Terms of service
Here is the customized Terms of Service optimized for Global Publishing Center. It has been adapted from your template to specifically address your business model, including the sale of service packages, manuscript handling, intellectual property rights (protecting the author's copyright), and your relationship with global publishing platforms like Amazon KDP and IngramSpark.
OVERVIEW
Welcome to Global Publishing Center! The terms "we", "us" and "our" refer to Global Publishing Center. Global Publishing Center operates this website, including all related information, content, features, tools, publishing packages, and services in order to provide you, the author and customer, with a curated shopping and publishing experience (the "Services"). Global Publishing Center utilizes Shopify to process transactions and enable us to provide the Services to you.
The below terms and conditions, together with any policies referenced herein (these "Terms of Service" or "Terms") describe your rights and responsibilities when you use the Services.
Please read these Terms of Service carefully, as they include important information about your legal rights and cover areas such as warranty disclaimers and limitations of liability.
By visiting, interacting with, or using our Services, you agree to be bound by these Terms of Service and our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree to these Terms of Service or Privacy Policy, you should not use or access our Services.
SECTION 1 - ACCESS AND ACCOUNT
By agreeing to these Terms of Service, you represent that you are at least the age of majority in your state or province of residence, and you have given us your consent to allow any of your minor dependents to use the Services on devices you own, purchase, or manage.
To use the Services, including purchasing any of our publishing packages (e.g., editing, formatting, cover design, SEO writing, or platform distribution), you may be asked to provide certain information, such as your email address, billing, payment, and shipping information, as well as your manuscript and author details. You represent and warrant that all the information you provide is correct, current, and complete, and that you have all rights, including copyright, necessary to provide your manuscript and materials to us.
You are solely responsible for maintaining the security of your account credentials and for all of your account activity. You may not transfer, sell, assign, or license your account to any other person.
SECTION 2 - OUR SERVICE PACKAGES AND PRODUCTS
Our Services include, but are not limited to, book editing, book formatting, cover design, description SEO writing, and publishing facilitation on global platforms (including Amazon, IngramSpark, Barnes & Noble, Lulu, Apple Books, and Kobo).
We have made every effort to provide an accurate representation of our service packages in our online store. However, please note that turnaround times, specific design visual outcomes, and the final appearance of your published book may vary depending on the specific third-party platform's constraints and requirements.
We do not warrant that the final appearance or subjective quality of any design or editing services will perfectly match initial expectations, as publishing is a collaborative process. All descriptions of service packages are subject to change at any time without notice at our sole discretion. We reserve the right to discontinue any package at any time and may limit the availability of our services to any person or geographic region.
SECTION 3 - ORDERS AND COMMENCEMENT OF WORK
When you place an order for a publishing package, you are making an offer to purchase our services. Global Publishing Center reserves the right to accept or decline your order (or manuscript) for any reason at its discretion (including if a manuscript violates our content guidelines or platform terms). Your order is not accepted until Global Publishing Center confirms acceptance.
We must receive and process your payment before your order is accepted and work commences. Please review your order carefully. Because our services involve immediate allocation of editors, designers, and formatters, cancellation requests may be subject to prorated fees based on the work already completed. In the event that we do not accept, make a change to, or cancel an order, we will attempt to notify you via the contact information provided.
Your purchases are subject to return or refund solely in accordance with our stated Refund Policy. You represent and warrant that you are the rightful owner of the content submitted for publication.
SECTION 4 - PRICES AND BILLING
Prices, discounts, and promotions are subject to change without notice. The price charged for a service package will be the price in effect at the time the order is placed and will be set out in your order confirmation email. Unless otherwise expressly stated, posted prices do not include physical shipping, handling, customs, or import charges (which may apply if you order physical author copies or proofs).
We may offer promotions that are governed by terms and conditions separate from these Terms. If there is a conflict between the terms for a promotion and these Terms, the promotion terms will govern.
You agree to provide current, complete, and accurate purchase, payment, and account information for all purchases. You represent and warrant that (i) the credit card information you provide is true, correct, and complete, (ii) you are duly authorized to use such credit card, and (iii) charges incurred will be honored by your credit card company.
