Guidelines

1.1. Ownership & rights

You must own or hold the rights to everything you publish. Do not submit work that belongs to someone else, even with minor modifications. For detailed rules on copyright, licensed imagery, and visual assets, see our Copyright Policy.

1.2. Translations & adaptations

Translating or adapting another author's work requires explicit written permission from the original rights holder. If you have that permission, the work must be clearly credited as a translation or adaptation of the original. Machine-translated content submitted as your own work is not permitted.

1.3. Multi-platform publishing

Saphly believes in author freedom. You are free to publish your work here and on any other platform simultaneously. We do not claim exclusivity over community-published work; you simply need to own the rights to the work you submit.

2.1. What's allowed

• Grammar checkers, spellcheck, and autocorrect.
• Writing tools used to assist with grammar, phrasing, or clarity, provided the creative output—the ideas, voice, characters, narrative, and structure—originates from you. The test is authorship of the creative work, not the tools used in its production.

2.2. What's not allowed

• Writing: full or substantially AI-generated text.
• Covers: AI-generated artwork or imagery, or covers where AI generation forms a substantial part of the artwork.
• Metadata: AI-generated book descriptions, blurbs, or tags.

2.3. How we detect AI content

Every submission is reviewed by a human. We can make mistakes, and we only reject when AI use is evident. Common indicators include:

• Repetitive phrasing patterns.
• Lack of a coherent or consistent storyline.
• Unnatural dialogue or descriptions.
• Known AI generation cues and artifacts.

2.4. Consequences

Submissions flagged for AI content are rejected during review. You will receive feedback explaining the decision and can revise with human-written material and resubmit. Repeated or egregious violations may result in account suspension.

3.1. Age of characters

Sexual and explicit content must only involve characters who are 18 years of age or older, regardless of the age of consent in your country, since Saphly operates under Portuguese law. If character ages are ambiguous in a sexual or explicit context, they will be treated as minors. Aging up real or fictional minor characters for sexual content is also prohibited.

If a character's age is later retconned, revised, or revealed through sequels, author statements, or external canon to be a minor, enforcement is based on the depiction as published. Authors are responsible for ensuring that any future updates to a work do not introduce ambiguity around the ages of characters in sexual or explicit contexts.

This requirement applies to sexual and explicit content only. Age-appropriate romance, relationships, and intimacy in young adult and coming-of-age stories are welcome, provided they are not sexual in nature and are correctly categorized for their intended audience.

3.2. Required categorization

Explicit content must be accurately flagged as mature, tagged with the appropriate target audience, heat level, and any relevant content warnings before publishing. Mislabeling explicit content as appropriate for general audiences is a violation of these Guidelines and may result in content removal or account action.

3.3. Access restrictions

Content marked as mature may only be viewed by users with a registered account. This includes previews, excerpts, and other limited-access content displays. By creating an account and accessing mature content, users are responsible for ensuring they meet the applicable age requirements in their jurisdiction and comply with our Terms of Service.

3.4. Explicit content standards

Even when accurately categorized, explicit content needs to be handled responsibly and must meet the following standards:

• Explicit scenes must serve the story in some capacity, unless the book is listed under a genre where this is expected by nature (such as erotica) and is correctly categorized as such. Gratuitous content with no narrative context outside of these genres may be removed.
• Extreme or niche content (such as graphic BDSM, edgeplay, or other high-intensity scenarios) must be clearly flagged with appropriate content warnings beyond the standard heat level tag.
• Content that blurs the line between explicit and graphic violence (such as torture presented in a sexual context) is not permitted.

3.5. Prohibited sexual content

• Sexual content involving minors in any form, including aged-up depictions of characters established as minors.
• Non-consensual or dubiously consensual scenarios framed as unambiguously positive fantasy without critical distance, regardless of whether explicit approval language is used. For example: a scene where a character explicitly refuses and that refusal is depicted as secretly desired and ultimately gratifying, with no narrative acknowledgment of the violation, is prohibited. A scene that depicts the same dynamic but frames it with moral weight, consequence, or complexity—even if not resolved—is not.
• Content designed to harass or demean a specific person through sexual depiction.
• Bestiality or sexual content involving non-human entities in a way that mirrors the above prohibited categories.

6.1. Fictionalization requirements

• Content involving real people must be clearly fictional and not presented as factual claims or reporting.
• Stories should not intentionally mislead readers into believing fabricated events are real.
• Using fiction to spread knowingly false allegations about a real person is prohibited.

6.2. Harassment & exploitation

• Content designed to harass, humiliate, defame, or harm a specific real person is not allowed.
• Sexualized depictions of real people that are exploitative, invasive, harassing, or presented in a way intended to cause harm are prohibited.
• Content encouraging harassment, dogpiling, or targeted abuse toward real individuals is prohibited.

6.3. Privacy & personal information

• Do not share or depict private information about real people without consent, including addresses, phone numbers, private email addresses, financial information, or personal relationships.
• Publishing leaked, hacked, or non-public personal material is not permitted.
• Content that attempts to expose, track, or endanger a person's real-world safety will be removed immediately.

6.4. Public figures

Public figures may be referenced in transformative or fictional works, but they are still protected under these Guidelines. Being well-known does not permit harassment, invasive sexualization, or disclosure of private information.

7.1. Fanfiction rules

• Fanfiction must be clearly identified as fan-created work based using the platform's fanfiction classification when publishing.
• Fanfiction of community-published works on Saphly is not permitted without explicit permission from the original author.
• You may not falsely claim ownership over characters, settings, or worlds that belong to another creator or franchise.
• Fan-created works must still comply with all other Content and Community Guidelines.
• Fanfiction based on works published through Saphly's traditional publishing catalog is treated the same as fanfiction of any other commercially published book. It is permitted provided it complies with all other Content and Community Guidelines, is clearly identified as fan-created, and is not monetized without the rights holder's permission.

7.2. Monetization

• Fanfiction may not be monetized on Saphly unless you hold the necessary rights or permissions to commercially use the underlying intellectual property.
• Works substantially rewritten into original fiction with distinct characters, settings, and storylines may be eligible for monetization at Saphly's discretion.

7.3. Copyright & trademarks

• Do not reproduce substantial portions of copyrighted text, lyrics, scripts, or dialogue without authorization.
• Do not upload pirated, leaked, or unauthorized copies of existing works.
• Trademarked names, logos, or branding may not be used in misleading or commercial ways that imply endorsement or official affiliation.
• Covers and promotional materials must not use copyrighted imagery unless properly licensed or otherwise legally permitted.

9.1. AI-generated artwork

AI-generated covers and visual assets are not permitted. This applies to fully AI-generated images and to images where AI generation forms a substantial part of the artwork.

9.2. Content standards

• Covers must not display explicit sexual content, graphic violence, or imagery that violates these Guidelines.
• Covers must not be misleading about the nature or genre of the work.
• Titles must not use excessive emojis, ALL CAPS, or decorative symbols that hinder readability or misrepresent the work.