diff --git a/assets/other-scripts/co-authors-plus/index.js b/assets/other-scripts/co-authors-plus/index.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..766a26b6c7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/assets/other-scripts/co-authors-plus/index.js
@@ -0,0 +1,68 @@
+/* globals guestAuthorRole, jQuery */
+
+jQuery( document ).ready( function ( $ ) {
+	$( 'select#role' ).change( function () {
+		if ( guestAuthorRole.role !== $( this ).val() ) {
+			deactivateGuestAuthor();
+		} else {
+			activateGuestAuthor();
+		}
+	} );
+
+	const loginLabel = $( 'label[for="user_login"]' )[ 0 ].innerHTML;
+
+	function activateGuestAuthor() {
+		// Make email not required.
+		$( 'label[for="email"] > span.description' ).hide();
+		$( '#createuser input[name=email]' ).closest( 'tr' ).removeClass( 'form-required' );
+
+		// User login.
+		if ( 'new' === guestAuthorRole.screen ) {
+			$( 'label[for="user_login"]' )[ 0 ].innerHTML = guestAuthorRole.displayNameLabel;
+		} else {
+			$( 'label[for="user_login"]' ).parents( 'tr' ).hide();
+		}
+
+		// Password.
+		$( 'label[for="pass1"]' ).parents( 'tr' ).hide();
+
+		// Email notification.
+		$( 'input#send_user_notification' ).parents( 'tr' ).hide();
+
+		// User profile fields.
+		$( 'label[for="rich_editing"]' ).parents( 'tr' ).hide();
+		$( 'label[for="comment_shortcuts"]' ).parents( 'tr' ).hide();
+		$( 'label[for="admin_bar_front"]' ).parents( 'tr' ).hide();
+		$( 'label[for="locale"]' ).parents( 'tr' ).hide();
+		$( 'tr.user-admin-color-wrap' ).hide();
+	}
+
+	function deactivateGuestAuthor() {
+		// Make email required.
+		$( 'label[for="email"] > span.description' ).show();
+		$( '#createuser input[name=email]' ).closest( 'tr' ).addClass( 'form-required' );
+
+		// User login.
+		if ( 'new' === guestAuthorRole.screen ) {
+			$( 'label[for="user_login"]' )[ 0 ].innerHTML = loginLabel;
+		} else {
+			$( 'label[for="user_login"]' ).parents( 'tr' ).show();
+		}
+
+		// Password.
+		$( 'label[for="pass1"]' ).parents( 'tr' ).show();
+
+		// Email notification.
+		$( 'input#send_user_notification' ).parents( 'tr' ).show();
+
+		// User profile fields.
+		$( 'label[for="rich_editing"]' ).parents( 'tr' ).show();
+		$( 'label[for="comment_shortcuts"]' ).parents( 'tr' ).show();
+		$( 'label[for="admin_bar_front"]' ).parents( 'tr' ).show();
+		$( 'label[for="locale"]' ).parents( 'tr' ).show();
+		$( 'tr.user-admin-color-wrap' ).show();
+	}
+
+	// Trigger change event on page load.
+	$( 'select#role' ).change();
+} );
diff --git a/includes/plugins/class-co-authors-plus.php b/includes/plugins/class-co-authors-plus.php
index 62d8a79b21..9fc03513f5 100644
--- a/includes/plugins/class-co-authors-plus.php
+++ b/includes/plugins/class-co-authors-plus.php
@@ -10,8 +10,15 @@
 
 defined( 'ABSPATH' ) || exit;
 
+use WP_User;
+
 /**
- * Main class.
+ * This class implements an alternative for the Guest Authors feature of Co-Authors Plus.
+ *
+ * The Non Editing Contributor role behaves similarly to the Guest Authors feature, but it's a custom role that can be assigned to users.
+ *
+ * This role can also be assigned to users who have other roles, so they can be assigned as co-authors of a post without having the capability to edit posts.
+ * This is done via a custom UI in the user profile.
  */
 class Co_Authors_Plus {
 	/**
@@ -37,6 +44,34 @@ public static function init() {
 		add_filter( 'coauthors_edit_author_cap', [ __CLASS__, 'coauthors_edit_author_cap' ] );
 		add_action( 'admin_init', [ __CLASS__, 'setup_custom_role_and_capability' ] );
 		add_action( 'template_redirect', [ __CLASS__, 'prevent_myaccount_update' ] );
+		add_action( 'newspack_before_delete_account', [ __CLASS__, 'before_delete_account' ] );
+
+		if ( defined( 'NEWSPACK_DISABLE_CAP_GUEST_AUTHORS' ) && NEWSPACK_DISABLE_CAP_GUEST_AUTHORS ) {
+			add_filter( 'coauthors_guest_authors_enabled', '__return_false' );
+			add_action( 'admin_menu', [ __CLASS__, 'guest_author_menu_replacement' ] );
+		}
+
+		// Do not allow guest authors to login.
