Legal

Terms & Conditions

By commissioning design, illustration, formatting, or branding services, booking a project slot, or purchasing a retainer/subscription, you agree to the following terms and conditions.

1Bookings, Deposits & Payment Schedules

  • Slot Reservations: A non-refundable deposit (typically 50% unless stated otherwise in your invoice) is required to secure your place on our production schedule.
  • Balance Due: The remaining balance must be paid in full prior to the release of high-resolution, print-ready, or final digital files.
  • Quote Validity: Custom quotes are valid for 30 days from the date of issue.
  • Currencies & Processing: Invoices are issued in the currency specified on your invoice, and clients are responsible for any payment gateway processing fees.

2Book Cover Design (Ebook, Paperback, Hardcover & Dust Jackets)

  • Design Brief & Direction: Projects begin based on the details submitted in your initial brief (genre tropes, character descriptions, mood, typography style, and layout preferences). A complete change of concept after work has started is treated as a new design and billed accordingly.
  • Printer Specifications: The client is responsible for supplying accurate trim sizes, paper types (white vs. cream), final page counts, and printer templates (e.g., KDP, IngramSpark, Barnes & Noble Press). Spine widths cannot be finalized until your manuscript formatting is complete and the exact page count is confirmed.
  • Barcodes & ISBNs: Clients must provide their own registered ISBN and barcode data. While we format and place barcodes on the jacket/wrap according to printer specs, the client is responsible for verifying scannability upon receiving physical proofs.
  • Stock & Asset Licensing: Standard commercial stock photo licensing covers standard book sales runs (typically up to 500,000 physical units) and digital marketing under standard stock vendor licenses. High-volume print runs or commercial merchandise resale require an extended license at an additional cost.

3Interior Formatting (Paperback, Hardcover & Ebook)

  • Final Manuscript Submission: Interior formatting requires a completely finalized, professionally edited, and proofread manuscript (.docx format). Formatting is not a proofreading, copyediting, or indexing service.
  • Author Alterations & Typo Allowances: Minor typographical adjustments caught during formatting review (up to 10 minor word/spelling fixes) are included. Substantial rewrites, updated chapter texts, deleted scenes, or replacing the manuscript after layout has commenced will incur re-formatting fees based on the time required to re-flow the layout.
  • Custom Interior Elements: High-resolution chapter header graphics, scene-break art, author photos, maps, and illustrations must be submitted before formatting begins, following our resolution guidelines (minimum 300 DPI for print).
  • Deliverables: Print interiors are delivered as PDF/X-1a files according to printer specifications. Digital interiors are provided in standard validated reflowable EPUB formats.

4Custom Illustrations & Concept Art

  • Milestone Approvals: Custom illustration projects proceed through distinct phases:
    1. Concept & Rough Sketch: Establishing composition, poses, silhouettes, and perspective.
    2. Color Rough / Line Art: Finalizing linework, color palette, lighting scheme, and major details.
    3. Final Rendering & Detailing: Polishing lighting, textures, and subtle accents.
  • Approval Lock-In: Client approval at each milestone locks in that stage. Revisions requested for a previously approved phase (e.g., altering character anatomy or perspective during the final render stage) require an additional fee based on the rework involved.
  • Artistic Discretion: While we design faithfully to your brief, commissioning illustration work means trusting the artist’s individual style, brushwork, and creative interpretation as represented in our portfolio.

5Author Branding, Logos & Visual Identity

  • Identity Deliverables: Branding packages include the agreed-upon digital deliverables (e.g., primary logo, alternate logo/watermark, sub-marks, color palette HEX/CMYK codes, font pairings, and brand guidelines).
  • Font Licensing: Due to legal licensing restrictions, font software files cannot be transferred directly. Clients will be provided with exact font names, purchase links, or open-source download sources to legally install desktop or web fonts for their own ongoing use.
  • Trademarking & Registration: We do not perform legal trademark searches. Clients wishing to trademark their brand name, author moniker, or logo are solely responsible for conducting legal clearance searches with a qualified trademark attorney.

