Editorial Standards

Healing Stories Network publishes anthologies of first-person patient testimony. These editorial standards explain how each volume is made and the principles we hold to, so you know exactly what you are reading.

Who makes this

The press is edited and published by Shashank Bhosale, who collects, curates, and edits the testimonies that make up our volumes. He is an engineer and a patient, not a clinician, and the books are works of lived experience rather than medical authority.

Where our work touches on health information itself — rather than personal testimony — that material is prepared with practising medical professionals who contribute on condition of anonymity. The division is deliberate and strict: stories are handled by the editor; health information is handled by people qualified to handle it.

How we gather testimonies

Every account comes from a real person who has volunteered to share their experience. Each testimony is the work of a single individual. We never invent voices, and we never assemble “composite” characters from several people.

Consent and privacy

Each contributor gives informed consent before publication. Contributors decide how they are identified, by full name, by first name only, or fully anonymously, and may revise or withdraw their account at any time before a volume goes to press. We never share a contributor's private contact details.

How we edit

We edit lightly, and only for clarity, length, and readability. The voice, meaning, and substance of every account remain the contributor's own. We do not embellish, dramatise, or change what someone has told us.

What every volume contains

• A short, plain-language introduction to the topic
• Fifty single-author testimonies, organised into thematic parts
• An editor's note and a complete contents page
• A curated list of further resources relevant to the subject

The stories that did not go to plan

A book made only of success stories would be an advertisement, and we are not in that business. Every volume sets aside space for the honest, harder accounts: the treatments that did not work, the side effects, the disappointment, the decisions a contributor would make differently. Their candour is what makes the hopeful accounts worth trusting.

The Reading Room

Articles in our Reading Room fall into two kinds, and each says which it is. Most summarise themes across the first-person accounts we collect — what people consistently report about an experience — and carry the editor's byline along with a note stating plainly that no clinician has reviewed them. A smaller number contain health information, such as explainers on treatments or medications; those are prepared with input from the practising clinicians described above. In both cases, articles point readers to authoritative clinical sources such as national health services and specialist bodies, because that is where medical questions belong.

What we do not do

We are a publisher of lived experience, not a medical authority. Our books do not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment, and no testimony should be read as a recommendation. We do not use “medically reviewed” badges, because we reserve that language for named, accountable review — if we cannot name the reviewer, we describe the contribution honestly instead. Please see our Medical Disclaimer for the full statement.

Our independence

We take no payment from the companies, clinics, practitioners, or brands that contributors happen to mention in their stories. We do not accept sponsorship in exchange for coverage, we run no advertising inside our books, and we have no financial relationship with any product maker named in these pages. When a contributor praises or criticises something, it is their own view, included because it is part of their honest account, not because anyone paid for it. Our only income is the sale of the books themselves.

Sensitive material

Some accounts describe frightening or painful experiences. We handle this material with care, avoid gratuitous detail, and place supportive resources alongside the hardest chapters.

Accuracy and corrections

If you believe something in one of our books is inaccurate, or you wish to update your own contribution, write to us at support@healingstoriesnetwork.com.

Read more

You can explore our full catalogue in the Library, read free, in-depth pieces on many of these topics in our Reading Room, or, if you would like to add your own voice to a future volume, visit Share Your Story.