This Agreement is between PubPreppers.com (a division of BookLocker.com, Inc.), hereafter referred to as the "Company", and the Author or duly authorized legal representative (herein represented as "Author"), in regards to the Work (herein represented as "Work") named at the end of the contract, and shall be considered legal and binding in all countries, and its separate or conglomerate governments.
PubPreppers.com provides design and conversion services for print books and electronic books (ebooks).
I. CLAUSES REGARDING RIGHTS GRANTED TO COMPANY
PUBPREPPERS.COM DOES NOT TAKE ANY COPYRIGHTS FROM AUTHORS. You retain all rights to your files, including those you have paid the Company to design/create.
II. CLAUSES REGARDING WORK SUBMITTED
The Author hereby states that the Work submitted to the Company is free and clear of any counts of libel, plagiarism, breach of privacy or misrepresentation of facts.
The Author hereby states that the Work does not infringe on the privacy of any third party; that he or she is owner of any trademarks and/or trade names associated with the Work; that the Work does not constitute obscenity, hate literature, or illegal content, does not portray child abuse, does not contain nude photos, and that the author has the right to enter into this Agreement.
The Author states that the Work is not currently in the public domain and that the Author is the sole owner and copyright holder of the work, and all text and artwork associated with the work, with full power to enter into this contract. The Author states that if the Work has previously been published in whole or in part, that author currently holds all copyrights to the Work and that the author is legally permitted to enter into this agreement.
The Author releases the Company from any responsibilities relating to any legal actions incurred by the contents of the Work or the Author. The Author is solely responsible for any and all legal actions that may arise from the Author's Work.
III. CLAUSES REGARDING THE FORMAT OF WORK
The Company formats Works in four formats: Print, Ebook - Mobi, Ebook - ePub and Ebook - PDF
Works in electronic format are exchanged online between the Author and the Company. Because of requirements by ebook retailers and printers, the Company does not implement security on files. The Author acknowledges that, because of the digital nature of these files, it is possible for them to be replicated and distributed illegally by third parties. The Author agrees to not hold the Company liable if such a situation occurs.
Print Book Sizes: 5 x 8, 5.5 x 8.5, 6 x 9, 7 x 10, 8.25 x 11 and 8.5 x 11. Information and costs quoted in this contract for print books are for black-and-white-interior books only. Contact the Company for information on color-interior books.
Books up to 1,050 pages are permitted.
ISBNs
The ISBN for each book format must be registered to the author's name.
IV. CLAUSES REGARDING SERVICES PROVIDED BY THE COMPANY
The Company provides services to support the Author in the design and publication of their book. All services are optional. They include: Interior formatting/design, Original Print and/or ebook cover design, Automated indexing, and a variety of other fee-based and included services described on the website.
Links where authors can list their book themselves for direct sale with the largest Print on Demand printer in the world (includes distribution by Ingram), and registration/distribution by Amazon (Kindle), BarnesandNoble.com (Nook), Apple (iPad, iPod, iPhone). Authors can list their book at any other distributor/retailer of their choosing as well. NOTE: Ingram distributes print book listings to Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, booksamillion.com, Chapters.ca and many other smaller, online bookstores, both domestic and foreign. Any bookstore with an Ingram account can pick up Ingram's feed, so you'll find your book listed in stores you've never heard of.
Authors then keep 100% of what these firms pay the author for sales.
DISCLAIMER
While all of these stores currently add almost all books automatically, and have never refused to add one of our books, we can't guarantee that every book will be added by all of Ingram's bookstore clients, nor that any of their clients will continue to list/sell a particular book for eternity. Nobody can guarantee that. Ebook retailers can also choose which books they wish to sell. For example, Apple says it will not sell books with extreme adult content...but there are many such books for sale in Apple's store. Nothing in this contract guarantees that any or all of the printers/distributors/retailers will accept all books.
OPTIONAL RUSH/EXPEDITED SERVICE
The Company's turn-around on files is usually within a month of the author submitting their final file(s) to us. Two-week turnaround on print formatting is available for an additional $300 rush fee. Rush service may be available on ebook formatting and conversion, for an additional fee, based on the Company's backlog. Please contact us if you need two-week turn-around on your ebook formatting and conversion.
