These Terms and Conditions set out the terms between you and us under which you may access and use our services through the website www.novel-storm.com. They apply to all users of, and visitors to our site. Please read them carefully as they affect your rights and liabilities under the law.
Your use of our site and services means that you accept, and agree to these Terms and Conditions and all the policies in the Acceptable Use Policy, which supplement these Terms and Conditions.
Novel-Storm may change these terms from time to time and so you should check these terms regularly.
1. Registration
1.1 Registration to Novel-Storm is open to everyone over the age of 18 and is free of charge. If you are under the age of 18 and wish to register with Novel-Storm, you must use a parent or a guardian to sponsor you when creating your account.
1.2 All accounts must be registered with a valid email and billing address. You may also upload a picture which will then be displayed on your membership profile.
1.3 Accounts registered with invalid information may be closed without notice. We may require you to re-validate your account if we believe that you have been using invalid details.
1.4 Once you have registered as a member of Novel-Storm, you have access to all literature and illustrations available through the website. You may also invite your friends to join by using the 'Invite a Friend' option. This feature can be particularly useful if you wish your friends to join and vote for your submissions.
2. Publication
2.1 By submitting your work to Novel-Storm, including all text and illustration you agree to grant Novel-Storm permission to use the material in any way it sees fit, including modifying and adapting it for operational and editorial reasons. We may also show your name with your contribution, unless you request otherwise.
2.2 In certain circumstance Novel-Storm may share your contribution with trusted third parties although your permission will be sought prior to this.
2.3 Please observe the word limit and submission deadline set by Novel-Storm prior to submitting your work as Novel-Storm cannot guarantee that any work falling outside of the stated guidelines will be accepted and/or made available on the website.
2.4 Novel-Storm will endeavour to present completed novels to chosen publishing companies in an effort to get the books published. In the event of a publication, 80% of the profit derived from the sale of the published novel will be distributed between the contributing authors and illustrators as advised by Novel-Storm in advance. The remaining 20% is retained by Novel-Storm.
2.5 Novel-Storm reserves the right to vary the division of profit depending on the type of novel published and illustration involved. Novel-Storm will inform of such variation in advance.
Novels
2.6 You may submit a complete novel on the condition that it is your own work and you own full copyright to it. The submission fee is £2.50 and once submitted and reviewed, Novel-Storm will post it into the relevant category under either un-published or self-published work.
2.7 The first chapter of each novel available on Novel-Storm is accessible free of charge. Full access to each novel is available at an access fee of £2.50 per novel.
2.8 You may submit a suggested first chapter for a novel, which Novel-Storm will post if suitable in the corresponding category. A submissions cost of £2.50 applies, which covers any further submissions you may wish to make for that particular novel and gives you full access to all subsequent chapters in that novel.
2.9 Following the expiry of the advised deadline for submissions, all submitted and reviewed chapters will be available for you to read provided you have paid the access fee. You are then urged to vote for your favourite suggested chapter, followed by the winning suggestion being added to the book. You may vote for your own submissions once.
2.10 All access and submission fees paid by members are accumulated into a funds 'pot' for each particular book which is paid out at regular intervals during the year to the contributing authors and illustrators of each book. The contributing authors and illustrators each receive a share of 80% of the pot. The remaining 20% is retained by Novel-Storm.
2.11 As an alternative to being granted your share of the funds 'pot', you may instruct Novel-Storm to use the funds to publish the book physically under the Novel-Storm label (subject to there being sufficient funds in the pot to do so).
Poetry, Short Stories and Scripts
2.12 The categories Poetry, Short Stories and Scripts are completely free to use and no submission or access fees apply. Novel-Storm may decide to publish a collection of poems or short stories, whereupon the contributing authors and illustrators share 80% of any profit. The remaining 20% is retained by Novel-Storm.
Illustrators
2.13 You may submit your suggested illustrations for the relevant book covers or books that need illustrating at a submission fee of £2.50. Please ensure that you follow the advised requirements for the illustrations prior to submitting your work. As illustrations may vary significantly, you will be advised of your share of any profit in advance.
2.14 You may also email or post hi-resolution copies to appear in the Gallery where members can order specific illustrations to be added to merchandise such as t-shirts, mugs, mouse mats, posters etc. These are sold through the online Shop and 80% of profits made on sales will go to the illustrator and 20% to Novel-Storm. Minimum order quantities may apply before orders can be processed.