SECTION 5 - DELIVERY OF SERVICES AND DISTRIBUTION TIMELINES
We provide estimated timelines for editing, design, formatting, and publishing. We are not liable for delays caused by collaborative revisions, delayed manuscript submissions by the author, or extended review periods by third-party publishing platforms (e.g., Amazon KDP, Apple Books).
All delivery and publication times are estimates only and are not guaranteed. Once a digital file is finalized and approved by you, or once we transfer physical proof copies to a shipping carrier, title and risk of loss passes to you.
SECTION 6 - INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND AUTHOR COPYRIGHT
Your Content: You retain all copyright, ownership, and intellectual property rights to your original manuscript, author branding, and content submitted to us. By purchasing our services, you grant us a temporary, non-exclusive license to edit, format, design, and upload your work to publishing platforms solely for the purpose of fulfilling your purchased service package.
Our Content: Our website, Services, proprietary formatting templates, website text, displays, and branding are owned by Global Publishing Center and are protected by intellectual property laws. These Terms permit you to use our website for your personal, non-commercial use only. You must not reproduce or distribute any of the proprietary material on the Services without our prior written consent.
Global Publishing Center's names, logos, and slogans are our trademarks. Shopify's name and logos are trademarks of Shopify. All other trademarks belong to their respective owners.
SECTION 7 - OPTIONAL TOOLS
You may be provided with access to customer tools offered by third parties as part of the Services. You acknowledge and agree that we provide access to such tools "as is" and "as available" without any warranties, representations, or conditions of any kind. We shall have no liability whatsoever arising from or relating to your use of optional third-party tools.
SECTION 8 - THIRD-PARTY LINKS AND PUBLISHING PLATFORMS
The Services involve interactions with and links to third-party publishing platforms (e.g., Amazon, IngramSpark, Barnes & Noble). We are not responsible for examining or evaluating the content, accuracy, policies, or sudden changes to the terms of service of these third-party platforms. If your book is rejected or removed by a third-party platform due to a violation of their specific content guidelines, Global Publishing Center is not liable.
Complaints, claims, concerns, or questions regarding third-party platforms, royalties, or distribution algorithms should be directed to the respective third party.
SECTION 9 - RELATIONSHIP WITH SHOPIFY
Global Publishing Center is powered by Shopify, which enables us to provide the transaction Services to you. However, any sales and purchases you make in our Store are made directly with Global Publishing Center. By using the Services, you acknowledge and agree that Shopify is not responsible for any aspect of any sales between you and us, including any injury, damage, or loss resulting from purchased services. You hereby expressly release Shopify and its affiliates from all claims arising from your transactions with Global Publishing Center.
SECTION 10 - PRIVACY POLICY
All personal information and manuscript data we collect through the Services is subject to our Privacy Policy. Certain payment information may be subject to Shopify's Privacy Policy. Because the Services are hosted by Shopify, Shopify collects and processes personal information about your access to and use of the checkout Services. Review our Privacy Policy for more details on how we, Shopify, and our partners use your information.
SECTION 11 - FEEDBACK
If you submit reviews, suggestions, proposals, or other feedback (collectively, "Feedback"), you grant us a perpetual, worldwide, sublicensable, royalty-free license to use, reproduce, publish, and display such Feedback in any medium for promotional or operational purposes. We are under no obligation to maintain Feedback in confidence or pay compensation for it. We may monitor, edit, or remove Feedback that we determine in our sole discretion to be unlawful, offensive, or libelous.
SECTION 12 - ERRORS, INACCURACIES AND OMISSIONS
Occasionally there may be information on the Services that contains typographical errors, inaccuracies, or omissions that may relate to package descriptions, pricing, or turnaround times. We reserve the right to correct any errors and to change or update information or cancel orders if any information is inaccurate at any time without prior notice.
SECTION 13 - PROHIBITED USES
You may access and use the Services for lawful purposes only. You may not access or use the Services: (a) for any unlawful purpose; (b) to submit plagiarized, infringing, hateful, or illegal manuscripts for publication; (c) to infringe upon or violate our intellectual property rights or those of others; (d) to harass, abuse, or intimidate our employees; (e) to transmit false information; (f) to upload viruses or malicious code; (g) to scrape or use automated data gathering tools on our website. We reserve the right to terminate your account and cancel your service package without a refund if you violate these prohibited uses.