FILE CHANGES
The print book files are entirely separate from the epub/mobi (ebook) files. Different programs must be used to create each set of files. If an author is enrolled in both programs and wishes to make changes to their book, they must pay for changes separately for each edition of the book (print and ebook), and they must submit separate revision files to each division of the Company (print and ebook) for processing. Since the processes are separate, it is the author's responsibility to notify each division (print and ebook) of the Company if/when they wish to make revisions to all editions of their book.
PRINT BOOK FILE CHANGES - The Company will send the formatted manuscript back to the author for final changes one time at no additional charge. The author will then send the final file back to the Company for finalization and conversion to pdf. If changes are requested by the Author at that time, a $149 will be required because the Company will need to go backwards in the process at that point.
EBOOK FILE CHANGES - The manuscript submitted for ebook formatting and conversion must be the final manuscript. Any changes to epub and mobi files require a new ebook formatting/conversion fee. For this reason, for authors who have signed up for print and ebook formatting, the Company only begins the ebook process after the print process is completed. This saves the author from needing to pay twice changes to the print AND ebook files.
FINAL APPROVAL
The Company will not deem a Work final without the Author's approval. Therefore, the responsibility of deeming a Work to be final and ready for publication is borne by the Author.
BOOK COVER DESIGN - The Company charges additional fees for optional services of cover design (both ebook and print). Authors who order cover design from the Company own all rights to their cover design and production files.
Sample covers by the Company's designer can be seen here: http://www.booklocker.com/covers/covers.html#center - Click on each cover to see the entire cover (front, back and spine).
If an author orders original cover design, they do NOT also need to order ebook cover design. The Company will use the author's front print cover as the ebook cover.
CONTRACT TERMINATION BEFORE PUBLICATION
We understand that authors occasionally need to cancel their PubPreppers.com contract for a variety of reasons. If you request a refund after your card is charged, but before any file transmissions or formatting work is completed on your book, that is fine. However, the Company will retain a 25% cancellation fee to cover labor and transaction costs associated with processing the initial order, the author account, and the cancellation. By agreeing to this contract, you state that you understand and agree a 25% cancellation fee will apply to ALL fees paid when signing up. However, if any file transmissions have occurred or work has begun on your book or cover art, no refunds are permitted.
IX. CLAUSES REGARDING COMMUNICATION WITH AUTHORS
The primary method of communication with Authors shall be through the Author Accounts on PubPrepper's system (located on BookLocker.com's online author system). Therefore, the Company cannot enter into any agreement with Authors who do not have Internet access.
The Author can check their author account 24 hours/day, and is encouraged to check in periodically in the event spam filters are interrupting communication.
SPAM FILTERS
PubPreppers.com responds to ALL author emails received and also to posts made to the Author Accounts. However, spam filters have made communication increasingly difficult for businesses. If you're not hearing from us, check your author account (your ISP may be filtering emails our system has sent to notify you of new messages). Or, send a fax to 305-768-0261, and/or send us an alternative email address where we can attempt to send copies of your missing messages.
XI. CLAUSES REGARDING THE PROMOTIONAL ACTIVITY OF THE COMPANY
The Company shall have the right to use the Author's name or pen name (whichever one the Author specifies), likeness and biographical material, and book description for the purposes of promoting the Company and/or the Work itself.
XII. CLAUSES REGARDING DEALS NEGOTIATED BY THE AUTHOR WITH THIRD-PARTIES
The Author and the Company are independent contractors, and nothing in this Agreement will create any partnership, joint venture, agency, franchise, sales representative, or employment relationship between the parties.
This agreement does not create an exclusive relationship between the Author and the Company.
The Author will have no authority to make or accept any offers or representations on the Company's behalf. The Author agrees not to make any statement, written or oral, that would contradict the above.
TERMINATION
The Author and/or the Company may terminate this agreement at any time for any reason.
The Company will be dismissed from its obligations in this contract if events occur outside of the Company's control, including natural disaster, acts of God, fire, power or other service outages, or labor or other contract problems at the Company and/or any service the Company utilizes, including their ISP. Should any type of service interference occur, the Company will notify all authors, when and if possible, and provide a good faith estimate as to when the problems will be resolved.
XVI. CLAUSES REGARDING THE OWNERSHIP OF FILES
The Company does not take rights from authors. Authors own all rights to their files.
If artwork used on the Author's cover was obtained from a third-party service, the author does **not** own exclusive rights to that artwork unless the Author has purchased those rights separately. They only own exclusive rights to the finished cover design as a whole.
