Terms and conditions

Proposed effective date: September 13, 2026 (placeholder; not yet effective)

These terms explain how we work with you. They are written to be read, not skimmed. If anything here is unclear, ask us before you sign a quote.

1. Definitions

“We”, “us”, and “Guardian Angel Press” refer to the publishing services business operating as Guardian Angel Press. Its registered legal name, entity type and registered address must be confirmed by the owner and counsel before these terms can be used. Operations are based in the Philippines; this statement does not establish legal domicile or governing law.

“You” and “the author” mean the person or company that hires us.

“Work” means your manuscript and any related material you give us, including images, notes, back cover copy, and author photos.

“Services” means the editing, design, production, distribution setup, launch support, and any other work listed in your statement of work, such as an author website, audiobook preparation, or a book trailer.

“Statement of work” means the written quote, proposal, or package description we send you and you accept. It lists the services, the price, the number of revision rounds, and the estimated timeline for one engagement.

“Deliverables” means the finished files we hand over, such as the edited manuscript, cover files, interior print files, eBook files, website files, and video files.

2. What we are and what we are not

We are a service provider. We are not a publisher.

We do not take rights to your book. We do not take royalties. We do not own any part of your work, before or after we finish. You are the publisher of record unless you tell us otherwise in writing, and any ISBN we set up for you is registered in your name or your imprint’s name, not ours.

Most companies in this field do not say this plainly. We do, because it is the whole point of how we work.

3. Scope of services

Each engagement is defined by its statement of work. If a task is not listed there, it is not included. We are happy to add it, but we will quote it first.

Our packages start at a listed price. That price is confirmed after we review your manuscript. Length, condition of the text, number of images, and the formats you want all affect the final number. We will send you a fixed quote before any work starts, and that quote is the price. We do not add fees later unless you ask for something outside the statement of work.

You accept these terms when you accept a statement of work, pay a deposit, or send us your manuscript to begin work, whichever comes first.

4. Your warranties

By hiring us, you confirm that:

• You wrote the work, or you hold the rights needed to publish it.
• The work does not copy protected material without permission. This includes text, images, song lyrics, and fonts.
• The work is not defamatory and does not invade anyone’s privacy.
• Any people, quotes, or images that need a release have one.
• The information you give us about yourself and your book is accurate.

If a third party makes a claim against us because one of these statements was not true, you agree to cover our costs, including reasonable legal fees.

We may decline or stop work on material we believe is unlawful or infringing. If that happens, section 9 applies.

5. Intellectual property

Your manuscript is yours. It stays yours at every stage.

Once you have paid in full, you own all rights to the final deliverables we create for you, including cover designs, interior layouts, and eBook files. You may print, sell, license, and change them as you wish. Until payment is complete, the deliverables remain our property and you may not publish them.

We keep the rights to our own working files, templates, checklists, scripts, and pre-existing tools. We may reuse those on other projects. We will not reuse your text, your cover art, or anything that identifies your book.

Stock images, fonts, and software used in your book are licensed under their own terms. Some licenses are non-transferable. We will tell you when that is the case and how to buy your own license if you need one.

We will not show your book in our portfolio, on our website, or in any promotion unless you give us permission. You can withdraw that permission at any time by emailing us.

6. Fees and payment

Prices are in US dollars. Each statement of work sets out the total fee and the payment schedule.

Our standard schedule is a deposit before work begins, with the balance due before final files are released. Larger projects may be split into more stages, and the statement of work will say so. Deposits reserve your place in our production schedule.

Invoices are due within 14 days unless the statement of work says otherwise. If an invoice is more than 14 days late we may pause work until it is paid. We do not charge interest on late payments, but we will not release final deliverables until the balance is clear.

We never take a percentage of your sales. Our fee is the only money you will pay us for the services in your statement of work.

