug under your account menu (displayed with your current avatar). You can also report content that you find on the app by selecting the three vertical dots on the top-right of a chapter, or in a comment, then selecting “Report.”

  • The original vision behind StoryForge comes from our co-founder Sabrina Rucker, who discovered that writing a story was actually much easier than publishing! Over time, StoryForge has grown as new designers, developers, and community managers joined the team—many of whom are themselves avid readers or published authors. Learn more about Sabrina’s journey and StoryForge’s mission.

  • Fairly often, actually! We tend to push small fixes and minor updates on an almost weekly basis. Major updates are less frequent, but our development team is always working on something exciting! You can read about all our updates on our Updates page.

Any other questions that aren’t answered here, you can contact us at help@storyforge.com.