If your cover design/interior design is/was designed by another designer: You need to check with that designer concerning your rights. The Company STRONGLY advises authors to have work-for-hire agreements signed by any freelancer working on your book's interior or cover before hiring them so the author can use that work in perpetuity without fear of copyright infringement accusations from disgruntled ex-designers. Authors can find sample work-for-hire agreements online. If you do not own all rights to your cover, and if a dispute arises in the future, the Company may be forced to remove your book at the request of the copyright owner (the designer). Therefore, you are STRONGLY encouraged to enter into a work-for-hire contract with any designer or artist you hire.
Many publishers and even some designers also demand all rights to production files authors paid them to create. Under the terms above, PUBPREPPERS.COM AUTHORS OWN THEIR PRODUCTION FILES. The Company's philosophy regarding production files is: "you paid for it, you should own it."
XVII. GENERAL CLAUSES
The Company will not enter into a business relationship with an author or company that competes, either directly or indirectly, with PubPreppers.com (i.e. another publishing company or publishing services company serving authors). The Company shares sensitive, strategic information with authors. To share this information with individuals and firms who may have the opportunity to use this information in competition with PubPreppers would, of course, be a bad business decision.
The contract of any Author who lists their book with PubPreppers.com, and then begins to compete with the Company, either directly or indirectly, is subject to termination and no refund will be permitted.
Fees do increase occasionally, and without prior notice. All prices and fees discussed in this contract, and appearing on the website, are subject to change without notice. PubPreppers provides each Author with a quote before work begins but, if additional service needs arise, additional fees may be necessary.
The Company may at any time sell itself, or the majority of self, its holdings, licenses or grants. Current contracts would transfer to the new owner.
If the Company is legally judged bankrupt or liquidates its business, this Agreement shall be effectively terminated and all rights granted to the Company shall be terminated. The Company will only be responsible to the Author for the unpaid commissions at the time of insolvency.
CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION During the course of this contract and beyond, the Author may receive information relating to the Company and related entities that is not known to the general public ("Confidential Information"). Confidential Information includes, without limitation, correspondence with the author via their Author Account on BookLocker's system or via email, information relating to sales, confidential marketing processes, and other information related to the Company.
The Author agrees that:
1.) all Confidential Information will remain the Company's exclusive property;
2.) the Author will use Confidential Information only as is reasonably necessary for the relationship with the Company; and
3.) the Author will not disclose Confidential Information to any individual, company, or other third party.
The Company may amend any of the terms and conditions contained in this Agreement at any time and solely at its discretion. Any changes will be effective upon posting of the revisions on the Internet. The Author is responsible for reviewing the notice and any applicable changes.
The Company will make every effort to contact the Author if this agreement changes but the Company cannot be held responsible for electronic transmission problems. Changes to this agreement, however, may be posted without notice to the Author.
THE AUTHOR'S CONTINUED PARTICIPATION IN THE COMPANY'S PROGRAMS AFTER THE COMPANY'S POSTING OF ANY CHANGES WILL CONSTITUTE THE AUTHOR'S ACCEPTANCE OF SUCH CHANGES OR MODIFICATIONS. IF THE AUTHOR DOES NOT AGREE TO ANY CHANGES TO THIS AGREEMENT, THE AUTHOR MUST TERMINATE THIS AGREEMENT.
This Agreement will be governed by the laws of the United States of America and the state of Florida, without reference to rules governing choice of laws. Any action relating to this Agreement must be brought in the federal or state courts located in Bradenton, Florida and you irrevocably consent to the jurisdiction of such courts. You may not assign this Agreement, by operation of law or otherwise, without the Company's prior written consent. Subject to that restriction, this Agreement will be binding on, inure to, and be enforceable against the parties and their respective successors and assigns. The Company's failure to enforce your strict performance of any provision of this Agreement will not constitute a waiver of our right to enforce such provision or any other provision of this Agreement subsequently. Any notice or other communication under this Agreement will be given in writing and will be delivered by e-mail.
The parties agreed that except as specifically provided herein, all disputes arising under this Agreement shall be settled by binding arbitration in St. Petersburg, Florida and submitted to the American Arbitration Association for final disposition.
Contract Version: 06/05/2013
I HAVE READ AND UNDERSTAND THE AGREEMENT BETWEEN MYSELF AND THE COMPANY AND AGREE TO ALL TERMS AND CONDITIONS LISTED HEREIN.