Service Agreement

Scope of Services

The services to be provided are those specified in your Service Order, which is issued and confirmed at the time of purchase. Your Service Order sets out the specific deliverables, milestones, and any special instructions relevant to your project.

Services not listed in your Service Order are not included and may be quoted separately upon request. Any additions to the agreed scope require written approval from both parties and may incur additional fees.

Client Obligations

To enable us to deliver your project on time and to the agreed standard, you agree to:

• Provide your complete manuscript and all required materials (author photo, bio, dedications, acknowledgements, back matter) within 14 days of order placement, unless a different schedule is agreed in writing.
• Respond to our team's questions and review requests within 5 business days. Delays in your response may extend your project timeline accordingly.
• Confirm that you own all rights to the submitted manuscript and that it does not infringe any third-party intellectual property.
• Provide accurate metadata including your desired title, subtitle, author name, genre categories, and book description.
• Review and approve each deliverable within the timeframe specified at delivery.

Deliverables and Timeline

Standard project timelines from manuscript receipt to publication-ready files are as follows. These are estimates; actual timelines depend on manuscript length, complexity, and your responsiveness.

• Copy editing: 2–4 weeks
• Developmental editing: 4–8 weeks
• Cover design: 2–3 weeks
• Interior formatting: 1–2 weeks
• Full publishing package (editing + design + formatting): 8–12 weeks
• Distribution setup after approved files: 1–2 weeks

Rush timelines may be available at an additional fee. Contact your Author Success Manager to discuss availability.

Fees and Payment

Fees are as specified in your Service Order. Payment terms are as follows:

• Standard packages: Full payment is due at the time of order placement before work commences.
• Custom or enterprise projects: A 50% deposit is due at project commencement, with the remaining 50% due upon delivery of final approved files.
• Additional services requested during the project are invoiced upon completion and payable within 14 days.
• Overdue payments accrue interest at 1.5% per month until settled.

Intellectual Property Rights

You retain all intellectual property rights in your manuscript and the content of your book. Upon receipt of full payment, all custom work produced by Spines Publishing USA for your project (cover design, formatted interior files, promotional assets) is assigned to you.

We retain the right to display completed book covers and project samples in our portfolio and marketing materials unless you request, in writing, that we do not. Such requests will be honoured within 14 days.

Any stock images, typefaces, or design elements sourced under licence from third-party libraries remain subject to those licences. We will notify you of any such elements and provide the relevant licence details.

Revisions and Approvals

Each service includes the following number of revision rounds:

• Cover design: Three initial concepts, plus two revision rounds on the chosen concept
• Interior formatting: Two revision rounds after initial delivery
• Edited manuscript: One round of author revisions incorporated after delivery

Additional revision rounds beyond those included may be purchased at our standard hourly rate. Approval of a deliverable by you constitutes your agreement that the deliverable meets the agreed specification and that the relevant work stage is complete.

Confidentiality

We treat your manuscript, project details, and any other information you share with us as strictly confidential. We will not share, publish, or disclose your manuscript or any portion of it to any third party other than service providers engaged to deliver your project (such as freelance editors or designers operating under our confidentiality standards).

Confidentiality obligations survive the termination of this Agreement indefinitely with respect to your creative content, and for 3 years with respect to business information.

Termination

Either party may terminate this Agreement with written notice. Termination by the Client is subject to our Refund Policy, which governs what fees, if any, are refundable based on project stage.

We may terminate this Agreement immediately if you breach a material term of this Agreement or our Terms of Service, or if you engage in conduct that we reasonably believe is unlawful, harmful, or damaging to our team or reputation. In such cases, fees already paid for completed work stages are non-refundable.

Governing Law

This Agreement is governed by the laws of the State of New York. Any disputes arising under this Agreement shall be resolved in accordance with the dispute resolution provisions set out in our Terms of Service.

This Agreement, together with your Service Order and our Terms of Service, constitutes the entire agreement between you and Spines Publishing USA regarding the services described herein and supersedes all prior discussions, representations, or agreements.