How can we help?

Unlike most websites today, TxtPub prioritizes privacy and respects human data. TxtPub does not collect any personal data or analytics, and will never save or sell it; we do not even collect it! Also read "My profile name" under the reader tab above.

At TxtPub, we will never flood the site with ads. Ads would violate our privacy guidelines and frustrate users with the endless, pointless distractions that plague most sites today.

TxtPub has a “supporter badge” (with some extra perks) for those who find value and want to support the site and keep it alive. More details in the supporter badge tab.

TxtPub uses a mini-cookie to save your session ID (your encrypted site key). We do this in your browser rather than keeping it on our server for a few reasons, including your data and privacy. The cookie does not contain any tracking, analytics, or other data; it's simply your login/site key. (You can read more about our cookie policy in the Site Terms & Legal page.) Also, feel free to inspect your cookie using your browser's built-in cookie inspector!

TxtPub doesn't want to know or care about these details. But we do care about paying our servers, bandwidth, etc., so we handle this by using a few cool tricks. For one, we don’t have any way to store, accept, run, or use credit cards. This eliminates the required data (name, location, card, etc.). We do this by sending you to Stripe.com for the payment. When we do this, we also send an encrypted random code to Stripe. After your payment on Stripe.com, they send a simple message back (no name, no card, no locations): just a paid/unpaid and the encrypted code we sent before. Then, TxtPub does the math on that security code and says, "Ah, user (1234) paid. Here’s your ink.”

We use Ink to give the support badge and spotlights in TxtPub, rather than in direct currency. This allows us to never use/save any personal information. (While it does take a lot more math and computing, it's more fun to use Ink and a lot more private!)

Badges are shown on your public profile page and on your home screen. While badges are cosmetic, they do have some other benefits.

• Supporter Badge: This badge comes with lots of perks and is how TxtPub stays alive.
  This badge lasts for a month and is a paid badge, $4.98 or 500 INK. Available in your wallet.
• Founder Badge: This badge is for the first 200 people who sign up on TxtPub.
  Perks include weighted points and extra entries into the spotlights/promos, and more coming soon. This badge is permanent.
• Editor Badge: This badge shows you are an editor and allows authors to share their works pre-published with you.
  This badge is turned on and off by you in "My Settings"
• Doc Badge: In honor of the late DocCIS, a great friend, mentor, and author. (DocCIS is a major reason my TxtPub exists!)
  This badge can only be gotten by being an avid fan of DocCIS (R.I.P.) and/or contacting TxtPub staff. This badge is permanent.
• MOD badge This badge is for TxtPub moderators
• More badges may be made, and more perks will be added to the current ones as time goes on.

I set out to make the Supporter Badge affordable because I want everyone to have the chance to join and enjoy extra benefits. Supporting should be simple—jump in when you can, pause whenever needed. After thoughtful discussion about what would work best for everyone—from pay-what-you-want to one-time payments—we chose a fair, accessible fixed cost. This choice keeps it straightforward and welcoming for all who want to strengthen our community.

There are two ways to get your supporter badge: a monthly subscription (cancel anytime) or a one-time purchase of Ink, which you can use to get your support badge.

Besides keeping TxtPub alive as a support badge holder, you get all of the following: (with more coming soon.)

General perks -

• Proudly get a site supporter badge displayed on your profile.
• The ability to change your profile color to whatever you want. authors' see bellow for more on colors.
• You can add a profile photo.
• You can use the semantic search. This is in ongoing development and will just get better as the AI grows and learns. More details below.
• Enjoy a boost on site feedback, flagging, and general site interactions.

Reader perks -

• You will notice that when you read an article, there are no article spotlights inside it.
• You have the ability to download a PDF or e-book version of the article for use on your e-reader or offline use.
• You have access to an AI audio version of each article with two voices. And if this becomes more popular, TxtPub will add better voices and readers!

Author perks -

• Author colors get used in your article buttons, interfaces, spotlight, etc.
• Patreon.com sync of both memberships and active users. Other site links coming soon!
• The “walled garden” effect removes all other article promos/spotlights from showing in your articles, while also creating a nice self-promoting banner at the end of each article to another one of your works.
• Badge supporters are automatically put into rotation for the author spotlight and have their articles included in promos.
• The ability to edit the AI summary for semantic search.

When you are reading an article look for the small setting button at the bottom center of your screen.
This will allow you to change your text size and switch between light/dark modes.
Note: if you are logged in your choices will become you default! And if you are not logged in TxtPub will try to remember

Your library is a private area and is divided into sections:

• Saved: For stories you want to read later.
• Favorites: For the works you love and want to remember.

Click the or icons on any story overview to add it to your library collection.

Note: your library also has some other usefull automatic sections:

• Continue Reading: any article you are currently reading.
• Finished Stories: articles you finished.
• Purchased Content: any articls you used a access code on live here, for alwayas!

Under my network, you can also see the people you follow and any Active Memberships you are part of.

Note: if you are not logged in there is no library.