6Revisions & 14-Day Post-Delivery Grace Period

  • Included Rounds: Each service package includes the specified rounds of revisions outlined in your initial proposal (typically 2–3 rounds covering typography tweaks, color balance, lighting, and layout adjustments).
  • Out-of-Scope Changes: Requests that contradict previously approved milestones or depart fundamentally from the agreed design brief are billed at our current hourly rate.
  • 14-Day Grace Period: After delivery of your final production files, you have a 14-day grace period to review the files and request minor technical adjustments required by your printer/distributor (e.g., slight spine width tweaks due to paper recalculations, bleed adjustments, or file validation flags).
  • Subsequent Revisions: Any changes requested after the 14-day window has expired (such as new endorsements, blurb rewrites, or price badge changes) are treated as maintenance updates and billed separately.

7Project Communication, Dormancy & Restart Fees

  • Client Response Time: Creative schedules rely on steady momentum. Clients must provide requested feedback, assets, or approvals within 14 business days of an update.
  • Project Dormancy: If a project goes without communication or feedback for 30 consecutive days, it will be declared dormant and removed from our active production calendar.
  • Restart Fees & Expiration: Re-opening a dormant project requires a restart fee and will be placed in the next available calendar slot based on our current schedule. Projects that remain inactive for more than 6 months expire completely; all deposits and progress payments are forfeited, and completing the work will require a brand-new agreement at current rates.

8Series Continuation Pricing

  • Eligibility: Discounted or locked-in series rates apply strictly to direct continuations within the same series universe or sub-genre, using the established cover template or interior layout grid.
  • Time Limits: To retain series continuation rates, subsequent covers or formats must be booked within 12 months of the previous title’s release.
  • Design Deviations: Major visual rebrandings, genre pivots, or structural overhauls do not qualify for series continuation rates and will be quoted as new designs.

9Marketing Teasers, Subscriptions & Retainers

  • Billing & Auto-Renewal: Recurring marketing teaser retainers and social graphic subscriptions are billed automatically every 30 days. Subscriptions may be canceled at any time before the next billing cycle.
  • Asset Submissions: Quotes, character art, and copy for monthly graphics must be submitted by your designated monthly cutoff date to guarantee timely production.
  • Rollover Limits: Unused retainer graphics must be used within the active billing month. A maximum of one month's unused deliverables may roll over into the following month; any unused assets beyond that limit expire.

10Copyright, Intellectual Property & Licensing

  • Ownership of Final Deliverables: Upon receipt of full payment, the client receives exclusive commercial rights to use the final, flattened artwork and formatted files for publication, distribution, and promotional marketing of the specific title or author brand.
  • Source & Native Files: Layered working files (e.g., .PSD, .AI, InDesign source packages, clip art working files) remain the exclusive intellectual property of the studio and are not included in standard packages. Layered source files are only released under a negotiated separate buyout agreement.
  • Preliminary Concepts: All unused design concepts, initial sketches, discarded color studies, and unused mockups remain our exclusive property and may not be used, copied, or shared by the client.
  • Portfolio & Credit: The studio reserves the right to showcase finished artwork, 3D mockups, book interiors, and client branding in our portfolio, website, and promotional social media channels. The client agrees to include design/formatting credit in the book’s copyright page (e.g., "Cover design by [Studio Name]" / "Interior formatting by [Studio Name]").

11Cancellations & Refunds

  • Deposits: Deposits and retainers are non-refundable, compensating the studio for reserved calendar time, administrative setup, and preliminary work.
  • Project Termination by Client: If you cancel a project after production has begun, you will be billed for all work completed up to the cancellation date. Deposits will not be returned.
  • Studio Cancellation: In the rare event that the studio cannot complete your project due to illness, emergency, or unforeseen circumstances, we will provide a full refund of any unearned fees paid for incomplete milestones and deliver all usable work completed to that point.

Last updated: September 2026. These terms and conditions are subject to change without prior notice; current terms published on this page govern all active and upcoming agreements.