Built by a reader.
For other readers.

I am an adult with a full-time job and life responsibilities. I am also mid-hyperfixation on Heated Rivalry (or maybe just crashing out about turning 40, shhh..) and at some point that led to a dozen WIP subscriptions, 30+ open tabs, and a truly embarrassing number of update emails buried somewhere in my inbox. Totally normal. Very chill. Not easy to stay on top of with the life responsibilities, though.

I built WIP Inbox because something had to give and it wasn't going to be the fics. I needed a tool that remembered where I was, told me which fics had updated since I last read, and didn't require me to maintain a personal spreadsheet like some kind of fandom project manager. I looked for something that already did this. Nothing really did, so I built this.

WIP Inbox is a passion project. It's not about making money. If AO3 makes this easier to do completely within their platform, wonderful. I’ll shut this down.

I know there have been shady tools before. Projects that seemed community-minded and then weren't. Services that were free until they weren’t. I understand why that makes people cautious. It makes me cautious too, about the things I use. So I want to be as transparent as I can about what WIP Inbox is, what it isn't, and what I'm committing to.

What I Value

Community first: Every decision gets asked the same question: does this support the writers and make the fanfic experience better? If the answer is no to either, I don't build it.

Additive, not extractive: WIP Inbox helps readers stay engaged with fics they already love. It sends them back to AO3 to read, comment, and leave kudos- it doesn't replace any of that or divert it elsewhere.

Your reading (and your data) is yours: What you personally read, how you read it, and where you are in a fic is private. I won't share it, sell it, or surface it to anyone (including other users).

Authors get the credit: WIP Inbox doesn't host fic, reproduce it, or build any presence around it. Authors' work lives on AO3 and wherever else they choose to share it. This tool just helps readers find their way back to it.

Transparency by default: If you want to support this- great! I’ll always be open about what we’re doing and why. If you don’t? Also great! I don’t care about selling anything- in fact I put together a free guide to building a version of this yourself.

What I Commit To

WIP Inbox will NEVER:

  • Sell, share, or broker your personal reading data to any third party, ever

  • Reproduce, host, or display fic content - authors' work stays on AO3 where it belongs

  • Divert hits, kudos, or comments away from AO3 - WIP Inbox sends readers back to the archive, not away from it

  • Show ads (not now, not ever)

  • Surface which specific fics you follow to other users - only anonymous aggregate signals would ever be shared with the community

  • Use your reading behavior to train any AI model

  • Feed any fic content into an AI model - not for training, not for summarization, not for any purpose whatsoever

  • Introduce a paywall that locks you out of data you've already stored

What we might do, maybe:

  • Introduce new features based on community feedback

  • Make it easier to discover other fics you’d love- this would be powered by anonymous aggregate data only and would still abide by every other commitment (eg “47 other readers are subscribed to this work in your fandom, head to AO3 to check it out for yourself”)

  • Would people be into that?? I would, as a reader. Currently I just open new tabs for every recommendation I see on Reddit and, well, that’s how I got here to start.

On Pricing

WIP Inbox will have a free tier that is genuinely free, not a watered-down trial. Full functionality, no time limit. If that's all you need, use it.

A Supporter tier will exist for people who want to follow more fics and who want to help keep this running. I’m thinking $10/year. This will help pay for these services and keep the technical lights on.

There is also the completely free DIY guide explaining how to build a personal version of this yourself using only Google tools, at no cost. I put it together because people deserve to know how things work, the economy is trash, and because if someone would rather do it themselves than use an unknown tool, that's a completely valid choice.

A Note on AO3

WIP Inbox is not affiliated with the OTW or Archive of Our Own. WIP Inbox works with the emails AO3 already sends you — it doesn't scrape AO3, it has no special access, and it doesn't interact with the archive in any way that strains its infrastructure. Please universe, no more A03 downtime.

AO3 exists because a community built it and continues to fund it. If you use WIP Inbox and you don't already donate to the OTW, please consider it — you can do so at donate.transformativeworks.org. WIP Inbox is a small tool on top of something much more important.

For Authors

WIP Inbox does not host, reproduce, or display your work. It doesn't index your fic or build any presence around it. All it does is help readers track their own subscriptions — the same emails AO3 already sends them — so they can find their way back to your work more easily.

The goal is more engaged readers, not fewer. Someone who knows exactly where they left off in your fic is more likely to come back and finish it, leave a comment, and hit kudos than someone who lost their place and never quite made it back. WIP Inbox is on your side. It just lives in your readers' inboxes.

And to be explicit about something I know is on a lot of authors' minds right now: WIP Inbox does not feed your work into any AI model. Not for training. Not for summarization. Not for any other purpose. Your AO3 metadata passes through as an email subject line — title, chapter number, author name. That's it. The content of your work is never read, stored, or processed by this tool.

If you have concerns or questions not addressed here, I'd genuinely like to hear them: hello@wipinbox.com