These guidelines are here to help everyone—authors, hosts, publishers, and participants—have a safe, meaningful, and high-quality experience on Inland. We’ve designed them to be clear, practical, and supportive. When in doubt, we encourage you to err on the side of respect, clarity, and generosity.
Inland is a curated, book-centered platform. We host conversations, workshops, book clubs, and cohorts led by authors and interviewers. That means our standards emphasize intellectual integrity, civility, and high-quality engagement.
Below are the core standards for Hosting, Participating, and Content. These guidelines complement our Terms of Use and give a more human explanation of how we expect the Inland community to behave.
1. Hosting Guidelines
These guidelines apply to anyone creating or leading an event on Inland: authors, interviewers, moderators, publishers, and agency partners.
Keep events aligned with Inland’s mission
Inland exists to help authors and publishers host meaningful, book-centered experiences. Events should be:
Hosted by an author and connected to a book or intellectual topic.
Transparent about the experience you’re offering.
Well-defined in scope: a workshop, Q&A, reading group, class, or conversation.
Events not aligned with Inland’s mission include:
Generic coaching unrelated to books or scholarship
Hard political activism or partisan organizing
Medical, financial, or legal advice presented as expert instruction
Multi-level marketing or “business opportunity” pitches
Events whose primary purpose is fundraising for causes rather than discussion
If your event doesn’t clearly fit, reach out to support before publishing. We want to help you shape it appropriately.
Present yourself accurately
Profile pages, bios, and event descriptions should:
Use your real name or an established professional identity
Accurately represent your background, credentials, and expertise
Be honest about what participants will get from the event
Overstated or misleading claims (e.g., “life-changing guaranteed,” “certified expert” when you’re not) aren’t permitted.
Be a responsible steward of your participants
When you host an event, you are responsible for the experience, tone, and well-being of your attendees.
Hosts must:
Start on time and honor the published date and duration
Provide clear joining instructions
Treat participants with respect
Moderate calmly and fairly
Shut down disruptive behavior
Protect attendee privacy—never export emails for unrelated marketing or data sharingFollow through on promised materials or follow-ups
Think of yourself not just as a presenter, but as a caretaker of a temporary community.
Respect participant data
When participants sign up for your event, they trust you with their information.
Hosts may:
Contact participants about their event
Send reasonable follow-up materials
Invite participants to future events
Subscribe them to your author newsletter (not publisher-wide mailing lists)
Hosts may not:
Sell or give away participant data
Upload participant emails into unrelated commercial lists
Spam participants with unrelated promotional messaging
Maintain a safe and civil environment
Authors and hosts set the tone. Please:
Encourage thoughtful discussion
Be firm about civility and boundaries
Intervene promptly if needed
Avoid inflammatory behavior or language
Remove participants who violate guidelines
Harassment, bullying, targeted insults, and sustained disruption are not welcome on Inland.
Follow our content guidelines
Hosts must follow the Content Guidelines section below for what you can and cannot present or facilitate.
2. Participant Guidelines
Inland is built around conversation, curiosity, and mutual respect. Participants play a major role in shaping an event’s tone. These guidelines explain what we expect from everyone who joins an event.
Engage respectfully
You’re joining an event led by an author or host. Please:
Show up on time
Keep background noise low
Use video, chat, or audio responsibly
Ask thoughtful questions
Avoid dominating the conversation
Many hosts are authors; treat them as you would at an in-person reading or talk.
Respect others in the room
Inland events attract readers of different ages, beliefs, and perspectives. Please:
Engage in good faith
Avoid insults or demeaning language
Welcome disagreement without hostility
Don’t derail or grandstand
Respect the host’s moderation decisions
If you violate these expectations, hosts may mute you, remove you, or restrict future attendance.
Protect privacy
As a participant, do not:
Record event video or audio without permission
Share screenshots, chats, or quotes outside the event without consent
Harvest participant names or emails
Contact participants privately unless invited to do so
Treat the event as a private, live gathering.
No disruptive or dangerous behavior
Prohibited behavior includes:
Harassment, sexual comments, nudity, targeted attacks, or intimidation
Repeated disruption or trolling
Spamming or promotion of unrelated products
Trying to solicit participants for private coaching or schemes
Encouraging harmful behavior, self-harm, or illegal acts
Inland reserves the right to remove accounts that repeatedly break these expectations.
Follow the host’s instructions
Each host sets the structure of their event. You may be asked to:
Turn off your camera or mute your microphone
Hold questions to the end
Use the chat instead of video or audio
Participate in small-group sessions respectfully
Please follow their lead—they’re crafting the experience.
3. Content Guidelines
These guidelines outline what kinds of content are appropriate on Inland—whether in event descriptions, presentations, chat, or follow-up materials.
Inland is not a free-for-all marketplace. It is a curated, book-focused environment. As such, certain topics and formats are welcome, others are restricted, and some are not allowed at all.