Agency
2.15 Novel-Storm is happy to act as a representative and agent for script and screenplay writers. Novel-Storm retains 10% of any profit obtained from such representation. Please email info@novel-storm.com for further information.
3. Copyright and IP
3.1 In order that Novel-Storm can use your submission, you confirm that your submission is your own original work. You must not violate, plagiarise, or infringe the rights of Novel-Storm or third parties including copyright, trade mark, trade secrets, privacy, and publicity, personal or proprietary rights.
3.2 You agree that your work is not defamatory and does not infringe any laws. You confirm that you have the right to give Novel-Storm permission to use it, and that you have the consent of anyone who is identifiable in your contribution or the consent of their parent or guardian if they are under 18. Novel-Storm may need to contact you for administrative or verification purposes in relation to your submission.
3.3 Novel-Storm owns the copyright to all mult-authored novels and may do with it as it sees fit, whether published or unpublished. If, prior to finalisation of a novel to which you have contributed your work is published elsewhere, it is your obligation to inform Novel-Storm of this immediately. Failing this, you agree to indemnify Novel-Storm of any damage or loss incurred to Novel-Storm as a result of this failure.
3.4 Copyright to all poems and short stories remains with the author. If, prior to publication your work is published elsewhere, it is your obligation to inform Novel-Storm of this immediately. Failing this, you agree to indemnify Novel-Storm of any damage or loss incurred as a result of this failure.
3.5 All copyright, trade marks, design rights, patents and other intellectual property rights (registered and unregistered) in and on novel-storm.com and all content (including all applications) located on the site shall remain vested in Novel-Storm.
3.6 You may not copy, reproduce, republish, disassemble, decompile, reverse engineer, download, post, broadcast, transmit, make available to the public, or otherwise use Novel-Storm content in any way except for your own personal, non-commercial use. You also agree not to adapt, alter or create a derivative work from any Novel-Storm content.
3.7 The names, images and logos identifying Novel-Storm or third parties and their products and services are subject to copyright, design rights and trade marks of Novel-Storm and/or third parties. Nothing contained in these terms shall be construed as conferring any licence or right to use any trade mark, design right or copyright of Novel-Storm or any other third party.
3.8 You agree to indemnify Novel-Storm against all and any loss, damages or costs sustained by Novel-Storm arising out of any breach of copyright by you, or of breach of intellectual property rights found on this website.
4. Novel-Storm Online Shop
4.1 When you place an order to purchase a product from Novel-Storm through our online Shop, we will send you an e-mail confirming receipt of your order and containing the details of your order, including all shipping charges and taxes that may apply. Your order represents an offer to us to purchase a product which is accepted by us when we send e-mail confirmation to you that we've dispatched that product to you (the "Dispatch Confirmation E-mail"). That acceptance will be complete at the time we send the Dispatch Confirmation E-mail to you. Any products on the same order which we have not confirmed in a Dispatch Confirmation E-mail do not form part of that contract.
4.2 We list availability information for products sold by us on the website, including on each product information page. Beyond what we say on that page or otherwise on the website, we cannot be more specific about availability. Please note that dispatch estimates are just that. They are not guaranteed dispatch times and should not be relied upon as such. As we process your order, we will inform you by e-mail if any products you order turn out to be unavailable.
4.3 Despite our efforts, some of the products in the Novel-Storm shop may be mispriced. However, we do verify prices as part of our dispatch procedures. If a product's correct price is lower than our stated price, we charge the lower amount and send you the product. If a product's correct price is higher than our stated price, we will, at our discretion, either contact you for instructions before dispatch or cancel your order and notify you of such cancellation.
4.4 When ordering goods from Novel-Storm for delivery overseas you may be subject to import duties and taxes, which are levied once the package reaches the specified destination. Any additional charges for customs clearance must be borne by you; we have no control over these charges and cannot predict what they may be. Customs policies vary widely from country to country, so you should contact your local customs office for further information.
4.5 Please note that when ordering from Novel-Storm, you are considered the importer of record and must comply with all laws and regulations of the country in which you are receiving the goods. Your privacy is important to us and we know that you care about how information about your order is used and shared. We would like our international customers to be aware that cross-border deliveries are subject to opening and inspection by customs authorities.
