These Terms of Service ("Terms") are a binding legal agreement between you and Author Services LLC, a South Carolina limited liability company with offices in Florida ("Author Services," "we," "us," or "our"). They govern your access to and use of authorservices.com and the related imprint websites for Morningstar Press, Mill City Press, and Liberty Hill Publishing (collectively, the "Site"), and the publishing-related services we offer (the "Services").
By accessing the Site, submitting a form, sending a manuscript, entering a promotion, or otherwise engaging with the Services, you agree to these Terms and to our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, do not use the Site or Services.
I. Eligibility
You must be at least 18 years old (or the age of majority in your jurisdiction) to use the Site or Services and to enter into a binding agreement with us. If you use the Site on behalf of an organization, you represent that you have authority to bind that organization. The Site is not directed to children under 16, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 13. See our Privacy Policy for details.
II. Description of Services
Author Services is a publishing services company. We pair authors with the imprint that best fits their book — Morningstar Press (faith-based), Mill City Press (business and leadership), or Liberty Hill Publishing (politics and culture) — and provide editorial, design, production, and distribution services. Engagement with paid Services is governed by a separate written agreement (a "Publishing Services Agreement") that you and the relevant Author Services entity sign before paid work begins. These Terms govern your use of the Site and your interactions with us prior to and outside of any Publishing Services Agreement.
III. Author Rights and Ownership
Author Services is committed to author rights. When you engage us for paid Services under a Publishing Services Agreement:
- You retain copyright in your manuscript and the final published work
- You retain ownership of source files and may take them to another publisher at any time, subject to the terms of your Publishing Services Agreement
- You retain creative control; while our editors and designers will recommend changes consistent with industry standards, the final approval is yours
- You retain royalties from third-party retail sales, in the proportion stated in your Publishing Services Agreement
Nothing on the Site constitutes a transfer of rights in your work to Author Services. Rights transfers, if any, occur only through a signed Publishing Services Agreement.
IV. Manuscript Submissions
When you submit a manuscript or excerpt to us through the Site, by email, or by another channel:
- You represent that you own the rights to the work, that the work does not infringe any third party's intellectual property, defame any person, or violate any law, and that you have the authority to share it with us.
- We may review the work for purposes of evaluating fit, providing feedback, and determining whether to offer Services. Review by an Author Success Coach or editor is not a publication offer or a contract.
- We do not have a fiduciary or attorney-client relationship with you by virtue of submission. Any feedback is editorial guidance, not legal, financial, or tax advice.
- We will not publicly distribute or publish your manuscript without a signed Publishing Services Agreement.
- Storage: manuscripts and excerpts you submit are stored on our secure servers and the servers of our service providers (Vercel, MongoDB Atlas, and others described in our Privacy Policy). See the Privacy Policy for retention periods.
V. Right to Decline or Refer
We reserve the right, in our sole and absolute discretion and without liability, to decline to offer Services for any project, to decline to publish any work, or to refer a project to a different imprint. Reasons we may decline include but are not limited to: editorial fit, content that conflicts with the values or stated focus of the relevant imprint, content that we reasonably believe is unlawful, defamatory, infringing, or otherwise harmful, manuscripts that require substantial work outside the scope of services we offer, or scheduling and capacity constraints. Declining to offer Services is not a judgment on the merit of a work or its author.
VI. No Guarantee of Sales, Awards, or Outcomes
Publishing involves substantial uncertainty. We make no representation, warranty, or guarantee that any book published with our Services will:
- Achieve any particular sales volume, royalty income, or commercial success
- Reach a bestseller list (New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Amazon, or any other)
- Receive favorable reviews, awards, or media coverage
- Be stocked by any particular brick-and-mortar retailer
- Be selected by book clubs, libraries, or curricular adopters
- Be optioned for film, television, audio, foreign translation, or other derivative rights
Statements on the Site, in the Journal, in marketing materials, and by our representatives describe past results and general industry context. Past results are not a prediction of future outcomes for your project.
