Service Agreement

Scope of Services

The services we provide are those set out in your Service Order, which is issued and confirmed at the time of purchase. Your Service Order sets out the specific deliverables, milestones and any special instructions for your project.

Services not listed in your Service Order are not included and can be quoted separately on request. Any changes to the agreed scope must be agreed in writing by both parties and may incur additional fees.

Client Obligations

To help us deliver your project on time and to the agreed standard, you agree to:

• Provide your complete manuscript and all required materials (author photo, biography, dedications, acknowledgements, back matter) within 14 days of placing your order, unless a different schedule is agreed in writing.
• Respond to our team's questions and review requests within 5 working days. Delays in responding may extend your project timeline.
• Confirm that you own all rights to the submitted manuscript and that it does not infringe any third-party intellectual property.
• Provide accurate metadata including your title, subtitle, author name, BIC/Thema subject categories and book description.
• Review and approve each deliverable within the timeframe stated at delivery.

Deliverables and Timeline

Standard timelines from manuscript receipt to publication-ready files are shown below. These are estimates; actual timelines depend on manuscript length, complexity and how quickly you respond.

• Copy-editing: 2 to 4 weeks
• Developmental editing: 4 to 8 weeks
• Cover design: 2 to 3 weeks
• Typesetting: 1 to 2 weeks
• Full publishing package (editing, design and typesetting): 8 to 12 weeks
• Distribution setup after approved files: 1 to 2 weeks

Faster timelines may be available for an additional fee. Contact your Author Success Manager to discuss availability.

Fees and Payment

Fees are set out in your Service Order in pounds sterling (GBP). Payment terms are as follows:

• Standard packages: full payment is due when you place your order, or in agreed instalments.
• Custom projects: a 50% deposit is due when the project starts, with the remaining 50% due on delivery of final approved files.
• Additional services requested during the project are invoiced on completion and payable within 14 days.
• We may charge interest on overdue amounts at 4% a year above the Bank of England base rate until paid.

Intellectual Property Rights

You keep all intellectual property rights in your manuscript and the content of your book. On receipt of full payment, all bespoke work produced by Spines Publishing UK for your project (cover design, typeset interior files, promotional assets) is assigned to you.

We may display completed book covers and project samples in our portfolio and marketing materials unless you ask us in writing not to. We will act on such requests within 14 days.

Any stock images, typefaces or design elements used under licence from third-party libraries remain subject to those licences. We will tell you about any such elements and provide the relevant licence details.

Revisions and Approvals

Each service includes the following revision rounds:

• Cover design: three initial concepts, plus two revision rounds on the chosen concept
• Typesetting: two revision rounds after initial delivery
• Edited manuscript: one round of author revisions after delivery

Additional revision rounds can be purchased at our standard hourly rate. When you approve a deliverable, you confirm that it meets the agreed specification and that the relevant work stage is complete. This does not affect your statutory rights.

Confidentiality

We treat your manuscript, project details and any other information you share with us as strictly confidential. We will not share, publish or disclose your manuscript or any part of it to any third party other than service providers engaged to deliver your project (such as freelance editors or designers bound by our confidentiality standards).

Confidentiality obligations continue after this Agreement ends: indefinitely for your creative content, and for 3 years for business information.

Termination

Either party may end this Agreement by written notice. If you end it, our Refund Policy and your statutory cancellation rights determine what, if anything, is refundable.

We may end this Agreement immediately if you seriously breach this Agreement or our Terms of Service, or if you act in a way we reasonably believe is unlawful, abusive or harmful to our team. In that case, fees paid for completed work stages are not refundable.

Governing Law

This Agreement is governed by the law of England and Wales. Any disputes will be handled in line with the governing law and complaints provisions in our Terms of Service.

This Agreement, together with your Service Order and our Terms of Service, is the entire agreement between you and Spines Publishing UK about the services described and replaces any earlier discussions or agreements.

Independent Business, No Affiliation

Spines Publishing UK is an independent business and a trading name of VISION CORE SOLUTIONS LTD. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, sponsored by or otherwise connected to any other publishing company or platform, including any company operating under a similar or related name.