1. Agreement to these terms
These Terms & Conditions ("Terms") govern your use of thefoliostudios.com (the "Site") and any book publishing services you engage The Folio Studios ("we," "us," "our") to provide, including ghostwriting, editing, polishing/proofreading, cover design, publishing, marketing, and author website services (the "Services"). By using the Site or engaging us for Services, you agree to these Terms. If you don't agree, please don't use the Site or engage our Services.
For details on how we handle personal information, see our
2. Who we work with
Our Services are intended for adults (18 or older) acting on their own behalf, or on behalf of a business or organization they're authorized to represent. By engaging us, you confirm you meet this requirement.
3. Our services and how projects work
Each engagement begins with a scoping conversation and results in a written proposal specific to your project. That proposal, not this general Terms page, sets out the exact scope, deliverables, timeline, revision rounds, and fee for your project. Where anything in your proposal conflicts with these general Terms, the proposal governs for that project.
You'll work with one dedicated Project Manager as your single point of contact. Editors, writers, designers, and other specialists work on your project behind the scenes, coordinated through your Project Manager.
4. Client responsibilities
To deliver your project on schedule, we rely on you to:
- Provide source material, feedback, and approvals within the timeframes agreed in your proposal
- Respond to review requests at agreed milestones
- Ensure that any material you provide us (notes, drafts, interviews, images, or other content) is yours to share, or that you have the right to share it
Delays on your end (late feedback, missing materials) may affect the project timeline.
5. Payment terms
Payment structure (deposit, milestone payments, or another arrangement) is set out individually in each client's proposal, since it varies by project scope and type.
6. Cancellation and refunds
Payment is collected only after your discovery/scoping call, once your proposal is agreed.
- If you cancel before any work has started on your project, you'll be refunded 70% of any payment made. The remaining 30% covers the scoping, planning, and project setup already completed.
- If you cancel after work has started, you'll be refunded 50% of any payment made. We retain ownership of the work completed up to that point, consistent with Section 7 (ownership transfers to you only upon full and final payment).
We may also pause or cancel a project on our end, for example for non-payment or if we're unable to reach you for an extended period; see Section 14 for details.
7. Intellectual property and ownership
You keep the rights to your book. Full ownership of the deliverables we create for you, including manuscripts, edited text, cover art, and other project materials, transfers to you upon full and final payment for the project. Until full payment is received, we retain ownership of work in progress and final deliverables.
We may retain copies of project materials for our own records. Once your book is published, we may also publicly reference your project, including your name, book title, cover, and a summary of the book, in our portfolio, on our website, on our social media channels, in a congratulations/announcement page or post, and in blog posts or recommendation lists we create. If you'd prefer we not feature your project publicly, let us know and we'll exclude it.
Adding a Folio Studios logo or imprint credit inside your book (for example, on the copyright page) is optional and decided per project during scoping. It's included in your book only if you agree to it in your proposal.
8. Confidentiality
We treat your manuscript, personal story, and project details as confidential. Everyone on our in-house team, including editors, writers, and designers, is bound by confidentiality regarding client material. We won't share your project details with anyone outside the people working on it, except as required by law or as described in our Privacy Policy.
9. No guarantees
We don't guarantee specific sales figures, bestseller status, review counts, or other outcomes for your book. Publishing and marketing outcomes depend on many factors outside our control, including market conditions, reader response, and platform algorithms. Any language on our Site describing what a service includes describes the work we do, not a promised result.
10. Third-party platforms and services
Some parts of our Services involve third-party platforms, such as Amazon KDP, Barnes & Noble Press, ISBN registration bodies, payment processors, and social/advertising platforms. We are not affiliated with these platforms, and your use of them is governed by their own terms and policies, not ours. We aren't responsible for changes those platforms make to their terms, fees, or requirements.
11. Client content representations
By providing us with material for your project (manuscripts, notes, interviews, images, or similar), you confirm that you own it or have the right to use it, and that it doesn't infringe on anyone else's copyright, trademark, privacy, or other rights. You agree to indemnify us against claims arising from content you've provided that violates this.
12. Disclaimer of warranties
Our Services and Site are provided "as is." While we're committed to quality work, we don't warrant that our Services will meet every expectation, that the Site will be uninterrupted or error-free, or that any published book will achieve a particular outcome.
13. Limitation of liability
To the extent permitted by law, The Folio Studios' total liability for any claim arising from our Services is limited to the amount you paid us for the specific project giving rise to the claim. We aren't liable for indirect, incidental, or consequential damages, including lost profits or lost sales.
14. Termination
We may pause or end a project if a client fails to make agreed payments, fails to provide necessary materials or feedback within a reasonable time, or engages in abusive or unlawful conduct toward our team. You may end a project according to the cancellation terms in Section 6, or as set out in your specific proposal.
15. Dispute resolution
Any dispute arising from these Terms or your project that can't be resolved directly between us will be resolved through binding arbitration, rather than in court, except that either party may bring an individual claim in small claims court instead, if the dispute qualifies under that court's rules.
Arbitration will be conducted under the State of Colorado. The arbitrator's decision will be final and binding, with only limited grounds for appeal. Each party is responsible for its own costs unless the arbitrator decides otherwise.
Disputes will be resolved individually. Neither party may bring a claim as part of a class, consolidated, or representative action.
Chargebacks. If you initiate a chargeback or payment dispute through your bank or card provider instead of contacting us directly, we'll pause all active work on your project and retain ownership of any work completed to that point until the chargeback is resolved. Once resolved, whether the charge is reinstated, refunded, or otherwise settled, the cancellation terms in Section 6 and the ownership terms in Section 7 apply based on the outcome.
16. Governing law
These Terms are governed by the laws of the United States and the State of Colorado, without regard to conflict-of-law principles.
17. Website use
Content on the Site (text, graphics, logos, and design) is owned by The Folio Studios or our licensors and may not be copied, reproduced, or used without permission, except for your own personal, non-commercial reference. You agree not to use the Site in any way that's unlawful, disruptive to its operation, or infringing on others' rights.
18. Changes to these terms
We may update these Terms from time to time. We'll post the revised version here with an updated "Last updated" date. For active client projects, the Terms in effect at the time your proposal was signed will continue to apply to that project unless we agree otherwise in writing.
19. General
If any part of these Terms is found unenforceable, the rest remains in effect. These Terms, together with your individual project proposal, make up the entire agreement between you and The Folio Studios for that project.
20. Contact us
Questions about these Terms can be sent to inquiry@foliostudios.com.
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