How to Contribute

Why I’m Not Afraid to Die is a growing collection of true, first-person stories from people who’ve made peace with mortality. Each person gets one story — in their own words — and every story is read by a real person before it goes live, so the collection stays a place people can trust. This page walks through everything you need to know to share yours.

1. Creating an account

You’ll need to be signed in to share a story, comment, or react. Click Sign Inin the top corner and you’ll see two ways in:

Continue with Google— the fastest option if you have a Google account. You’ll be sent to Google and back; no new password to remember.
Continue with email — enter your email address and click Send sign-in link. We’ll email you a one-time link. Open it on the same device within 24 hours to finish signing in — there’s no password.

Didn’t get the email? Check your spam folder first. If it still hasn’t arrived after a few minutes, the simplest fix is to go back and use Continue with Google instead.

2. Writing your story

Once you’re signed in, click Share Your Storyin the header. You get one submission, and you can come back and edit it any time — so don’t worry about getting it perfect on the first try.

You’ll see three things you can fill in:

Title — a short title for your story (4–200 characters).
Your Story — the text itself. The toolbar above the text box lets you make text bold, italic, add a quote block, or a link. There’s no support for headings, bullet lists, or images inside the story text — keep it simple prose. Already have it written somewhere else? Copy-pasting from Google Docs, Word, or any other editor is completely fine — the formatting carries over.
YouTube Video(optional) — paste a link to a public YouTube video if you’d rather speak your story, or add one alongside your writing. You can submit text, video, or both.

While you write, you’ll see a small Draft savednote appear — your work is saved automatically every few seconds, so it’s safe to close the tab and come back later before you submit.

3. Submitting for review

When you’re ready, click Submit for Review. Your story goes into a moderation queue — a real person reads it before it’s published, which usually takes a few days. You’ll get an email as soon as a decision is made (again, if that email doesn’t show up, check spam — or sign in with Google if you signed up by email and want a more reliable inbox).

You can check on your story any time from the My Submission link in your account menu (click your name, top right).

4. After you submit

Approved— your story is live on the site, and you’ll get an email letting you know.
Not approved— you’ll see a short note from the reviewer explaining why on your My Submission page. You can revise your story and resubmit it as many times as you like.
Editing a published story— you can go back and change your story at any time. Your edit is reviewed again before it replaces the live version — but don’t worry, readers keep seeing your original story while that happens, so nothing you’ve already shared ever disappears mid-edit.

5. Engaging with other stories

Loving a story

Click the heart icon on any story to let the author know it moved you. You can unclick it any time.

Commenting

Every published story has a comments section below it. Write a thought and click Post, or reply directly under someone else’s comment. You can delete your own comments any time, but comments can’t be edited after posting — so take a moment before you send.

Reporting something

If a story or comment (that isn’t yours) seems inappropriate, click Reportnext to it, briefly explain why, and a moderator will review it. No action is taken automatically — it’s just a way to flag something for a real person to look at.

6. Your account settings

From your account menu, click Account settingsto turn email notifications for new comments on or off. Your name, photo, and email address come from however you signed in (Google or your email address) and can’t be changed inside the site.

7. Deleting your account

You’re always free to leave. From Account settings, the Delete my accountoption permanently removes your account, your story, your comments, your reactions, and any reports you’ve filed.

One thing worth knowing: if you ever sign back in afterward, you’re welcome back as a reader — you can comment on stories again — but you won’t be able to publish a new story. This keeps the site’s “one story per person” promise intact even if someone deletes and returns.

A few ground rules

One story per person — make it the one you want people to read.
Be kind in comments, even when you disagree.
If something seems wrong, report it rather than responding in kind.
Review takes a little time — thank you for your patience.

Questions about any of this? Reach us at suzanne@mightycompanions.org.