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Story Publishing Guidelines

Essential Guidelines for Publishing Your Stories on Short Story Lovers

Short Story Lovers Story Publishing Guidelines

1. Story Length and Format

  • Recommended word count: 400 to 5,000 words for standalone short stories.
  • Multi-chapter stories: No overall word limit, but each chapter should be at least 400 words.
  • Flexibility: Quality and content matter more than length.
  • Use our user-friendly online submission tool to either copy-paste your story or write directly on the platform. Your progress will be auto-saved as a draft.

2. Content Requirements

  • Stories must be original and not published elsewhere.
  • Plagiarism is strictly prohibited.

3. Genres

  • Accepted genres include romance, fiction, horror, fantasy, science fiction, adventure, and more. Explore All Categories
  • Stories should align with one of the platform's predefined genres.

4. Language and Tone

  • All stories must be written in English.
  • The tone should be appropriate for a general audience and relevant to the chosen genre.

5. Content Restrictions

  • No explicit pornographic content, excessive violence, or hate speech.
  • Mild adult themes are permitted if portrayed tastefully.

6. Cover Image

  • Minimum size: 500 x 500 pixels.
  • Accepted formats: .jpg or .png.
  • Images must be relevant to the story and comply with copyright laws.

7. Publishing and Visibility

  • Free Authors: Free Authors can publish 2 stories per month and create their personal author site for free.
  • Pro Authors: Pro Authors can publish stories and use visibility features across Short Story Lovers. Story publishing limits depend on the selected Pro plan:
    • Silver Plan: Up to 5 stories per month
    • Gold Plan: Up to 20 stories per month
    • Platinum Plan: Unlimited story publishing
  • Published stories can appear on the Short Story Lovers homepage, category pages and recommendation sections on other story pages.
  • Free Authors can publish by unlocking story publishing with 250 True Reader Points per story.
  • Pro Author access can be unlocked either through a subscription plan or by redeeming True Reader Points. . Check Pro Author Plans

8. Editing and Proofreading

  • Authors should thoroughly edit and proofread their stories before publishing.
  • Proper grammar, punctuation, and spelling are essential.

9. Metadata and Tags

  • Include a brief summary (50-200 words) for each story as a description.
  • Use relevant categories, subcategories, and tags to reach readers effectively.

10. No Review Process

  • Stories do not undergo a review and approval process. They are published instantly once submitted.
  • Stories submitted for Featuring only go through an approval process. Learn more about Featuring a story

11. Revisions

  • Authors can edit their stories even after publishing. Changes can be made through the "My Stories" page in the Author Hub.

12. Engagement and Community

  • Authors are encouraged to interact with readers who comment on their stories to foster engagement.

13. Copyright

  • Authors retain full copyright of their stories but grant Short Story Lovers the right to publish and promote their work on the platform.

Learn more