Community Guidelines

Askis where indie authors help each other publish better. It works because people are generous with real answers and honest about what they've tried. To keep it that way, everyone who posts a question or an answer agrees to these guidelines.

The whole thing in one line: be helpful, be honest, don't spam. Everything below is just that spelled out.

Anyone can aska question — you don't need an account, and questions asked signed-out show as Anonymous. Answering requires a free account, so every answer carries a real author name behind it.

Whether you're signed in or anonymous, you're responsible for what you post, and these guidelines apply to you the same way.

Treat other authors the way you'd want to be treated when you're the one stuck and asking. Disagreement is fine — being cruel about it is not. The following will get a post removed, and repeated behaviour will get an account suspended:

• Harassment or personal attacks — going after a person rather than engaging with what they said.
• Hate speech or slurs — anything demeaning someone for who they are (race, religion, gender, sexuality, disability, nationality, and so on) is not welcome here, full stop.
• Offensive or obscene language aimed at another member, and gratuitous profanity. A stray word in the heat of a real answer is one thing; abuse is another.
• Threats or encouraging self-harm or violence.
• Sexually explicit contentor anything you couldn't post in a professional space.

This is a community of authors, and promoting your own work is allowed and encouraged— when it's part of a genuine answer. Sharing your book, your newsletter, a tool you built, or a blog post you wrote is welcome if it actually helps the person asking.

The line is spam. A post crosses it when it's:

• The same link or message posted repeatedlyacross many questions, especially where it isn't relevant.
• An answer that exists only to drop a linkand doesn't actually answer the question.
• Affiliate links, referral codes, or paid placements dressed up as advice, without saying so.
• Off-topic advertising— anything that isn't about writing, publishing, or your work as an author.
• Automated or bulk posting, or using multiple accounts to promote the same thing.

A good test: would this still be useful if you had nothing to sell?If yes, share away. If the only point is the link, it's spam.

A few things that keep Ask worth reading for the next person who searches for it:

• Ask a real questionand add the detail that helps someone answer it — what you've tried, where you're stuck.
• Tag it correctly (one or two topics) so it reaches the right people.
• Answer the question that was asked.If you're not sure, it's fine to say so.
• Don't post misinformation— if you're passing on something you heard rather than know, say that.
• No duplicate or nonsense posts, and nothing generated purely to fill space.

Don't post anything that isn't yours to post, or that breaks the law:

• No copyright infringement— don't paste someone else's writing, cover art, or paid content as if it were free to share.
• No private information about other people — yours or theirs — such as addresses, phone numbers, or emails.
• No impersonation— don't post as another author or claim a book that isn't yours.
• No scams, phishing, or malicious links.

We moderate Ask. A post that breaks these guidelines can be hidden or removed, and an account that does it repeatedly — or does something serious once — can be suspended or removed. We don't take that lightly, and we aim to be fair, but keeping the space useful for everyone comes first.

See something that breaks the rules? Tell us at hello@indiefiction.comwith a link to the post, and we'll look into it.

As the community grows we may update these guidelines. The date at the top always reflects the current version, and by continuing to post on Ask you agree to the version in force. These guidelines sit alongside our Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.