FAQs

What is Differ?

Differ is a contributor network where anyone can share their unique insights, knowledge, and life lessons without the pressure of building a huge audience first. It's a platform that's simple, elegant, and collaborative, connecting you with the right audience for your thoughts and ideas.

Is Differ Free to Read?

It's absolutely free. There will be no paywalls whatsoever. The internet is a vast source of information, and we believe everyone deserves free and fair access. You won't even need an account to browse topics and publications, or read stories.Creating an account is completely free and it comes with the following benefits:

• Follow your favorite topics, writers, or publications. You’ll then see their latest stories on your Personalized feed.
• Save your favorite stories to pick them up later.
• Engage with your favorite writers by liking and commenting on their stories.
• Write and self-publish or submit your stories to publications, and receive professional curation for your stories.
• Create publications of your own.

How Do I Get Published?

Stories you self-publish get instantly published on the platform. However, if you choose to submit to a publication then publishing would depend on the publication's curation team. The publishing process is simple. After you finish writing your story, you can either self-publish or submit it to a publication, adjust the SEO title, set the SEO description, add a featured image, add up to 3 topics/keywords your story is related to and finally set a canonical URL if you wish.

Who can submit a story?

If you've created an account on Differ, you'll be able to submit your stories.

What happens when I submit a story to Differ?

If you self-publish, your story gets published as soon as you hit submit. If you submit to a publication, then publishing would depend on the publication's curation team.

Why was my story removed?

If a story violates our content policy then we reserve the right to remove your story.

How Can I Advertise on Differ?

Differ mainly offers these modes of advertising:

• Banner Advertising: You will appear on our page banner, visible to everyone.
• Brand as an author: For company profiles, we charge a small monthly/annual fee.
• Feeling Creative? Maybe you're looking for something specific. Whatever it is, let's talk!

Drop a mail to hello@plainenglish.io and let us know your requirements.

Do You Accept Guest Posts?

We accept all stories as long as you have an account on Differ and adhere to our content policy.

Why should I publish on Differ?

Mainly because your stories deserve more distribution and eyeballs. As a reputable contributor network receiving 3.5 million monthly traffic, our platform can easily get your story the attention it deserves.

How often can I submit stories?

There’s no upper limit to how many stories you can submit in a day. But it’s best to give your stories some breathing space and time to gain some traction before publishing another one.

How to frame a title for your story?

This is a very difficult question which perhaps doesn't have a single correct answer. However, if there ever was a rule it's that you should refrain from setting clickbait titles. They might get you short-term success but after dealing with thousands of stories, we know that readers eventually get smart and avoid clicking.

Can I submit a story I have already published elsewhere?

Yes, you certainly can. Just ensure you're putting proper disclaimers within the story with appropriate links.

It's been 2+ days since I submitted my story to a publication, why has it not been published yet?

Sometimes, publication editors are dealing with a bloated backlog due to a high volume of submissions, which is why the review may take longer than usual.

How do I know if my story has been rejected by a publication?

Your self-published stories upon rejection from a publication go back to being regular self-published stories.

If you've submitted them directly to a publication then upon rejection, they come back as a draft, visible on your profile.

Are pseudonyms allowed to publish on Differ?

Yes. Pseudonyms have long accompanied writers. We value pseudonyms that publish high-quality stories.

Who owns the content on Differ?

Contributing writers own their content on Differ. By submitting stories, contributors grant Differ full rights to license, edit and distribute their content.
Additionally, contributors can remove their content at any time. Contributing writers are also welcome to republish their content wherever and whenever they see fit - we appreciate a mention and link back but it is completely optional.

For a more comprehensive answer, please read our full terms of use.

What are some of your criteria for putting stories on the Featured section?

Stories our curation team deems fit to receive maximum attention goes into the Featured section.

What can I do to get more views for my stories?

• Writing an appropriate title and subtitle is always a good starting point.
• Make sure your story delivers what it promises in the title.
• Attach appropriate topics to your story (you can do so when you publish).
• Include a featured image that's relevant to your story.
• Write appropriate SEO Title and SEO Description before publishing your story.
• Ensure your story adheres to our content policy.

Will Differ put a paywall on any story?

No

How Do I Follow Writers?

Go to the writer's profile and click on Follow:

How do I Follow Topics?

Go to the topics page and select the ones you want to follow.

How can I reach Differ writers?

You could reach out to them using their social media handles. You'll generally get their social media profiles on their Differ profile page, unless they've hidden it or chosen not to share.

Alternatively, you could drop comments on their stories to engage with them.

How to contact you?

You can drop an email at hello@plainenglish.io.