Package prices include our work on ISBN setup, metadata, and copyright registration. The fee charged by the ISBN agency (Bowker, for US authors) and the US Copyright Office filing fee are passed through to you at cost, unless your statement of work says the package price includes them. Print proofs, any fees a retailer or distributor charges for setup or file revisions, domain registration and web hosting, and advertising spend are also passed through at cost. We will list any expected third-party costs in the statement of work and tell you before we incur any on your behalf.

7. Revisions

Each package includes a set number of revision rounds for each deliverable, or unlimited rounds where the package says so. The number is stated in your statement of work. A round is one consolidated set of changes from you, sent at one time.

Changes beyond the included rounds, or changes outside the original brief, are quoted as a fixed price before we do them. We do not bill by the hour or by the word. You can say no to the quote and we finish the work as originally agreed.

Once you approve a deliverable in writing, it is final. Changes after approval are a new round.

8. Timelines

We give you a concrete timeline before work starts. It is our best estimate, and it depends on you returning material, feedback, and approvals on schedule. Delays on your side move the whole schedule, and we may need to fit the rest of the project around other bookings.

We are not responsible for delays caused by retailers, printers, ISBN agencies, or other third parties.

9. Cancellation and refunds

You can cancel at any time by emailing us. When you do, we invoice you for work completed to that date, including any third-party costs already incurred. Any deposit is applied to that amount first. If the deposit exceeds the amount owed, we refund the difference. If the work completed exceeds the deposit, you pay the difference.

We can cancel an engagement if you do not respond for 60 days, if an invoice stays unpaid after we have paused work, or if we cannot continue for a reason described in section 4. The same accounting applies.

Work that has been delivered and approved is not refundable.

10. Third-party services

Retailers, distributors, printers and ISBN agencies each have their own terms, fees and policies. Amazon KDP, IngramSpark, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, Kobo, Google Play and Bowker are examples. When we set up accounts or listings for you, we do it in your name, and you agree to their terms directly. Retailer accounts need your tax and banking details. You enter those yourself. We never ask for them and we never store them.

Their policies change often. We will tell you what we know at the time, but you should read the current terms on each retailer’s page. We cannot control their pricing, review process, availability, or decisions to remove a listing.

11. Confidentiality

We keep your manuscript, your personal details and the terms of your engagement private. We do not share them with anyone outside our team except the contractors and services needed to complete your project, and those are bound by the same obligation.

We will not announce your book or its release date before you do.

This obligation does not apply to information that is already public or that we are required by law to disclose.

How we handle the personal details you send through this website is covered in our privacy policy.

12. No guarantee of results

We will do careful, professional work. We do not guarantee that your book will sell, earn back its cost, receive reviews, reach any bestseller list, rank on any retailer, or be accepted by any retailer or distributor. Anyone who guarantees those things is guessing or selling something else.

13. Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent the law allows, our total liability to you for any claim arising from an engagement is limited to the fees you paid us for that engagement.

We are not liable for indirect or consequential losses, including lost sales, lost profits, or reputational harm, even if we were told they were possible.

Nothing in these terms limits liability that cannot be limited under applicable law. Counsel must review these limitations against the law that applies.

14. Governing law

Unresolved draft provision: Governing law, dispute venue and any pre-dispute procedure have not been selected. The owner and qualified counsel must confirm the registered entity and applicable jurisdictions before these terms are published or used. No Philippine or California jurisdiction is assumed by this draft.

15. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms from time to time. The effective date at the top tells you which version you are reading. An engagement is governed by the version in force on the date you accept its statement of work.

16. Using this website

The guides and articles on this site are general information, not legal, tax, or financial advice. Prices and fees we mention for retailers, ISBN agencies, and the Copyright Office change often; check their current pages before you rely on a number. You may share and print our guides for your own use as long as you keep our name on them. You may not sell them or present them as your own.

17. Contact

Guardian Angel Press Operations based in the Philippines Registered legal entity and address: owner and counsel confirmation required admin@guardianangelpress.com