Terms & Conditions

Introduction

These Terms & Conditions ("Terms") govern your use of the website at cambridgepublishingpress.com (the "Website") and the services provided by Cambridge Publishing Press ("Cambridge Publishing Press", "we", "us" or "our"). Please read them carefully, together with our Privacy Policy, Refund & Cancellation Policy and Disclaimer.

Cambridge Publishing Press is an independent provider of editing, book design, publishing support, marketing and audiobook services for authors. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by or connected to the University of Cambridge, Cambridge University Press & Assessment, or any other institution or company with a similar name.

Definitions

• "Client" or "you" means the person or organization that requests or purchases our Services.
• "Services" means the services we agree to provide to you, as described on the Website and in your Project Agreement.
• "Project Agreement" means the written quote, proposal, order confirmation or contract that we issue and you accept for a specific project, including its scope, fees, schedule and deliverables.
• "Client Materials" means everything you provide to us, including your manuscript, text, images, artwork, logos, brand assets, instructions and feedback.
• "Deliverables" means the work we create for you under a Project Agreement, such as edited files, cover designs, interior layouts, illustrations, eBook files, marketing materials or audio files.
• "Third-Party Platform" means any retailer, distributor, printer, publishing platform, advertising network or other service operated by someone other than us.
• "Business day" means a day other than a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday in [GOVERNING LAW, e.g. the State of New York, USA].

Acceptance of these Terms

By using the Website, submitting an enquiry, accepting a Project Agreement or paying for Services, you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, please do not use the Website or our Services.

If there is a conflict between these Terms and a Project Agreement, the Project Agreement takes priority for that project. Nothing in these Terms limits any right you have under consumer protection law that cannot be excluded by contract.

Eligibility

To purchase Services you must be at least [MINIMUM AGE, e.g. 18] years old and able to enter into a binding contract. If you are acting for a company or another person, you confirm that you are authorized to accept these Terms on their behalf. Where a project involves work by or about a minor (for example, a children's book written with a young co-author), a parent or guardian must accept the Project Agreement.

Scope of our services

Our Services may include book editing and proofreading, manuscript assessment, book cover and interior design, formatting for print and eBook, illustration, publishing and self-publishing assistance, ISBN and distribution guidance, printing assistance, author marketing and branding, author websites, book trailers, press materials, and audiobook production and publishing assistance. Descriptions on the Website are a general guide; the exact scope of your project is set out in your Project Agreement.

Unless your Project Agreement says otherwise, we provide publishing support: you publish under your own name or imprint, in accounts that you own and control, and you remain the publisher of record. We do not act as your literary agent and we do not submit work to traditional publishers on your behalf unless this is expressly agreed in writing.

We may decline any project at our discretion, including work we consider unlawful, defamatory, infringing, hateful or otherwise unsuitable.

Project agreements and quotes

Quotes and consultations are free and do not create a contract. A contract for a project is formed only when you accept a Project Agreement in writing (including by email or electronic signature) and pay any required deposit. Quotes are valid for the period stated on them, or for 30 days if no period is stated.

Work outside the agreed scope (for example, additional revision rounds, extra formats, or a substantially longer manuscript than quoted) is not included. We will tell you before carrying out any additional work and will only charge for it if you agree to a written change in scope and price.

Orders and payments

Fees are stated in [CURRENCY, e.g. US dollars (USD)] unless your Project Agreement states otherwise. We accept [ACCEPTED PAYMENT METHODS, e.g. credit/debit card and bank transfer]. Card and online payments are processed securely by [PAYMENT PROCESSOR(S), e.g. Stripe or PayPal]; we do not collect or store full card details on the Website.

Fees exclude any applicable sales tax, VAT or similar taxes, which will be added where required by law. You are responsible for any bank, currency conversion or transfer charges made by your own payment provider.

Deposits and payment schedules

Unless your Project Agreement states otherwise, a deposit of [DEPOSIT, e.g. 50% of the project fee] is payable before work begins, and the balance is payable in the instalments or milestones set out in your Project Agreement. Invoices are payable within [INVOICE PAYMENT TERMS, e.g. 7 days] of issue.

If a payment is overdue, we may pause work on your project after giving you written notice and a reasonable opportunity to pay. Final files and the rights described in the "Intellectual property" section are released once the related fees have been paid in full.

Promotional offers

From time to time we may advertise a promotional discount, such as the 60% offer on publishing services shown on this Website. Unless stated otherwise in your Project Agreement:

• [CONFIRM: which services and packages the discount applies to, and the price it is calculated from, e.g. our standard package price]
• [CONFIRM: who is eligible, e.g. new clients only, and whether it can be combined with other offers]
• [CONFIRM: the start and end dates of the promotion, or how and when it may be withdrawn]
• The discount is confirmed in writing in your Project Agreement before any work begins. It has no cash value and cannot be applied retrospectively to work already agreed.
• Cancellations and refunds of discounted projects follow our Refund & Cancellation Policy, calculated on the price you actually paid.