+		\add_filter( 'wp_authenticate_user', [ __CLASS__, 'wp_authenticate_user' ], 10, 2 );
+
+		// Modify the user profile and user creation forms.
+		\add_action( 'admin_footer', [ __CLASS__, 'admin_footer' ] );
+		\add_filter( 'user_profile_update_errors', [ __CLASS__, 'user_profile_update_errors' ], 10, 3 );
+		\add_action( 'admin_print_scripts-user-new.php', [ __CLASS__, 'admin_footer' ] );
+		\add_action( 'admin_print_scripts-user-edit.php', [ __CLASS__, 'admin_footer' ] );
+
+		\add_filter( 'option_default_role', [ __CLASS__, 'create_user_default_role' ] );
+		\add_filter( 'option_cme_capabilities_add_user_multi_roles', [ __CLASS__, 'cme_capabilities_add_user_multi_roles' ] );
+
+		// Disable some features from the user profile.
+		\add_filter( 'show_password_fields', [ __CLASS__, 'disable_feature' ], 10, 2 );
+		\add_filter( 'wp_is_application_passwords_available_for_user', [ __CLASS__, 'disable_feature' ], 10, 2 );
+		\add_filter( 'allow_password_reset', [ __CLASS__, 'disable_feature' ], 10, 2 );
+		\add_filter( 'woocommerce_current_user_can_edit_customer_meta_fields', [ __CLASS__, 'disable_feature' ], 10, 2 );
+
+		// Add UI to the user profile to assign the custom role.
+		add_action( 'edit_user_profile', [ __CLASS__, 'edit_user_profile' ] );
+		add_action( 'wp_update_user', [ __CLASS__, 'edit_user_profile_update' ] );
 	}
 
 	/**
@@ -48,6 +83,20 @@ public static function coauthors_edit_author_cap( $edit_cap ) {
 		return self::ASSIGNABLE_TO_POSTS_CAPABILITY_NAME;
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * Determines whether a user is only a "guest author", meaning it only has the custom role and no other role.
+	 *
+	 * In this case, the user won't be able to login and will have some features removed from their profile.
+	 *
+	 * Users who have more than one role other than non_edit_contributor are still able to login and a have a full profile.
+	 *
+	 * @param WP_User $user The user to check.
+	 * @return bool
+	 */
+	private static function is_guest_author( WP_User $user ) {
+		return 1 === count( $user->roles ) && self::CONTRIBUTOR_NO_EDIT_ROLE_NAME === array_shift( $user->roles );
+	}
+
 	/**
 	 * Prevent users from updating their account details in My Account, if they have the custom role.
 	 */
@@ -73,6 +122,27 @@ public static function prevent_myaccount_update() {
 		}
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * Prevents the Delete Account email to be sent and display an error message to the user
+	 *
+	 * @param int $user_id The user ID trying to delete the account.
+	 * @return void
+	 */
+	public static function before_delete_account( $user_id ) {
+		if ( user_can( $user_id, self::ASSIGNABLE_TO_POSTS_CAPABILITY_NAME ) ) {
+			\wp_safe_redirect(
+				\add_query_arg(
+					[
+						'message'  => __( 'It looks like you are an author on this site. Please contact a site adminstrator to get your account deactivated.', 'newspack-plugin' ),
+						'is_error' => true,
+					],
+					\remove_query_arg( WooCommerce_My_Account::DELETE_ACCOUNT_URL_PARAM )
+				)
+			);
+			exit;
+		}
+	}
+
 	/**
 	 * Create the custom role and then add custom capability.
 	 */
@@ -103,5 +173,265 @@ public static function setup_custom_role_and_capability() {
 
 		\update_option( self::SETTINGS_VERSION_OPTION_NAME, $current_settings_version );
 	}
+
+		/**
+		 * Filters user validation to allow empty emails for guest authors
+		 *
+		 * When creating a new user, also automatically generate a username from the display name.
+		 *
+		 * @param WP_Error $errors WP_Error object (passed by reference).
+		 * @param bool     $update Whether this is a user update.
+		 * @param stdClass $user   User object (passed by reference).
+		 * @return WP_Error
+		 */
+	public static function user_profile_update_errors( $errors, $update, $user ) {
+
+		if ( self::CONTRIBUTOR_NO_EDIT_ROLE_NAME !== $user->role ) {
+			return $errors;
+		}
+
+		if ( ! empty( $errors->errors['empty_email'] ) ) {
+			$errors->remove( 'empty_email' );
+		}
+
+		if ( ! empty( $errors->errors['user_login'] ) ) {
+			$errors->remove( 'user_login' );
+		}
+
+		// We still don't want users with duplicate emails.
