A Crown is a reader's way of saying, “This story deserves to reach more people.” It is a recommendation, not a star rating, purchase, tip, or popularity contest.
Readers receive a small number of Crowns each week. Every Crown has the same value, regardless of who places it. Crowns cannot be bought, transferred, or given out by an author or administrator.
Why Crowns exist
Views naturally favor stories that are already visible. Crowns give readers a way to help a story they genuinely read and enjoyed earn more discovery without turning that recommendation into a permanent score.
A Crown can help a public story appear in Crown-powered discovery areas such as Most Crowned, Ascending, and Fresh Finds. Those areas use different rules so that established stories and newer stories have useful paths to discovery.
Why the Crown button may be unavailable
You must be signed in and read enough of a story before you can Crown it. You qualify after completing either:
- Two published chapters;
- At least 5,000 published words; or
- All currently published work when the story is shorter than those thresholds.
You cannot Crown your own story, Crown the same story twice in one week, or place a Crown after using your weekly allowance. Hover or focus the disabled Crown button to see the reason that applies to you.
What the number means
The Crown count on a story page shows valid Crowns placed during the latest rolling 28 days. It is intentionally not a lifetime rating. Older Crowns leave that public count so discovery reflects what readers are recommending now.
The same reader can Crown a story again in a later week if they still believe it deserves the recommendation.
The short version
A Crown means “I read this, and I recommend that more readers discover it.”