Simply click the respective button on the articles overview page to download it.
Note: if the article is part of an author membership or a paid article, you won't be able to download it unless you are part of their membership or paid for it.
Check out below “how to Kindle” for how to get epub to your Kindle.

Yes, TxtPub makes available each article as both a PDF and an EPUB for offline use (see above EPUBs and PDFs for more details)
Amazon makes this a little more complex than other readers, but here are several ways to get an article to your Kindle.

Methods for Uploading EPUB to Kindle:

Send to Kindle Website:

• Go to the Send to Kindle website.
• Sign in with your Amazon account.
• Drag and drop your EPUB file, or click "Add your files".
• Ensure "Add to your library" is enabled, then click "Send".

Send to Kindle by Email:

• Find your unique Kindle email address under "Manage Content and Devices" > "Preferences" > "Personal Document Settings" on Amazon.
• Ensure your personal email address is in the "Approved Personal Document E-mail List".
• Attach the EPUB file to an email and send it to your Kindle email address.

Using the Kindle App (iOS/Android):

• Download the EPUB file to your phone.
• Select the file and choose the Kindle app via the share option.

USB Cable Transfer (No Sync):

• Connect your Kindle to a computer via USB.
• Note: EPUB files can struggle to work via USB; you may need to convert them to MOBI or AZW3 first using software like Calibre.

Important Notes:
Files may take a few minutes to appear.
Ensure the email is sent from the approved email address associated with your Amazon account.

TxtPub plans to convert each article to AI audio. Currently, this is a slower process, so please give us up to a few days for new articles to be converted to audio.

This is a CPU/GPU tasking process, and afterward it becomes a storage and bandwidth burden (which is why this is a supporter-only perk).

As of now, there are two reading voices, a feminine and a masculine one. (We would like to add a few more options, including a neutral voice!)

All users can get a short preview of the voices/article, while TxtPub supporters get the full article in audio and have the ability to download it for offline use. Audio can also be slowed down or sped up while listening.

Note: articles that the author locks behind memberships or single purchases will also require using the author access code to listen/download the audio.

Your wallet holds your Ink and is also the place you can reload Ink. (The wallet can only be used to support TxtPub and cannot be used with/for other site users or authors). As a reading member of TxtPub, there is a support badge you can get. This helps cover the servers' costs and TxtPub's operating expenses, and comes with some extra perks. (See the “Support badge” tab above for details.)
Authors also check out the wallet in the author tab above or learn more in the “Support badge” tab above.

There are two ways to get the support badge: a $4.98 monthly subscription (cancellable at any time). Or a single month at a time is 500 Ink (requires buying Ink through your wallet.)

Memberships in a nutshell. Authors more membership details under the author tab above
TxtPub offers “author memberships”. This is a way for authors to control, monetize, and share their works while protecting and benefiting both the authors and readers. TxtPub does not take a commission, charge, or have any involvement with the authors' memberships. (except for “enforcing” their settings.)

you must be logged in to join to use memberships

Purchasing an article in a nutshell. Authors for more details look under the author tab above. “Purchasing” an article on TxtPub is fully managed and set by the respective author. TxtPub does not take a commission, charge, or have any involvement with the authors' memberships. (except for “enforcing” their settings.) Purchasing an article is as simple as typing in the right “access code” made and shared by the author.
A side note: purchased articles stay in your library even if the author decides later to unpublish or stop writing.

Only for logged in members

Since TxtPub is all about privacy, user safety, and usability, we do not allow money or any payments on the site. So we use access codes as an alternative, which are pretty straightforward. The respective authors create and manage their own access codes used to gain access to individual membership levels or single-purchased articles. TxtPub does not take a commission, charge, or have any involvement with the authors' access codes. (except for “enforcing” their settings.) Authors can share their different access codes however they want to whoever they want.

only logged in users can use access codes

You can use almost any email address to sign up for TxtPub. Your email will not be shared publicly on TxtPub. Please note that the email you sign up with cannot be changed. (You will have to create a new account with another email if you want to use another email.)

Note: if you join an authors membership that author will be able to see your email

TxtPub will try to use your username as the start of your email address. However, if you want to change it, we highly recommend it.Changing your default username enhances your privacy.

Your public profile picture and color can be added and changed anytime in My Settings, under the Explore & more button in the menu.

Authors also see “Colors” in the "author" tab above for more details.

Explore (search)

Both logged-in/out users can use the explore (search). There is a filter button on mobile or the same expanded filter for bigger screens.

Catigory/Tag search

You can stack categories and tags or simply look for one.
Stacking or clicking multiple tags or categories will filter down to articles that have those same tags/categories in your search results. (Remove a category/tag from your search results by clicking the little x next to it. Or clear all using the clear button)

Note: you can also click a tag within any article overview to jump back to the “explore page” with that tag as your base search

Logged-in users also have access to a list of all tags currently on TxtPub. In “Home Feed,” top-right, next to the article title search bar, there is a “tag button.”
PLEASE NOTE:
tags are made by authors when they publish an article.