4.6 Novel-Storm cannot be held responsible for any delay or failure to comply with our obligations under these conditions if the delay or failure arises from any cause which is beyond our reasonable control. This condition does not affect your statutory rights.
4.7 In addition to your 30-day returns guarantees, customers in the European Union are entitled to a statutory cooling-off period of seven business days. Please contact Novel-Storm for further information regarding our Returns Policy.
5. Discussion Forum Rules
5.1 You agree to use the Novel-Storm Discussion Forums (including message boards) in accordance with the following Forum Rules:
5.2 Novel-Storm reserves the right to close your account if you are seen to be using proxy IPs (Internet Protocol addresses) in order to attempt to hide the use of multiple Novel-Storm accounts, or disrupts any of our services in any way.
5.3 We advise that you never reveal any personal information about yourself or anyone else (for example: telephone number, postal address, home address or email address or any other details that would allow you to be personally identified) on any discussion board.
5.4 If you fail to abide by these Rules when taking part in the Forum, you will be sent an email which informs you why your posting has been refused or edited. This email will also include a warning that continuing to break the rules may result in action being taken against your account or accounts. This action may include any content posted by you being checked before allowed to go on the site or a temporary or permanent suspension of your ability to participate in any or all of the Novel-Storm Forums.
5.5 If you submit or share offensive or inappropriate content with the Forum or otherwise engage in any disruptive behaviour on Novel-Storm, and Novel-Storm considers such behaviour to be serious and/or repeated, Novel-Storm may use whatever information that is available to it about you to stop any further such infringements.
5.6 Novel-Storm reserves the right to delete any contribution, or take action against any Novel-Storm accounts, at any time, for any reason.
5.7 The majority of content posted in the Novel-Storm Forum is created by members of the public. The views expressed are theirs and unless specifically stated are not those of Novel-Storm. Novel-Storm is not responsible for any content posted by members of the public.
6. Disclaimers and Limitation of Liability
6.1 Novel-Storm is not responsible for the availability or content of any third party sites that are accessible through Novel-Storm. Any links to third party websites do not amount to any endorsement of that site by Novel-Storm and any use of that site by you is at your own risk.
6.2 Novel-Storm content, including the information, names, images, pictures, logos and icons regarding or relating to Novel-Storm, its products and services (or to third party products and services), is provided "as is" and on an "as available" basis. To the extent permitted by law, Novel-Storm excludes all representations and warranties (whether express or implied by law), including the implied warranties of satisfactory quality, fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement, compatibility, security and accuracy.
6.3 Novel-Storm does not guarantee the timeliness, completeness or performance of the website or any of the content. While we try to ensure that all content provided by Novel-Storm is correct at the time of publication no responsibility is accepted by or on behalf of Novel-Storm for any errors, omissions or inaccurate content on the website.
6.4 Nothing in these terms limits or excludes Novel-Storm liability for death or personal injury caused by its proven negligence. Subject to the previous sentence, Novel-Storm shall not be liable for any of the following losses or damage (whether such damage or losses were foreseen, foreseeable, known or otherwise): (a) loss of data; (b) loss of revenue or anticipated profits; (c) loss of business; (d) loss of opportunity; (e) loss of goodwill or injury to reputation; (f) losses suffered by third parties; or (g) any indirect, consequential, special or exemplary damages arising from the use of the Novel-Storm website regardless of the form of action.
6.5 Novel-Storm does not warrant that functions available on Novel-Storm will be uninterrupted or error free, that defects will be corrected, or that the Novel-Storm website or the server that makes it available are free of viruses or bugs. You acknowledge that it is your responsibility to implement sufficient procedures and virus checks (including anti-virus and other security checks) to satisfy your particular requirements for the accuracy of data input and output.
7. General
7.1 If any of these terms are determined to be illegal, invalid or otherwise unenforceable by reason of the laws of any state or country in which these terms are intended to be effective, then to the extent and within the jurisdiction in which that term is illegal, invalid or unenforceable, it shall be severed and deleted from these terms and the remaining terms shall survive and continue to be binding and enforceable.
7.2 The failure or delay of Novel-Storm to exercise or enforce any right in these terms does not waive the Novel-Storm's right to enforce that right.
7.3 These terms shall be governed by and interpreted in accordance with the laws of England and Wales, which shall have exclusive jurisdiction over any disputes.