VII. Promotions, Contests, and Giveaways
Author Services and its imprints (including but not limited to Morningstar Press, Mill City Press, and Liberty Hill Publishing) may from time to time conduct promotions, contests, sweepstakes, or giveaways ("Promotions"). Participation in any Promotion is subject to additional rules made available at the time of the Promotion. By participating, you agree to those additional rules and to these Terms.
We reserve the right, in our sole and absolute discretion and without notice or liability, to:
- Modify, suspend, cancel, or terminate any Promotion, in whole or in part, at any time and for any reason or no reason;
- Disqualify any participant or revoke any award where we reasonably believe a participant has violated Promotion rules, submitted false or misleading information, used automated means or multiple accounts, engaged in fraudulent or unsportsmanlike conduct, or otherwise compromised the integrity of the Promotion;
- Determine the final outcome of any dispute relating to a Promotion, including questions of eligibility, prize awarding, and rule interpretation;
- Substitute a prize of equal or greater value where the stated prize becomes unavailable;
- Withhold a prize pending verification of eligibility, identity, tax compliance, or compliance with applicable law.
Our decisions on all matters relating to Promotions are final and binding on all participants. We are not responsible for any technical, mechanical, network, electronic, human, or third-party errors that may interfere with participation, prize fulfillment, or any other aspect of a Promotion. No purchase necessary where prohibited by law. Where required by law, official rules of any specific Promotion will be made available before entry, and those rules control where they conflict with these Terms.
VIII. Acceptable Use
You agree not to:
- Use the Site for any unlawful purpose or in violation of any applicable law or regulation
- Submit content that is unlawful, defamatory, infringing, obscene, harassing, threatening, hateful, or invasive of another's privacy
- Submit content for which you do not own or have permission to use the underlying intellectual property
- Attempt to gain unauthorized access to the Site, our servers, or any related systems
- Probe, scan, or test the vulnerability of the Site or breach any security or authentication measures
- Use any automated means (bots, scrapers, crawlers) to access the Site, except for well-behaved search engine indexers that obey our robots.txt
- Interfere with or disrupt the Site, including by uploading malicious code or excessive load
- Misrepresent your identity or affiliation
- Submit forms repeatedly to spam our intake systems
We reserve the right to suspend, restrict, or terminate access for any user we reasonably believe is violating these provisions.
IX. Intellectual Property of the Site
All content on the Site that is not user-submitted — including the design, layout, copy, graphics, logos, photography, software, blog posts in the Journal, and the editorial framework — is owned by Author Services LLC or our licensors and is protected by US and international copyright, trademark, and other intellectual property laws. "Author Services," "Morningstar Press," "Mill City Press," and "Liberty Hill Publishing" are trademarks of Author Services LLC.
We grant you a limited, revocable, non-exclusive, non-transferable license to access and use the Site for personal, non-commercial purposes consistent with these Terms. You may not copy, reproduce, distribute, modify, create derivative works from, publicly display, or otherwise exploit any portion of the Site without our express written permission.
X. Third-Party Links and Services
The Site may link to third-party websites, products, services, and resources. We do not control and are not responsible for the content, availability, terms, or privacy practices of third parties. Inclusion of a link does not constitute endorsement.
XI. Disclaimers
The Site and Services are provided "AS IS" and "AS AVAILABLE" without warranty of any kind, express or implied. To the maximum extent permitted by law, Author Services disclaims all warranties, including implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title, and non-infringement, and any warranties arising from a course of dealing or usage of trade.
We do not warrant that the Site will be uninterrupted, error-free, secure, or free of viruses or harmful code. We do not warrant that information on the Site is accurate, complete, or current. Use of the Site is at your own risk.
XII. Limitation of Liability
To the maximum extent permitted by law, in no event will Author Services LLC, its affiliates, officers, directors, employees, agents, or licensors be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages, or for any loss of profits, revenue, data, use, or goodwill, arising out of or related to your use of the Site or Services, even if we have been advised of the possibility of such damages.
Our total cumulative liability arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Site, from all causes of action and theories of liability, is limited to the greater of (a) the total fees you paid Author Services in the twelve (12) months preceding the event giving rise to the claim, or (b) one hundred dollars ($100.00).
Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion or limitation of certain damages; in those jurisdictions, the exclusions and limitations above apply to the maximum extent permitted by law.
XIII. Indemnification
You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless Author Services LLC, its affiliates, officers, directors, employees, agents, and licensors from and against any and all claims, liabilities, damages, losses, costs, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising out of or related to: (a) your use of the Site or Services; (b) your violation of these Terms; (c) your violation of any rights of another person or entity, including intellectual property, privacy, or contract rights; or (d) any content you submit, including manuscripts and form responses.
XIV. Termination
We may suspend or terminate your access to the Site at any time, with or without notice, for any reason, including violation of these Terms. The provisions of these Terms that by their nature should survive termination — including ownership, disclaimers, limitation of liability, indemnification, and dispute resolution — will survive.
XV. Governing Law and Dispute Resolution
Governing law
These Terms and any dispute arising out of or related to them or the Site are governed by the laws of the State of South Carolina, without regard to conflict-of-laws principles. The United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods does not apply.
Informal resolution
Before filing a claim, you agree to try to resolve the dispute informally by contacting us at contact@authorservices.com with a written description of the dispute and your contact information. We will attempt to resolve the dispute through good-faith discussion within thirty (30) days.
Binding arbitration
You and Author Services agree that any dispute, claim, or controversy arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Site that is not resolved informally will be resolved exclusively by final and binding arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association (AAA) under its Consumer Arbitration Rules then in effect. The arbitration will be conducted by a single arbitrator. The seat of arbitration is Charleston, South Carolina, though the arbitrator may permit telephonic or video hearings. Judgment on the award may be entered in any court of competent jurisdiction.
Class action and jury waiver
YOU AND AUTHOR SERVICES AGREE THAT EACH MAY BRING CLAIMS AGAINST THE OTHER ONLY IN AN INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY AND NOT AS A PLAINTIFF OR CLASS MEMBER IN ANY PURPORTED CLASS, CONSOLIDATED, OR REPRESENTATIVE PROCEEDING. Both parties waive the right to a trial by jury. The arbitrator has no authority to consolidate claims of more than one person or to preside over any form of representative or class proceeding.
Exceptions
Either party may bring a claim in small-claims court, if eligible, or seek injunctive or other equitable relief in court to protect intellectual property rights or to enforce confidentiality.
Right to opt out of arbitration
You may opt out of the arbitration agreement above by sending written notice to contact@authorservices.com within thirty (30) days after first agreeing to these Terms. Your notice must include your name, mailing address, email, and a clear statement that you wish to opt out of arbitration. Opting out has no other effect on your relationship with Author Services.
XVI. Changes to These Terms
We may update these Terms from time to time. The "Last updated" date at the top reflects the date of the most recent revision. If we make material changes, we will notify you by posting a prominent notice on the Site or, where required, by email. Continued use of the Site after a change becomes effective indicates acceptance.
XVII. Miscellaneous
- Entire agreement: these Terms and the Privacy Policy constitute the entire agreement between you and Author Services concerning the Site, except that any signed Publishing Services Agreement controls over these Terms with respect to paid Services.
- Severability: if any provision is held unenforceable, the remaining provisions will continue in full force.
- No waiver: our failure to enforce any provision is not a waiver of our right to enforce it later.
- Assignment: you may not assign or transfer these Terms without our prior written consent. We may assign without your consent, including to a successor in connection with a merger, acquisition, financing, or sale of assets.
- No third-party beneficiaries: these Terms do not create any rights for any person who is not a party.
- Notices: we may give notice by posting on the Site, by email to the address you have provided, or by other reasonable means. You may give notice to us at the contact details below.
- Force majeure: we are not liable for delays or failures caused by events outside our reasonable control, including natural disasters, government action, network failures, and acts of war or civil unrest.
- Headings: section headings are for convenience only and do not affect interpretation.
XVIII. Contact
Author Services LLC
Email: contact@authorservices.com
Phone: 866-302-4807
Author Services LLC is organized under the laws of the State of South Carolina with offices in Florida.