SECTION 14 - AGENTS
14.1 This section applies if you use or deploy an Agent (software/AI) to interact with any Services.
14.2 No Agent may interact with Services unless it identifies itself in strict accordance with section 14.4.
14.3 We may limit whether and how any Agent interacts with Services.
14.4 Agents must: (i) identify as an Agent in HTTP/HTTPS requests; (ii) not obfuscate access by mimicking human behavior; (iii) respond truthfully to prompts determining computer vs. human use; (iv) not circumvent security measures.
SECTION 15 - TERMINATION
We may terminate this agreement or your access to the Services in our sole discretion at any time without notice, and you will remain liable for all amounts due up to the date of termination. The sections regarding Intellectual Property, Limitations of Liability, Indemnification, and Governing Law shall survive termination.
SECTION 16 - DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES
The information presented on or through the Services is made available solely for general information purposes. We do not guarantee specific sales outcomes, bestseller status, or financial success resulting from our publishing, editing, or marketing services.
EXCEPT AS EXPRESSLY STATED BY Global Publishing Center, THE SERVICES ARE PROVIDED 'AS IS' AND 'AS AVAILABLE' WITHOUT ANY REPRESENTATION OR WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND. WE DO NOT GUARANTEE THAT YOUR USE OF THE SERVICES WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE.
SECTION 17 - LIMITATION OF LIABILITY
TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PROVIDED BY LAW, IN NO CASE SHALL Global Publishing Center, OUR DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, AFFILIATES, AGENTS, CONTRACTORS, OR SHOPIFY BE LIABLE FOR ANY INJURY, LOSS, CLAIM, OR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, PUNITIVE, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OF ANY KIND, INCLUDING LOST PROFITS, LOST ROYALTIES, OR LOSS OF DATA ARISING FROM YOUR USE OF THE SERVICES, DELAYS IN PUBLICATION, OR PLATFORM REJECTIONS, WHETHER BASED IN CONTRACT, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE), OR OTHERWISE.
SECTION 18 - INDEMNIFICATION
You agree to indemnify, defend and hold harmless Global Publishing Center, Shopify, and our affiliates, employees, and contractors from any claims, including reasonable attorneys' fees, payable to any third party due to or arising out of (1) your breach of these Terms, (2) your violation of any law, or (3) copyright infringement claims or legal disputes arising from the content of the manuscript you submitted to us for publication.
SECTION 19 - SEVERABILITY
In the event that any provision of these Terms is determined to be unlawful, void, or unenforceable, such provision shall nonetheless be enforceable to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, and the unenforceable portion shall be deemed severed. Such determination shall not affect the validity of remaining provisions.
SECTION 20 - WAIVER; ENTIRE AGREEMENT
The failure to exercise or enforce any right under these Terms shall not constitute a waiver of such right. These Terms of Service and any policies posted by us constitute the entire agreement between you and us, superseding any prior agreements. Any ambiguities in interpretation shall not be construed against the drafting party.
SECTION 21 - ASSIGNMENT
You may not transfer or assign this Agreement or any of your rights under these Terms without our prior written consent. We may transfer, assign, or delegate these Terms without consent or notice to you.
SECTION 22 - GOVERNING LAW
These Terms of Service and any separate agreements whereby we provide you Services shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Texas and the federal laws of the United States applicable therein. You and Global Publishing Center consent to venue and personal jurisdiction in the courts located in Houston, Texas.
SECTION 23 - HEADINGS
The headings used in this agreement are included for convenience only and will not limit or affect these Terms.
SECTION 24 - CHANGES TO TERMS OF SERVICE
You can review the most current version of the Terms of Service at any time on this page. We reserve the right to update, change, or replace any part of these Terms by posting updates to our website. It is your responsibility to check our website periodically for changes.
SECTION 25 - CONTACT INFORMATION
Questions about the Terms of Service should be sent to us using the contact details below:
Global Publishing Center
Email: info@globalpublishingcenter.com
Address: 7906 Glover St, Houston, TX 77012-3620, United States
Phone: +1 (713) 919-5471