Terms of service, in plain language.

1. Who we are

Ink & Chapter, Inc. is a Delaware C-corporation registered in California, operating as Ink & Chapter. Registered office: 535 Mission Street, 14th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94105. California Secretary of State entity ID available on request.

2. What you are buying

You are buying a fixed-scope creative service, defined in the executed proposal. Deliverables, timeline, and price are listed in the proposal and do not change without a written change order signed by both parties.

3. Payment

33% on signing, balance in two or three milestone payments as written in your proposal. We invoice by Stripe (card) or US wire. International wire details available on request. Late payment incurs 1.5% per month after a 14-day grace period.

4. Intellectual property

You own all rights in the delivered work, in perpetuity, worldwide, in every format and language, on payment of the first invoice. We assign these rights to you in writing as part of the contract. The studio retains no back-end interest, no royalty entitlement, and no derivative-work rights in your manuscript.

For ghostwriting engagements, the ghostwriter signs a permanent non-attribution and confidentiality clause as part of their contract with us. The clause survives the writer's employment with the studio. The studio is the obligated party; you, the client, are the beneficiary.

5. Confidentiality (NDA)

Every engagement starts with a mutual non-disclosure agreement. Either we use yours or we use ours. The NDA covers your manuscript, your brief, your interview content, your business strategy where shared, and any related project documents. It runs from signing until five years after final delivery, except for trade secrets which are perpetual.

6. Use of AI

We use generative AI for transcription, research aggregation, and grammar utility passes only. AI does not draft manuscript prose. Your manuscript is not used to train any AI model. If our policy on AI use changes, we will notify clients on file before the change applies to any active project.

7. Revisions

The scope of revisions is specified in your proposal. Standard ghostwriting includes two structural revisions and unlimited line-level revisions inside the project timeline. Editing includes a first-pass edit and a second-pass cleanup after your response. Cover design includes two revision rounds after concept selection.

Revisions outside the contracted scope are billed at $90/hr in 15-minute increments, after written approval from you.

8. Timeline

Both parties commit to the written timeline. Author-side review windows are 5 business days unless otherwise agreed. If we miss the timeline by more than two weeks for reasons within our control, you receive 1% off the remaining balance per additional week, capped at 15%.

9. Refunds

The refund policy is on the refund policy page and is part of this contract by reference. Three windows: full-minus-T&M before voice sample, pro-rata before chapter four, undelivered-chapters-only after chapter four.

10. Limitation of liability

Our total liability under any engagement is capped at the fees you have paid us for that engagement. We disclaim consequential, indirect, and special damages. This clause survives termination.

This is not the same as the unusual "we are not liable for careless mistakes" disclaimer some competitors use. We are liable for careless mistakes. The cap is a normal commercial cap on damages, not an exclusion of professional standards.

11. Termination

Either party may terminate for material breach with 14 days written notice and a cure period. Either party may terminate for convenience at any time, with refund calculated per the refund policy. Termination does not affect rights and obligations that have already accrued.

12. Disputes

California law governs. Disputes are resolved by binding arbitration in San Francisco under JAMS streamlined commercial rules. Either party may bring the dispute. Costs are split unless the arbitrator finds bad faith. Class actions are waived.

13. Changes to these terms

We may revise this page from time to time. Changes apply to new engagements signed after the revision date. Existing engagements are governed by the terms in force at the time the contract was signed.

14. Contact

For any matter touching this contract: legal@inkandchapter.com. For day-to-day project matters: hello@inkandchapter.com.

This page is a plain-English summary that mirrors the executed two-page project contract. In any conflict, the executed contract governs.