AI Semantic Search

Only logged-in badge supporter members can use this non-passive search (for now). The Semantic search is still in beta (like this whole site).
How it works: each article, once published, gets fully read and summarized by our “big AI.” (After the summary, our “big AI" is cleared.) TxtPub then saves this new small summary in a specialized vertical database, where we performs “math” on each letter and word. We then save that list of tokens in a special reference that our search AI reads. (We also do a bit more magic, but that's the generals.) This makes searching for context while keeping the article and author safe very fast and mostly accurate. (Remember it's still in beta.)

Home Feed search

This search bar is for any logged-in user and is found on the top right on your Home Feed. This search bar searches article titles.

Click the explore & more in your menu. Then click Find people.
Authors and editors read more about this in the editor tab above
Finding people is only available for logged-in users

When you "Follow" an author/user, their newest releases and blog posts will appear directly in your Home Feed. You can manage your following list from your libary and "Follow" any author/user by visiting their profile page and clicking the "follow" button.
Authors/Readers cannot see who follows them.

Note: if you are not logged in there is no Following.

How does one find a new interesting article? Yes, we can use a search, but it often “pigeonholes” us. How do authors get to new readers? While brainstorming these issues and more, the idea of spotlighting and/or promoting articles and/or authors kept coming up. So we came up with a clean, unintrusive, fair way to add this value for both the authors and us readers, we call it: promoted/spotlighted articles/authors.

This system helps authors share with more readers and helps readers find new articles/authors. Authors who write many articles, have a high completion rate, or are supporters, etc., get put into this “lottery” for each bonus they have. All articles and authors start with one entry into this “lottery”. When an article is opened, TxtPub counts the available spaces (plus several more) for a “promoted/spotlight.” Then, just like the “lottery”, those spaces are filled. TxtPub then checks if the article/author picked is the same as the current article/author, and if it is, that “lottery” pick is skipped.
Now remember, if an article has 20 entries into the “lottery”, it has a higher chance of getting picked (maybe even more than once). Authors can also use Ink to increase their chances by getting more entries into the “lottery”. But in the end, it's still like a “lottery”: just because an article has 20 entries into the “lottery” doesn’t mean it will be picked over one with 1 “lottery” entry.

Promoted/Spotlights are used throughout the TxtPub from the explore page to inside articles' text.

Here at TxtPub, we can't stand the normal 5-star rating system, and the 1~10 is worse. Having a thumbs-up/down is better, but it doesn’t leave open the possibility that it wasn't bad but isn't amazing, so we went with a simple 3-face rating. Only logged-in users can post a review

Logged-in users can post a review to any article. It's easy and helps give feedback to the author. When you are on the article overview page, scroll down to the Reader Reviews and write a review when you are ready. Simply click one of the icons (smile, neutral, frown) to save your review.

You can only post one review per article. If you write a second review on the same article, the old review will be replaced.

On the article overview page, next to the article tags, there is a flag button. Anyone can flag a post.
TxtPub uses a weighted algorithm to flag articles. (We take all flags seriously.)

Any logged-in member can click the Site Feedback button located at the bottom of your menu.

Use “Site Feedback” to send your thoughts, ideas, site issues, issues with Ink, and more to TxtPub.

Ink is our internal utility credit. You can use Ink to:

• Promote an Article: Feature your story in the "Promoted" slots across the site.
• Promote Yourself: Feature your author profile on the sidebar of popular stories.

You can set your own "Per Click" price for Ink to compete for the best visibility.

Want to give away a story for free to a specific person? You can generate Access Codes in your Dashboard. When a reader redeems that code, they get permanent access to that specific work, regardless of its price or tier.

Will update this shortly

Once a partnership is active, you can open an author's draft in the Workspace. Any changes you save are instantly visible to the author. Once you are done, click "Finish Editing" to notify the author that the draft is ready for review.

Note: You will have access to the draft until you send it back to the author. The author can resend it to you on review for another round of editing.

In your editor queue, you will see any new author requests and can accept or deny them. (Note: the author will not know if you deny the request on their end.) If you accept the request, the author will receive an editor has accepted collaboration message with your profile name. Each time the author saves a draft, they can share it with any editor they collaborate with.
Note: Authors cannot remove an active collaborated editor from their end.

To become an editor, click the Explore and more in your menu, then click “My Settings”. Scroll down to the “Author & Editor Settings” section and select the editor checkbox.
If you dont notice any changes, refreshing your webpage can help you see the editor changes, as becoming an editor has some big effects on the database.
To stop being an editor, simply unselect the editor checkbox.

Note: as of right now, TxtPub does not display a published list of available editors.

You will receive the Editor Badge, which is displayed on your profile, along with a button for authors to request a collaboration with you.

In your editor workspace, you can edit the full text and view the summary, tags, categories, and more. Remember, you can use Markdown.
Every edit you make is marked for the author's easy view: removals are marked in red and additions are in green.

In your workspace, you can write the author notes and also see the author notes back.