+		if ( ! empty( $errors->errors['email_exists'] ) ) {
+			return $errors;
+		}
+
+		if ( ! $update ) {
+			// For guest authors, the form is modified via JS and we get the display name in the username field.
+			$user->display_name = $user->user_login;
+
+			// Create user name from Display name.
+			$user->user_login = self::generate_username( $user->display_name );
+		}
+
+		if ( empty( $user->user_email ) ) {
+			// Create a placeholder email address to avoid any issues with empty emails.
+			$user->user_email = $user->user_login . '@example.com';
+		}
+
+		return $errors;
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Generates a unique username from a display name.
+	 *
+	 * @param string $display_name The user's display name.
+	 * @return string
+	 */
+	public static function generate_username( $display_name ) {
+		$username = \sanitize_user( $display_name, true );
+		$username = \sanitize_title( $username );
+
+		while ( \username_exists( $username ) ) {
+			$username = $username . '-' . \wp_rand( 1, 100 );
+		}
+
+		return $username;
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Enqueues the JS that modifies the user profile and user creation forms.
+	 *
+	 * @return void
+	 */
+	public static function admin_footer() {
+		global $pagenow;
+		\wp_enqueue_script(
+			'newspack-co-authors-plus',
+			Newspack::plugin_url() . '/dist/other-scripts/co-authors-plus.js',
+			[ 'jquery' ],
+			NEWSPACK_PLUGIN_VERSION,
+			true
+		);
+
+		wp_localize_script(
+			'newspack-co-authors-plus',
+			'guestAuthorRole',
+			[
+				'role'             => self::CONTRIBUTOR_NO_EDIT_ROLE_NAME,
+				'displayNameLabel' => __( 'Display name', 'newspack-plugin' ),
+				'screen'           => $pagenow === 'user-new.php' ? 'new' : 'edit',
+			]
+		);
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * A generic callback applied to filters that check if a user has access to a feature, or if a certain field should be displayed in its profile.
+	 *
+	 * These callbacks pass the return of the check as the first argument ant the user or user ID as the second.
+	 *
+	 * @param bool        $result The result of the check.
+	 * @param int|WP_User $user A user ID or user object.
+	 * @return bool
+	 */
+	public static function disable_feature( $result, $user ) {
+		if ( is_int( $user ) ) {
+			$user = \get_user_by( 'id', $user );
+		}
+
+		if ( ! is_a( $user, 'WP_User' ) ) {
+			return $result;
+		}
+
+		if ( self::is_guest_author( $user ) ) {
+			return false;
+		}
+
+		return $result;
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Filters user authentication to prevent guest authors from logging in.
+	 *
+	 * @param WP_Error|WP_User $user The logged in user or login error.
+	 * @param string           $password The user's password.
+	 * @return WP_Error|WP_User
+	 */
+	public static function wp_authenticate_user( $user, $password ) {
+		if ( ! is_a( $user, 'WP_User' ) ) {
+			return $user;
+		}
+
+		if ( self::is_guest_author( $user ) ) {
+			return new WP_Error( 'guest_authors_cannot_login', __( 'Non-Editing Contributors cannot login.', 'newspack-plugin' ) );
+		}
+
+		return $user;
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Adds a replacement Guest Authors menu item.
+	 */
+	public static function guest_author_menu_replacement() {
+		add_submenu_page(
+			'users.php',
+			__( 'Guest Authors', 'newspack-plugin' ),
+			__( 'Guest Authors', 'newspack-plugin' ),
+			'list_users',
+			'newspack-view-guest-authors',
+			[ __CLASS__, 'render_guest_authors_replacement_page' ]
+		);
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Render the replacement Guest Authors page.
+	 */
+	public static function render_guest_authors_replacement_page() {
+		?>
+			<div class="wrap">
+				<h1><?php echo esc_html__( 'Guest Authors', 'newspack-plugin' ); ?></h1>
+
+				<p><?php echo esc_html__( "Co-Authors-Plus' Guest Authors are disabled in this site. Use the Non-Editing Contributor user role instead.", 'newspack-plugin' ); ?></p>
+				<p><?php echo esc_html__( 'You can use one of the shortcuts below:', 'newspack-plugin' ); ?></p>
+
+				<a href="<?php echo esc_url( admin_url( 'user-new.php?role=' . self::CONTRIBUTOR_NO_EDIT_ROLE_NAME ) ); ?>" class="page-title-action"><?php echo esc_html__( 'Create a new Non-Editing Contributor', 'newspack-plugin' ); ?></a>
+				<a href="<?php echo esc_url( admin_url( 'users.php?role=' . self::CONTRIBUTOR_NO_EDIT_ROLE_NAME ) ); ?>" class="page-title-action"><?php echo esc_html__( 'View all Non-Editing Contributors', 'newspack-plugin' ); ?></a>
+			</div>
+		<?php
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Save custom fields.
