A story to read.
A story only you can tell.

Sending your letter gives us permission to publish it.

You keep your copyright. By sending a story, you give Letter Between Us non-exclusive permission to publish the version you submitted, including your attached photographs and your chosen public signature, on this website if selected. We do not need another approval to publish that unchanged version. Saving a private draft does not grant publication permission.

Changes to your story need your approval.

If we’d like to change your title, words, or photo captions, we’ll send the proposed changes to your account and wait for your approval before using them. You can agree, ask for different changes, or decline. Your silence is not approval. We email your verified account address when there is a new request. Sign in to read and reply; private messages are not included in email. You can turn off updates for each letter in your account.

Keep up with your letter.

Your account holds your submitted letters, their publication status, and requests from our editors. You can reply to proposed edits or an editor’s questions, and approve a final print proof or ask for changes. We email your verified account address about new editorial requests and online publication, unless you turn off updates for that letter. These service messages are separate from the Sunday list. Failed delivery does not remove requests from your account.

Publication is a conversation.

Submission does not guarantee publication or payment. There is no entry fee or prize competition. If an editor contacts you, you can ask for corrections or withdraw your letter before publication. Printed copies already distributed cannot be recalled.

Your story, your public signature.

Choose Publish anonymously in Photos & details before sending. Readers see Anonymous; your name, country, region, profile photo, social links and recording stay hidden. Your supplied name and contact details remain available to you and the editors. Review the story, photographs and captions for identifying details; anonymous attribution does not remove them from your words or images.

A profile photo is optional. Add, change or remove it from your account. It appears with letters published under your name, never anonymous letters. We prepare a small portrait and remove embedded image metadata. Profile photos are separate from photographs approved for a printed letter.

Your name is your choice.

Use your first name or a pen name. For letters published under your name, your country and any state or region you add appear beside it. These details stay hidden on anonymous letters. We do not ask for your street address for a public story. Your email is private and available only to the editorial team, for matters relating to your submission. We do not display it with your letter or add you to a mailing list.

Share only what you have permission to share.

The story must be your own, and you must own or have permission to publish the photographs. Leave out private addresses, contact details, and identifying information about other people without their permission. Don’t submit someone else’s confidential story.

A letter on paper.

You can preview your own saved letters and approved public print editions. Your first designed print edition is free in this browser; Between Us members can prepare unlimited editions. The free allowance is used when you open the print dialog. You can retry the same unchanged copy for 24 hours. It covers preparing an edition, not the number of physical copies or a postal delivery.

We use a signed, essential browser cookie and a random, hashed print identifier to remember this allowance. It is separate from visit analytics and contains no letter text or contact details. A different browser or clearing cookies may reset the allowance. Your printer and saved PDF remain under your control.

Writers choose whether their words travel on paper.

The optional print permission on new submissions covers a branded edition with the writer’s credit and approved photographs, printed by readers to keep, give to friends, or leave in a café or restaurant with the venue’s permission. We ask the writer to approve the final story proof first. Older print permissions do not automatically grant this wider sharing permission. Members’ exclusive editions are for personal reading, and private letters remain private on the website. Printing your own draft does not submit or publish it.

Short passages, shared with permission.

Quote cards are optional. You can allow them when submitting or from your letter’s settings. Editors select a short, exact passage from your words; readers can download a portrait or square image with your chosen public signature and a link back to the published letter. New downloads stop when you turn permission off, though already shared copies cannot be recalled. Private drafts and members’ exclusive letters do not have public quote cards.

Private notes from readers.

Writers can opt in to short, private notes from readers. Every note is moderated before the writer receives it. Notes are never posted publicly, and writers can switch them off in their account.

Optional recordings.

After sending a letter, you can record yourself reading it or upload a recording from your submission page. Give separate permission to publish your voice. Recordings are reviewed before they appear, and the written letter always stays alongside them. Recordings stay hidden on anonymous letters.

The Sunday email.

Join the Sunday list with your email address—no account is needed. Confirm your email before receiving the welcome and weekly letters. Signed-in readers can join using their verified account email. Each weekly email links to the featured story and includes a writing prompt. Joining is a separate choice from creating an account or submitting a story. Unsubscribe in your account or using the link in any Sunday email, without signing in. We use Resend to deliver emails and manage the mailing list; your email address, subscription choice, and delivery information are shared with that provider. We do not include private drafts or contact details from story submissions. Unconfirmed signup requests expire after two days and are removed within nine days. Short-lived hashed request identifiers help limit unwanted confirmation emails.

Between Us membership.

Between Us is a separate $5 USD monthly membership: an exclusive monthly letter, a follow-up with a previous writer, and unlimited designed print editions for your own letters and approved public stories. Members’ exclusive letters are for personal reading. The Sunday newsletter and public stories stay free. Paid membership starts only after confirmed payment. Earned referral access is separate and never starts a paid subscription. You can manage billing and cancel future renewals from your membership page; access continues until the end of your paid period. Stripe handles payment details. We store the account and subscription information needed to provide access. Current editions and membership availability are shown on the Between Us page. Writers must separately approve their final words for paid access and personal printing.

Private letters to yourself and others.

Letters for later can be addressed to your future self, a friend, or family. They stay separate from public submissions, and saving a draft does not contact the recipient. Only choose people you know who would welcome your letter. Save a draft, choose email or post, and update the recipient’s delivery details if they change. Paid delivery and checkout are not open yet; a saved draft is not a delivery booking. Once delivery is available, postal dates will be mailing dates, with additional transit time. Delivery providers will need the letter and destination to fulfill an order.

Invite friends, earn a thank-you.

Find your personal invitation link in Account → Invite friends. New readers who join through it and confirm their email count toward rewards at 3, 5, and 15 readers. The first eligible invitation is remembered for 30 days. Existing readers, duplicate signups, and self-referrals do not count. We keep a protected identifier to prevent repeat rewards and show the inviter only totals, never a friend’s email address. Mention that you may earn rewards when you share your link.

At 3 readers, claim three extra print editions. At 5 and 15, earn one month and three months of Between Us respectively. Rewards add up and each milestone is earned once. Membership rewards wait until a members’ edition is ready; activate them when you want to start, after any paid access ends. They never start billing or change an existing subscription. Find full progress and reward details in your account.

Understanding our readership.

We count visits to public pages, approximate countries and regions, device categories, and referring websites to understand how the publication is growing. We do not use analytics cookies. A short-lived, daily identifier estimates repeat visits without storing your raw IP address or linking reading activity to your account. Page counts are stored separately from visitor estimates. We do not track private account, editor, or future-letter pages, and respect Do Not Track and Global Privacy Control signals. Detailed traffic records are kept for up to 90 days and are only available as totals to approved editors.

A small preference saved in your browser remembers whether you’ve joined and already seen the invitation to share. It helps us welcome you back without repeating the prompt. It contains no name, email or reading history and is separate from analytics.

How we handle submissions.

Your letter, email, permissions, and photographs are stored securely using the website’s hosting service. Unsent drafts and their photographs are private to you. After you submit, approved editors can read your story and photographs. If selected, the submitted story and photographs may be published with your chosen public signature. Anonymous letters hide your name and location from readers. Your contact email is never included in the public story. Your saved reading list stays private. Temporary submission limits help reduce spam.