I’ve Been Holding FicStack Back

(And I Didn’t Even Know It)

Sometimes being careful crosses the line into being paralyzed.

For the past few months, I’ve been running FicStack on the assumption that we could only show you brief excerpts from submitted stories. Title, publication, a sentence or two to give you a taste - then you’d click through to read the rest on Substack.

I was being cautious. Respectful of copyright. Didn’t want to step on any toes.

Turns out? I was being an idiot.

The Realization

Our submission form asked authors for permission to “share their Substack information.” I interpreted that conservatively - just metadata, just the basics.

But here’s the thing: there’s nothing in Substack’s rules preventing me from displaying full content if the author gives permission. Substack doesn’t own the copyright - authors do. And if authors want to grant that permission, that’s entirely their call.

I just... never asked properly.

So I’ve updated the submission form to be crystal clear: “Do you grant FicStack permission to display your submitted post(s) on the platform, including full text content, to help readers discover your work?”

Going forward, authors can say yes or no. Simple as that.

What This Actually Means

For new submissions where authors opt in, FicStack can show you more. Not just a teaser - enough to actually feel a writer’s voice. To know if their style resonates with you before you commit to clicking through.

This isn’t about replacing the reading experience on Substack. It’s about making discovery actually work.

Think about it: how many times have you clicked on a promising title only to realize three paragraphs in that the writing style just isn’t for you? Or missed a gem because the excerpt was too brief to hook you?

Better previews mean better matches. You find writers you’ll actually subscribe to. Writers find readers who genuinely connect with their work.

Everyone wins.

For Existing Submitters

Here’s where I need to be transparent with you.

If you’ve already submitted to FicStack, your permission was for “sharing Substack information” - which I’ve been interpreting as basic details only.

I’m not going to assume that covers full text display. That feels like overstepping.

So if you’re one of our existing submitters and you’re comfortable with FicStack displaying your full post content to help with discovery, I’d genuinely appreciate if you could resubmit (or just shoot me a message). It takes two minutes and helps us showcase your work properly.

If you’d rather keep it as excerpts only? That’s completely fine. No pressure, no judgment.

What’s Next

FicStack has always been about one thing: helping readers find fiction they’ll love, and helping writers find readers who’ll appreciate their work.

Now we can do that better.

More context. More discovery. More connections between the right readers and the right stories.

Sometimes moving forward just means asking the right question properly.

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