Writers Can Now Write
The Author Dashboard has landed. You can now create series, add books, write chapters, and publish your stories directly on Writers Grove.
Author Dashboard
Switch to Author Mode and you’ll see your new command center:
Stats at a Glance
- Ranking - Your position among all authors
- Series, Books, Chapters - Content counts
- Words - Total word count across all your work
- Reviews & Average Rating - Reader feedback
- Follows & Comments - Engagement metrics
Series Management
- Create new series with cover images, descriptions, and keywords
- Mark content as NSFW or AI-generated
- Toggle between Draft and Published status
- Delete series you no longer want
Book Management
- Add books within each series
- Each book gets its own cover, description, and keywords
- Same draft/publish workflow as series
- Delete individual books
Rich Text Editor
We’ve integrated Quill, a powerful rich text editor, for writing chapters:
- Formatting - Bold, italic, headers, lists, blockquotes
- Clean interface - Focus on your writing, not the tools
- Markdown support - Content is stored and rendered cleanly for readers
Write your chapter, add a description and keywords, then publish or save as draft.
Content Controls
Every piece of content (series, books, chapters) now has consistent controls:
- Edit - Update title, description, cover, and metadata
- Publish/Draft - Toggle visibility to readers
- Delete - Remove content with confirmation prompts
Chapters also show in a manageable list view with quick-action buttons for editing and deleting.
Terms of Service Agreement
New authors are now prompted to accept the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy before publishing. This protects both writers and readers on the platform.
Infrastructure Updates
Behind the scenes, we made significant changes:
- Unified Server - Migrated from AWS Lambda to a single DigitalOcean droplet for better performance and simpler deployment
- Security Improvements - SQL injection protections and middleware hardening
- Accessibility - ADA compliance updates for screen readers and keyboard navigation
- UI Polish - Quality of life improvements across the dashboard
What’s Next
- Chapter reordering (move chapters up/down)
- Author profile pages
- Reading lists and bookmarks
- Search functionality
Try It Out
The Author Dashboard is live on beta.writersgrove.net. Feel free to explore the features, but note that beta is for testing only. Data on beta will not transfer to production when we launch.
Join our Discord to share feedback or connect with other writers.
Questions or feedback? Reach out at steven@writersgrove.net
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