Choose the story.
Choose how you read.

Yes. The first 3 episodes of every story are free, so you can decide whether you want to keep going.

One Episode Credit unlocks one paid episode permanently. One credit always costs $0.50; there is no shifting token math.

No. When your episode unlocks for one story reach its Story Pass price, Lantern automatically grants you the Story Pass. You will not keep paying chapter by chapter past the full-story price.

A Story Pass permanently unlocks every episode currently published in that story and every future episode added to it. Direct purchases will also include downloadable reading copies when paid reading opens.

The subscription unlocks Lantern’s participating catalog while it is active. It does not convert stories into permanent purchases, but you can buy a Story Pass separately whenever you want to keep one.

Your subscription access continues through the end of the paid billing period. Permanently purchased episodes and Story Passes stay in your library.

Paid reading is not open. Lantern is still in private alpha, and every story remains free to read. Support Lantern helps cover operating costs. On participating stories, Leave a Light may also let a reader send optional one-time support directly to the author through Stripe. Neither kind of support buys access or special treatment.

The final digital-purchase and subscription refund terms will be published before checkout opens. No payment button will go live until those terms are visible during checkout.

Yes. Authors retain copyright and grant Lantern only the narrow, nonexclusive permission needed to display and sell their work. Publishing elsewhere remains allowed.

It may. Although authors keep their copyright and may publish elsewhere, posting a story or episode publicly on Lantern may be considered prior publication by another publisher, agent, contest, anthology, retailer, or platform. Each organization sets its own eligibility and first-publication rules, so authors should check those terms before posting work they may submit elsewhere. Lantern cannot guarantee that another organization will treat the work as unpublished.

80% of net receipts from Episode Credit redemptions and Story Passes. Net receipts means the reader payment after sales tax, processing fees, refunds, disputes, and chargebacks.

70% of net subscription revenue enters the author pool. Each subscriber’s share is allocated only among authors that subscriber actually reads—not through a platform-wide popularity contest.

Authors choose one of Lantern’s three standard tiers: $4.99, $6.99, or $9.99. The tiers prevent a race to the bottom while leaving room for novellas, novels, epics, and media-rich stories.

After a 30-day reserve for refunds and disputes. Payouts begin at $25.00; smaller balances roll forward rather than disappearing.

Through secure Stripe onboarding and payouts. Authors will see earnings and payout information without giving banking details directly to Lantern moderators.

An author may connect a Stripe account inside Writer Desk. After Stripe activates card payments and payouts, Leave a Light is enabled automatically on the author’s published stories, with an off switch for each story. Reader support is a one-time direct payment to the author; Lantern takes no platform fee, while Stripe processing fees, refunds, disputes, payouts, and tax obligations remain with the author.

Fantasy Slayer Publishing records royalty payments and issues required tax reporting. Authors remain responsible for their own income-tax obligations. The exact onboarding documents will be shown before an author accepts paid publication.

Lantern can remove it from new sales. Readers who already purchased episodes or a Story Pass keep the access they paid for, subject to the final publishing agreement.

Yes. The planned Lantern Spotlight is $10.00 for one paired TikTok and Instagram feature, with 60 first-come spots per month. Paid placement will be labeled, will never affect moderation, and does not guarantee sales.

Yes. A moderator-selected story may receive the daily Moderator Pick at no charge. It is editorial discovery, not a popularity ranking or something authors can purchase.

After the opening installment is approved, it appears in your Author Studio. From there you can write or paste the next episode, save it privately, schedule an exact release date and time, publish immediately, see the full queue, and mark the serial complete.

Yes. One account may hold up to four pen names, and each pen name may actively publish up to five stories at a time. Finish or withdraw one before opening a sixth under the same name. This protects each author identity’s completion promise without forcing you to create separate accounts.