Project timelines

Timelines in your Project Agreement are good-faith estimates. They begin once we have received your deposit and all the Client Materials we need, and they depend on you providing feedback and approvals within the agreed review periods. If you need more time, or the scope changes, the schedule will move accordingly and we will agree a revised timeline with you.

We will keep you informed of progress and tell you promptly if we expect a delay on our side. Where we cause a significant delay, you may have the remedies described in our Refund & Cancellation Policy.

Neither party is responsible for delays caused by events beyond its reasonable control, such as natural disasters, serious illness, internet or power failures, or outages at Third-Party Platforms. The affected party will notify the other as soon as practicable.

Your responsibilities

To help your project run smoothly, you agree to:

• provide complete, final Client Materials and clear instructions, in the formats we reasonably request;
• respond to questions and review Deliverables within the agreed review periods;
• check proofs carefully before approving them, including names, spellings, prices, ISBNs and barcodes;
• ensure that you own, or have permission to use, everything you provide, and that it does not infringe anyone's rights, defame anyone or break any law;
• obtain any permissions needed for quotations, lyrics, images or other third-party content in your book; and
• keep your own copies of your manuscript and files. We keep working copies during a project but we are not a long-term storage service.

If you do not respond for [INACTIVITY PERIOD BEFORE A PROJECT IS PAUSED, e.g. 30 days] after we have tried to contact you, we may pause your project. If you still do not respond within [INACTIVITY PERIOD BEFORE A PROJECT IS CLOSED, e.g. 90 days] of our first attempt to contact you, we may close the project as described in our Refund & Cancellation Policy. We will always send a written reminder before closing a project.

Revisions and approvals

Your Project Agreement states the number of concepts and revision rounds included for each Deliverable. A revision round means one consolidated set of feedback on a Deliverable. Changes that go beyond the agreed brief, or are requested after you have approved a Deliverable, may be quoted as additional work.

Please review each Deliverable within [DELIVERABLE REVIEW PERIOD, e.g. 7 days] of delivery. Approval may be given in writing, including by email. Once you approve a stage (for example, a final cover design or interior proof), we will move on to the next stage and that approved work is treated as completed.

If a Deliverable does not match what was agreed, please tell us within the review period and explain why. We will correct work that does not meet the agreed specification at no extra cost.

Cancellations and refunds

You may cancel a project by writing to us. Cancellations and refunds are governed by our Refund & Cancellation Policy, which forms part of these Terms. In summary:

• if you cancel before work begins, you receive a refund of fees paid, less [ADMINISTRATIVE DEDUCTION, e.g. up to 10% of fees paid, limited to costs actually incurred];
• if you cancel after work has begun, we refund fees paid for work not yet carried out, less the value of work completed and any non-recoverable third-party costs;
• completed and approved stages, and money already paid to third parties on your behalf, are generally not refundable; and
• consumers may have additional statutory cancellation and refund rights, which are not affected.

We may cancel a project if you materially breach these Terms or your Project Agreement and do not remedy the breach within a reasonable period after we notify you, or if continuing would require us to act unlawfully. If we cancel for any other reason, we will refund fees paid for work not yet delivered.

Intellectual property

Your work

You keep all rights in your manuscript and Client Materials. We do not claim any ownership of your book. You grant us a limited license to use your Client Materials only as needed to provide the Services.

Deliverables

Once you have paid in full for a Deliverable, we assign to you the rights we hold in it, or, where assignment is not possible, grant you an exclusive, perpetual license to use it for your book and its promotion, unless your Project Agreement states other terms. Until full payment, Deliverables remain our property and may not be published or used.

Some Deliverables include third-party elements, such as licensed stock images, fonts or music. These are supplied under the licenses of their owners, which may limit how they can be used (for example, print-run limits). We will tell you about any such restrictions. Illustrations and audio narration may be subject to specific rights terms set out in your Project Agreement.

Our materials

We keep ownership of our own tools, templates, methods and know-how, and of all content on this Website, including text, design, graphics and code. You may not copy or reuse Website content without our written permission.

Portfolio use

We will only show your work in our portfolio or marketing if you give us permission, and never before your book is published. You may withdraw permission at any time for future use.

Manuscript confidentiality

We treat your manuscript, ideas and project details as confidential. We use them only to provide the Services, share them only with team members and contractors who need them for your project and who are bound by confidentiality obligations, and do not disclose them to anyone else unless required by law. We do not use your manuscript to train artificial intelligence models. [CONFIRM: AI-training and AI-tools commitment]

Confidentiality does not apply to information that is already public, that you have made public, or that we must disclose by law. A separate non-disclosure agreement is available on request.

