Frequently Asked Questions

We believe writers of all races, sexualities, genders, and backgrounds can be published authors.

That said, StoryForge was created specifically for writers of works like novels, poems, plays, screenplays, short stories, autobiographies, and self-help books without footnotes.

You might be looking to start a story for the first time or have been doing this for years. StoryForge is for authors of all experience leves.

It is not intended for academic publications, scientific publications, peer-reviewed publications, or anything with footnotes and an audience who will be evaluating the underlying content for accuracy.

Fan fiction is welcomed but will likely not be eligible for publishing.

We have a more lengthy explanation of our stance found here but we are opposed to the use of generative AI in the use of writing. StoryForge prefers to celebrate human creativity when it comes to story writing.

If a user does not choose to stay with StoryForge, that's OK! It's not for everyone. We think it's awesome, and hopefully many other people will too... but if it isn't for you, then we want to help you find another way forward so that your story can be the best it can be. All work that was created on StoryForge will be sent to the email on record — not lost into the ether like on some other writing platforms.

In addition, authors can download their work from StoryForge at any time. We will only delete work when specifically requested to do so.

Other widespread writing platforms simply give you a place to publish your work and promote it based on the money you pay. Or platforms like Critique Circle and Scribophile exist to get writers feedback for their work. Think of us as an alternative to Critique Circle or an alternative to Campfire.

We’re ultimately interested in getting authors published — we make the writing / rewriting / publication process more fun than any other option. And with StoryForge, you don’t have to pay to play 😆

StoryForge is always free to use. We have will have subscription options for those looking to speed up their writing journey, as well as fun customizations you can make to your library or pet.

But no matter how you choose to use StoryForge, we will never paywall you from our key features.

As the author, you will always keep all rights to your work. For content published on our platform, StoryForge gets a limited license to do things like promote your story or share it on our social media. (This is commonly known as “Universal Rights.”) But we’ll never share your story without crediting you, and we’ll never sell your work or share the rights with anyone else.

Absolutely! Authors can download their work from StoryForge at any time. We will only delete work when specifically requested to do so.

Writers are the core of our mission, and protecting your intellectual property is something we take very seriously. StoryForge keeps a record of every draft of every work, and can provide proof of provenance in the event of an argument over ownership.

We also require users to log in before interacting with the platform in order to prevent AI plagiarism.

Yes, you really can get published through StoryForge. There are two paths that you can take — the first is to level up your work until you feel it’s ready for a traditional publisher. You can take what you’ve done and submit it to a publishing house.

The second path is to level your work in StoryForge until it’s Legendary — then we’ll publish and distribute your work for you!

Legendary manuscripts are stories that have been revised, shared, and edited by a wide network of StoryForge users. Manuscripts earn the title of Legendary when their reputation progress bar is fully completed. StoryForge authors always know exactly where they are in their journey toward Legendary status and publication. Legendary works also unlock the right to be published and distributed by StoryForge.

Not at this time but we are working through some plans and ideas that would allow authors to earn money on their stories even before publication.

You don’t! Writing on StoryForge can be used as a public or private writing website. You’re able to share what you’re working on with the entire community, an individual Circle, or just keep it private until you feel like sharing. You can change where and how your writing is shared at any time.

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

Unlike other writing websites and writing platforms, we don’t limit you to a certain amount of things you can be writing or make you pay for the option to write more. We just ask that you aren’t excessive with things, like making each chapter its own story.

Did you know that Apple and Google take a fairly hefty chunk of any transaction done through an app? We’re a small company that isn’t backed by billionaire investors. Every purchase means a lot to us and we can’t afford to give up any more of any transaction than we absolutely have to. Hopefully, once we have the appropriate funds, we can make an app version as well.

Well, that’s going to depend on what agreements you have with who and where you published your work originally. We aren’t lawyers so you’ll have to determine if adding it to our platform is going to violate any other agreements you have.

We do! We have a literary-inspired live-play RPG which is our own homebrewed system! It’s a lot of fun, we promise. You can watch it on YouTube here.

We also have a podcast where we talk about trying to run and survive as a small business startup and various challenges in the creative process! Apparently, we like to talk as much as we like to write.

You can find that on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and iHeartRadio.

Like was mentioned above, we’re a small company that runs pretty lean so any amount of revenue for us is huge. We’re not crazy about them either which is why we’ve stuck them in places that are out of the way enough to never disrupt the writing process or the reading experience. If you do have an ad blocker that’s able to block them, we ask that you at least whitelist the ad theater since you’re only there for a handful of seconds most days.

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.

Settle down there, Ash Ketchum! Including items that can only be found through purchasing Quill packs, we have around 400 as of the end of 2024. There are also over 100 pets and backgrounds as well! Not all pieces are around year-round so make sure to watch out for seasonal items!

If you click the ? in the upper right of the writing website, you’ll see various options for getting help.

We recommend checking out this YouTube playlist that we have. A lot of more common questions can be answered by one of the shorts. If you’re not able to find an answer there, you can ask in our Discord channel or by emailing help@storyforge.com

You don’t! Writing is a personal thing so you only have to release what you want, when you want, and where you want it. Go chapter by chapter and share to the entire community or just a Circle. It’s up to you!

You are but we ask that you make sure that your content warnings are added and correct.

Circles are like little mini writing communities inside of our writing community. Typically they’re going to have some kind of theme to them and you can request to join as many as you want. An admin from the circle will have to approve your entry most times so if it disappears after you request to join, don’t worry. It will return once your application is approved.

Quills or Quill Coins are our writing platform currency. You can earn them through various tasks and challenges or buy them in packs. These are what you use to purchase new pieces for your library or new pets and backgrounds. You can also use them to create additional new Circles or change your cover art.

If you’ve got your eye on something in the store and just can’t wait, head to this page. There are Quill packs of all sizes and prices. You can only purchase the Stupidly Good Deal once though. All other packs comes with an aesthetic piece that can only be attained through purchasing packs. There are furniture pieces and avatars.

Think of this as a place where you can ask specific questions to the rest of the StoryForge writing community. It can be open-ended, you can give options, or let people take a poll. If you want to make sure they know some background about your story, you can share that to the Ask as well.

This is to help out our readers. Sometimes a reader is in the mood for a short story, sometimes they’re ready for an epic. With this tag, they have a better idea of finding the right story for them.

If you’re not familiar with trigger warnings, we suggest you read this blog. It’s important that people not accidentally subject themselves to something that they don’t want to experience. If you don’t add content warnings, people may do it for you.

Not at this time. We’ve already added the main genres that we think people will need. If there’s something that you really feel like we need to add, please email us at help@storyforge.com.

However, we may not add every genre that is suggested to us.

There are two ways that you can leave feedback. The first is at the end of what you’ve read like most other writing websites. The second is a bit more unique.

You can highlight a word, sentence, or paragraph and a prompt will appear to let you leave feedback specifically for that section of text. The author will see it attached to that text so they’ll know exactly what you’re reacting to. So if you really love a specific sentence or moment, make sure to leave feedback on it!

This is a randomly generated list of things you can do each day to earn some Quills. If you complete all your tasks, you get a bonus too!

Not at this time. It’s something that we’re looking into various options for with later iterations of the writing platform. Currently, we offer one free cover art per story provided via Pexels. If you want to change that image later, it will be at a cost of 40 Quills.