+	 *
+	 * @param int $user_id User ID.
+	 */
+	public static function edit_user_profile_update( $user_id ) {
+		if ( empty( $_POST['_wpnonce'] ) || ! wp_verify_nonce( sanitize_text_field( wp_unslash( $_POST['_wpnonce'] ) ), 'update-user_' . $user_id ) ) {
+			return;
+		}
+
+		if ( ! current_user_can( 'edit_user', $user_id ) ) {
+			return false;
+		}
+
+		$user = get_userdata( $user_id );
+
+		if ( self::is_guest_author( $user ) ) {
+			return;
+		}
+
+		if ( ! empty( $_POST['newspack_cap_custom_cap_option'] ) ) {
+			$user->add_role( self::CONTRIBUTOR_NO_EDIT_ROLE_NAME );
+		} else {
+			$user->remove_role( self::CONTRIBUTOR_NO_EDIT_ROLE_NAME );
+		}
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Add user profile fields.
+	 *
+	 * @param WP_User $user The current WP_User object.
+	 */
+	public static function edit_user_profile( $user ) {
+
+		if ( self::is_guest_author( get_userdata( $user->ID ) ) ) { // For some reason $user is not the full user object.
+			return;
+		}
+		$current_status = user_can( $user->ID, self::CONTRIBUTOR_NO_EDIT_ROLE_NAME );
+		?>
+		<div class="newspack-plugin-cap-options">
+
+			<h2><?php echo esc_html__( 'Co-Authors Plus Options', 'newspack-plugin' ); ?></h2>
+
+			<table class="form-table" role="presentation">
+				<tr class="user-newspack_cap_custom_cap_option-wrap">
+					<th scope="row">
+						<?php esc_html_e( 'Enable as coauthor', 'newspack-plugin' ); ?>
+					</th>
+					<td>
+						<label for="newspack_cap_custom_cap_option">
+							<input type="checkbox" name="newspack_cap_custom_cap_option" id="newspack_cap_custom_cap_option" value="1" <?php checked( $current_status ); ?> />
+							<?php esc_html_e( 'Allow this user to be assigned as a co-author of a post.', 'newspack-plugin' ); ?>
+						</label>
+						<p class="description">
+						<?php
+							esc_html_e( 'If this option is checked, the "Non Editing Contributor" role will be added to the user and they will be able to be assigned as a co-author of a post even if they are not allowed to edit posts. For users with edit access, this option has no effect.', 'newspack-plugin' );
+						?>
+						</p>
+					</td>
+				</tr>
+			</table>
+		</div>
+		<?php
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Is creating a new user with the no-edit role?
+	 */
+	public static function is_adding_user_with_no_edit_role() {
+		global $pagenow;
+		return $pagenow === 'user-new.php' && isset( $_GET['role'] ) && $_GET['role'] === self::CONTRIBUTOR_NO_EDIT_ROLE_NAME; // phpcs:ignore WordPress.Security.NonceVerification.Recommended
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Filter the `default_role` option value.
+	 *
+	 * @param string $default_role The default role slug.
+	 */
+	public static function create_user_default_role( $default_role ) {
+		if ( self::is_adding_user_with_no_edit_role() ) {
+			return self::CONTRIBUTOR_NO_EDIT_ROLE_NAME;
+		}
+		return $default_role;
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Handle the `capability-manager-enhanced` plugin - disable multi-role UI if adding a new no-edit role user.
+	 *
+	 * @param bool $value Whether to enable the multi-role UI.
+	 */
+	public static function cme_capabilities_add_user_multi_roles( $value ) {
+		if ( self::is_adding_user_with_no_edit_role() ) {
+			return false;
+		}
+		return $value;
+	}
 }
 Co_Authors_Plus::init();
diff --git a/includes/reader-revenue/my-account/class-woocommerce-my-account.php b/includes/reader-revenue/my-account/class-woocommerce-my-account.php
index 12f2f74f1d..4d456a7699 100644
--- a/includes/reader-revenue/my-account/class-woocommerce-my-account.php
+++ b/includes/reader-revenue/my-account/class-woocommerce-my-account.php
@@ -207,6 +207,13 @@ public static function handle_delete_account_request() {
 		$token      = \wp_generate_password( 43, false, false );
 		$form_nonce = \wp_create_nonce( self::DELETE_ACCOUNT_FORM );
 
+		/**
+		 * Fires before the account deletion email is sent.
+		 *
+		 * @param int $user_id The user ID of the account being deleted.
+		 */
+		do_action( 'newspack_before_delete_account', $user_id );
+
 		$url = \add_query_arg(
 			[
 				self::DELETE_ACCOUNT_FORM => $form_nonce,