Third-party publishing platforms

Many projects involve Third-Party Platforms, for example eBook and print-on-demand retailers, distributors, printers, audiobook platforms, ISBN agencies and advertising networks. Unless agreed otherwise, you open and own the accounts on these platforms, accept their terms directly, and receive any payments from them directly.

We are not affiliated with, endorsed by or a partner of any Third-Party Platform, including Amazon, Kindle Direct Publishing, IngramSpark, Apple, Google, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Audible or ACX. Each platform makes its own decisions about accepting, listing, pricing, ranking or removing titles and may change its rules at any time. We are not responsible for those decisions, for platform outages, or for changes to their fees or policies.

Book distribution

Where we help you distribute your book, we prepare files and metadata to the published specifications of the platforms you choose and guide you through setting up your listings. Availability in particular shops, libraries or countries depends on the distributors and retailers, and we cannot promise that any retailer will stock, display or promote your book.

Printing and distribution costs, retailer discounts, and royalty rates are set by the relevant Third-Party Platforms and are your responsibility unless your Project Agreement says otherwise.

Marketing services

Marketing services are designed to help readers discover your book. Marketing results depend on many factors outside our control, including your book's genre, market conditions, pricing, reader preferences and the policies of advertising platforms. Advertising budgets paid to platforms are separate from our fees unless your Project Agreement says otherwise. We follow platform rules on reviews and never buy, incentivise or fabricate reviews.

No guarantee of results

We provide our Services with reasonable care and skill, to the standard of an experienced professional in the publishing services industry. However, we do not guarantee, and nothing on the Website or in our communications should be read as guaranteeing:

• acceptance or publication by any literary agent, traditional publisher or Third-Party Platform;
• any level of sales, downloads, royalties or income;
• bestseller status, rankings, awards, reviews or media coverage; or
• that your book will be free from all errors. Editing and proofreading greatly reduce errors but no human process can promise a perfect text, which is why your own review of proofs matters.

Limitation of liability

Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, or for any other liability that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited. Nothing in these Terms affects your statutory rights as a consumer.

Subject to that, we are not liable for loss of profits, sales, royalties, business or opportunity, or for indirect or consequential loss, and our total liability arising from a project is limited to [LIABILITY CAP, e.g. the total fees you paid for the project concerned]. If you are a consumer, we are responsible for loss you suffer that is a foreseeable result of our breaching these Terms or failing to use reasonable care and skill, but we are not responsible for loss that was not foreseeable.

You agree to compensate us for reasonable losses we suffer as a result of claims by third parties that Client Materials you supplied infringe their rights or are unlawful.

Use of the Website

You may use the Website for lawful purposes only. You must not attempt to gain unauthorized access to it, interfere with its operation, submit false or misleading information, send spam through its forms, or use automated tools to collect its content. We may update, suspend or withdraw any part of the Website without notice. Links to third-party websites are provided for convenience; we are not responsible for their content.

Book covers and illustrations shown on the Website are design examples unless they are clearly identified as client work. Testimonials reflect individual clients' experiences and are not a promise of the same results.

Dispute resolution

If you are unhappy with any part of our Services, please contact us first at info@cambridgepublishingpress.com so that we can try to put things right. We will acknowledge your complaint promptly and aim to resolve it through good-faith discussion within [GOOD-FAITH NEGOTIATION PERIOD, e.g. 30 days].

If we cannot resolve a dispute informally, either party may refer it to mediation or to the courts as set out below. Consumers may also be able to use an alternative dispute resolution scheme or contact their local consumer protection authority. Asking us to resolve a concern first does not limit your right to dispute a card payment with your bank, but it is usually the fastest way to reach a solution.

Governing law

These Terms and any dispute arising from them are governed by the laws of [GOVERNING LAW, e.g. the State of New York, USA], and disputes may be brought before [COURTS, e.g. the state and federal courts located in New York County, New York]. If you are a consumer living in another country or state, you also keep the protection of any mandatory consumer laws where you live and may bring proceedings in your local courts where the law allows.

General

If any part of these Terms is found to be unenforceable, the rest remains in effect. A failure to enforce a right is not a waiver of it. You may not transfer your rights under a Project Agreement without our written consent. These Terms, together with your Project Agreement and the policies referred to above, form the entire agreement between us about the Services.

Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time, for example to reflect changes in our Services or the law. The version that applies to your project is the one in force when you accepted your Project Agreement, unless you agree to a later version. The "Last updated" date at the top of this page shows when these Terms were last changed. Significant changes will be highlighted on this page.

Contact information

Cambridge Publishing Press
1115 Broadway, 9th Floor, New York, NY 10010
Email: info@cambridgepublishingpress.com
Website: https://cambridgepublishingpress.com