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You choose. Each manuscript has one of three access levels:

• Public — anyone with the link can read and react.
• Approval required — anyone can preview your public chapters; the rest unlock after you approve a request.
• Private — only readers you have invited by email can see anything.

You can change the access level at any time from the manuscript settings page.

Within a manuscript, each chapter has its own visibility setting. A public chapter is readable by anyone who can see the manuscript. A published chapter is only readable by approved readers — even on an otherwise public manuscript. A privatechapter is the author's draft and is not visible to anyone else.

Use this to gate the back half of a book: keep the first few chapters public to attract interest, and keep the rest published for the readers you have approved.

Every chapter version is preserved. When you publish a new revision, the annotations readers left on the previous version stay attached to that version. New annotations on the latest version stack alongside them, so you never lose feedback by editing.

You see everything — the reader, the reaction type, the highlighted passage, and any comment they left. There are no anonymous reactions on UnboundProse.

On a manuscript with Approval required access, a reader who finds your book has to request access and wait for you to approve. Access codes skip that step. Share a code with someone (Substack, Discord, an email blast, a conference) and they redeem it for instant access.

Generate codes from the Readers tab on your manuscript dashboard. You can:

• Auto-generate a short code, or type your own (e.g. BETA2026)
• Cap the number of uses (e.g. 50 readers max)
• Set an expiry date
• Revoke a code at any time — readers who already redeemed it keep their access

For one-click redemption, append ?code=YOURCODE to the manuscript URL: unboundprose.com/books/<you>/<book>?code=BETA2026. The reader lands on the manuscript page with the code pre-filled and just hits Redeem.

Codes only apply to Approval requiredmanuscripts. Open access doesn't need them; private manuscripts use invitations.

On desktop: select any text in the manuscript and a small reaction picker appears next to the selection. Click an emoji to react instantly, or tap the 💬 button to add a comment alongside the reaction.

On phones and tablets:long-press to select text the way you normally would in iOS or Android. Your phone's usual selection menu (Copy / Look Up / etc.) will appear — that's fine, leave it alone. At the bottom of the screen you'll see a floating “✏️ Annotate selection” pill. Tap it to open the reaction picker.

Five quick reactions: ❤️ Love, 👍 Good, 👎 Issue, ❓ Question, 😠 Problem. Or open the comment mode (💬) to leave a longer note with or without a reaction. All annotations are attributed to you — the author sees who left what.

Use the notes sidebar on the reading page for thoughts that span the whole manuscript — questions, tracking notes, things you want to remember. These are private to you. The author cannot see them.

On phones the notes sidebar slides up from a floating ✏️ button in the bottom-right corner so it doesn't crowd the chapter text.

Annotations on specific passages, on the other hand, are visible to the author. That is the point of leaving them.

At the end of every chapter you'll see two five-star questions: “How eager are you to read the next chapter?” and “This chapter earned my time.” Authors use these to spot chapters that drag, lose momentum, or hit harder than they expected. Both are optional, and you can change your ratings any time.

For longer feedback, tap “Chapter survey →” under the stars. That opens a short form with three free-text prompts (what pulled you out of the story, what was the strongest moment, what questions you're carrying into the next chapter). Also optional.

Private manuscripts are invitation-only. The author needs to send you an invitation by email. Once you accept, the manuscript shows up in your reading list.

Open the manuscript's page (the author should have shared a link). Below the “Start reading” button you'll see a small “Have an access code?” link. Tap it, paste your code, and hit Redeem.

You'll need to be signed in (or create an account first) — the access has to be tied to a user. Once redeemed, you have full access to every published chapter and can leave annotations and chapter feedback.

If the author shared a one-click URL like unboundprose.com/books/.../...?code=XXX, the code is filled in for you — just click Redeem.

Yes — the reading experience is mobile-first. Annotations work with a long-press selection and a tap on the “Annotate selection” pill at the bottom. Notes open from a floating ✏️ button. Chapter navigation, the end-of-chapter rating, and the chapter survey all work the same as on desktop.

You don't need an app — just visit unboundprose.comin Safari or Chrome. For frequent reading you can add it to your home screen (iOS: Share → “Add to Home Screen”) and it'll behave like an app.

Open your profile page and use the "Become an Author" button. Your reading history and annotations stay intact — you just gain access to the author dashboard.

The platform is free during private beta. We will publish pricing before charging anyone, and existing manuscripts will not be held hostage by it.