Shared space

Make collaboration safe to join

We welcome people with lived experience, writers, editors, researchers, and readers who want to turn knowledge into books together. These guidelines are not here to make expression timid; they help people from different backgrounds participate with confidence.

Mutual respect

Respond to the work, not the person

Good books need honest discussion, and honest discussion needs basic care. Keep criticism specific, restrained, and focused on facts, structure, and expression.

• Offer usable feedback

  When you point out a problem, explain why and include examples, sources, or an alternative wording when you can.

• No harassment or discrimination

  Do not attack, exclude, or insult people because of identity, background, belief, gender, age, disability, or other personal traits.

• Disagree without demeaning

  Strong disagreement is welcome. Personal attacks, ridicule, threats, and repeated unwanted contact are not.

Originality and credit

Post only what you have the right to post

Collaborative books depend on trust. Make sure the text, images, materials, and quotations you submit can be used lawfully, and respect every contributor's work.

• Confirm your rights

  Do not upload content you cannot publicly share, adapt, or authorize the team to use.

• Do not plagiarize

  Quotes, paraphrases, and research references should be clearly sourced. Do not present someone else's work as your own.

• Respect contribution and credit

  For co-writing, editing, interviews, research, or proofreading, record contributions accurately under the team's rules.

Content standards

Public content should be fit for shared reading

ThePeopleBook supports serious, complex, and disputed nonfiction. It does not host content that is unlawful, infringing, hateful, or plainly harmful.

• No unlawful or infringing content

  Do not post content that violates rights, exposes private information, incites hatred, harasses, deceives, or evades platform safety measures.

• Respect review outcomes

  Public-facing content must align with platform review rules. If changes are requested, address the feedback before submitting again.

Honest collaboration

Treat team commitments as real

A book takes time. Honest collaboration means being clear about your capacity, responding to the team, and joining decisions under the rules the team has accepted.

• Honor accepted tasks

  If you can no longer take on a chapter, review, or proofreading task, say so early so the team can adjust.

• Communicate changes plainly

  Raise questions about facts, sources, revenue, credit, or schedules early instead of letting confusion build privately.

• Use the agreed governance rules

  Voting, review, assignment, and launch decisions should follow the rules confirmed by the book team.

Reporting and handling

If something looks wrong, tell us

If you see content or behavior that may violate these guidelines, use the page report entry or contact us through the Help Center. Reports are reviewed seriously; specific locations and reasons help us act faster.

• Explain what happened

  Include links, screenshots, book titles, chapter names, or comment locations so the team can find the issue.

• The platform may act as needed

  Actions may include reminders, required edits, visibility limits, content removal, removal from a team, or account suspension.

• Good-faith reports are welcome

  Report real concerns. Do not use reporting to silence disagreement or disrupt normal collaboration.