How it works
One story, many readers, one road at a time.
povesta is built around a simple loop: a chapter is published, a question is asked, the readers answer, the story follows. Stories where readers decide what happens next — here is the whole of it, step by step.
The author publishes a chapter
Prose first, with images and embedded media where the story wants them. Chapters arrive on the author’s rhythm — most serials here run weekly. The main story is free to read, start to finish, always. No paywall ever stands between you and where the story went.
The Ninth Gate · ch. 12
The Vault Under the Fair
The gate had not been opened in forty years, and the lock knew it: it took the key the way old men take stairs…
At key chapters, a vote opens
The author proposes two to four roads the story could take and sets a deadline — typically a week. The question is part of the chapter’s ending, not a popup: you finish reading, and the fork is simply there, waiting.
Chapter 12 · the vote
closes in 6d 02hReaders who read, vote
Your vote counts once you’ve actually read the chapter — reading is verified, so the crowd that decides is the crowd that reads, not a crowd that was sent. Results stay hidden until you’ve cast your own vote, so the tally never talks you out of your choice. One reader, one vote; votes are never for sale.
After you vote — the reveal
Every story declares its rule
Before chapter one, the author chooses: readers steer — the vote is binding — or advisory — the vote is counsel, and the author holds the pen. The badge sits on the story’s cover and never changes mid-story. Art gets the same honesty: AI-assisted images carry their own label.
The story continues — and keeps both roads
The winning road becomes the next chapter. The road not taken isn’t deleted: the author can write it out as a side story — the same fork, the other choice. On the story map you can always see where you are, where the story forked, and how much lies ahead still unwritten. Chapters past your frontier stay hidden; no accidental spoilers. And the map remembers which road you argued for.