Writers Grove Gets Personal
This release brings user accounts to Writers Grove. You can now sign in, claim your username, and switch between Reader and Author modes. But the biggest addition? Protecting your work from AI.
Protecting Creator Content from AI
This is the feature we’re most excited about. Writers Grove is built with content protection at its core.
The Problem
AI companies are scraping the web at unprecedented scale, harvesting creative works to train their models. Writers are finding their stories, styles, and characters reproduced without consent or compensation. Most platforms do nothing to stop it.
Our Approach
Writers Grove implements aggressive rate limiting designed to make bulk scraping impractical:
- Limited content access - Requests are throttled to human reading speeds
- Escalating lockouts - Repeated rapid requests trigger increasingly longer timeouts
- No anonymous bulk access - The architecture assumes bad actors and plans accordingly
When you hit a rate limit, you’ll see a countdown showing exactly when you can continue. For normal readers, you’ll never notice it. For scrapers trying to vacuum up thousands of chapters? They’ll be waiting a very long time.
Why This Matters
Your stories are yours. When you publish on Writers Grove, we’re committed to keeping it that way. This is just the first layer of protection, with more planned as we grow.
Magic Link Authentication
No passwords to remember. Just enter your email, click the link we send you, and you’re in.
- Passwordless login - A secure magic link is sent to your email
- 5-minute expiration - Links expire quickly for security
- Cross-subdomain sessions - Sign in once and stay authenticated across all of Writers Grove
Claim Your Username
New users are prompted to claim their username after signing in. Your username becomes your public identity on the platform.
- Unique usernames - First come, first served
- Validation - 3-20 characters, starts with a letter, letters/numbers/underscores only
- Reserved names - Common terms and potential impersonation targets are protected
Reader & Author Modes
A new toggle in the navigation lets you switch between two experiences:
Reader Mode
The default view for discovering and reading stories. This is what you’ve been seeing on beta.
Author Mode
A new dashboard (coming soon) where writers will create and manage their stories. Currently shows a preview of what’s planned:
- Create and manage series
- Write and publish chapters
- Track readers and engagement
- Customize your author profile
User Menu
Click your username to access:
- Profile - View and edit your profile (coming soon)
- Log Out - Clears your session and returns you to the home page
Under the Hood
We’ve also made some infrastructure improvements to support these new features:
- Improved error handling - Clear modal popups when something goes wrong
- Better logging - Easier debugging when issues occur
- Rate limiting - Protection against abuse with countdown timers showing when you can retry
What’s Next
- Author dashboard for creating series and chapters
- User profile pages
- Reading lists and bookmarks
- Following your favorite authors
Try It Out
Head over to beta.writersgrove.net and sign in with your email. Claim your username before someone else does!
Join our Discord to share feedback or connect with other early adopters.
Questions or feedback? Reach out at steven@writersgrove.net
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