Allowed Content
These types of content are welcome on Inland:
Book-centered discussions
Literary theory, theology, philosophy, history, arts, culture
Publishing, writing craft, editing, and creative process
Scholarly analysis and expert commentary
Personal storytelling, memoir-driven discussions
Faith-based conversations or spiritual reflections
Workshops, classes, and reading groups
Interviews with authors, editors, or experts
These represent Inland’s core identity.
Sensitive or Regulated Content (allowed with restrictions)
These topics can appear, but must be handled responsibly::
1. Politics (nonpartisan or analytical)
Allowed:
Cultural commentary
Historical perspectives
Policy analysis framed academically
Not allowed:
Campaigning
Mobilization, activism, or fundraising for political causes
2. Health, medical, or mental health content
Allowed:
Experiences, memoir, personal journeys
Scholarly discussion of public health, medicine, or psychology
Book-centered explorations of medical themes
Not allowed:
Medical advice or diagnosis
Encouraging dangerous behavior
3. Business or professional guidance
Allowed:
Publishing advice
Writing career insights
Industry analysis
Not allowed:
Business-opportunity pitches
Multi-level marketing or affiliate schemes
Guaranteed-income claims
4. Faith and theology
Fully allowed—but must be hosted with respect for those who may disagree.
What’s not allowed:
Personal attacks on individuals or groups
Weaponizing faith as justification for harassment
Plagiarism
Do not present material created by someone else as your own, whether during a live event or in any supporting materials you share. Always give proper attribution when referencing others’ work.
Prohibited Content
The following content is not allowed anywhere on Inland—whether in event pages, live sessions, chat, or follow-up material. We enforce these standards to keep Inland safe, civil, and aligned with our mission.
1. Harassment
No targeted attacks or demeaning language based on:
Race
Ethnicity
National origin
Religion
Gender
Sexual orientation
Disability
2. Explicit sexual content
Not permitted:
Nudity
Sexually explicit instruction or demonstration
Pornographic content (written, spoken, or visual)
Sexual services
Lewd or sexually aggressive comments toward participants
Content about relationships, gender, or sexuality in an academic or literary context is allowed.
3. Violence or dangerous acts
Not permitted:
Encouragement of harm
Graphic depictions of violence
Promoting extremist activity
Encouraging self-harm
4. Illegal activity
Not permitted:
Sale or promotion of illegal goods
Instructions for illegal acts
Fraudulent or deceptive schemes
5. Misinformation in sensitive categories
Not permitted:
False medical claims
False financial or legal claims
Pseudoscience presented as fact
Conspiracy theories framed as truth
Scholarly analysis, critique, or debunking of misinformation is allowed.
6. Spam or commercial exploitation
Not permitted:
Promotion of unrelated commercial products
Data harvesting
Bulk marketing
Affiliate-driven events
Attempts to recruit participants into outside programs or coaching funnels
Inland exists for creators—not for marketers seeking lead generation.
Protected Content
Inland protects the expression of strongly held views, including matters of faith, religion, philosophy, and conscience. Authors come here to share their work, ideas, and convictions—and readers join because they value earnest, substantive conversation. Inland supports that freedom.
We welcome:
Open discussion of religious beliefs and theological perspectives
Strongly held cultural, moral, or philosophical positions
Thoughtful critique, debate, and disagreement
Honest exploration of sensitive topics when handled with care
We believe that meaningful dialogue often involves deeply personal convictions. Inland is intentionally a place where those conversations can happen without fear of censorship for viewpoint alone.
At the same time, we ask everyone to engage responsibly:
Critique ideas, not individuals
Avoid personal attacks, demeaning language, or hostility
Recognize that others may hold different—but equally sincere—beliefs
Use clarity and charity when discussing sensitive or sacred matters
Protected content is not a license for harassment or targeted attacks. Inland will always uphold the dignity of participants while maintaining space for genuine expression.
Our aim is a community where people can speak freely, listen generously, and disagree without dehumanizing one another.
Enforcement and Appeals
Inland uses a lightweight, human-centered approach:
For minor issues, we’ll notify you privately and ask for edits.
For repeated or serious violations, we may remove an event or suspend access.
For dangerous or illegal content, we may terminate accounts without prior notice.
If you believe a decision was made in error, you can contact support and request a review. Inland remains the final arbiter of what is allowed, but we aim to be fair and consistent.
Community Standards
Inland is a curated space for authors and readers to connect through thoughtful, book-centered events. To keep our community safe, welcoming, and intellectually generous, we ask everyone to uphold the following principles:
Be respectful
Treat hosts and participants with courtesy. No harassment, personal attacks, or disruptive behavior.
Be honest
Represent yourself accurately. Don’t mislead others about your expertise, background, or intentions.
Be constructive
Engage in conversations with curiosity and good faith. Disagreement is welcome; hostility is not.
Protect privacy
As a participant, don’t record events, harvest emails, or share participant information without permission.
Stay within bounds
No explicit content, dangerous activities, illegal behavior, medical or financial advice, political mobilization, or commercial schemes.
Keep it book-centered
Inland is for authors, readers, publishers, and the conversations that grow around books and ideas. Events should reflect that focus. We enforce these standards to maintain a community built on trust, civility, and meaningful interaction. Violations may result in event removal or account restrictions.