Terms of Service

These Terms of Service ("Terms") govern your access to and use of TheAuthor.io (the "Service"), operated by TheAuthor.io ("we," "us," or "our"). By creating an account or otherwise using the Service, you agree to be bound by these Terms. If you do not agree, do not use the Service.

We may modify these Terms at any time. Material changes will be announced on the Service or communicated by email; continued use after changes take effect constitutes acceptance of the revised Terms.

1. Eligibility

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account or use the Service. By using the Service, you represent that you meet this requirement and that any information you provide during registration is accurate and complete.

2. Description of Service

TheAuthor.io provides AI-assisted tools for generating, editing, formatting, and exporting book manuscripts and covers, including chapter and section generation, AI image generation for covers, and export to formats such as PDF, DOCX, and EPUB.

3. Accounts

You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account credentials and for all activity that occurs under your account. Notify us immediately at support@theauthor.io if you suspect unauthorized access. We are not liable for any loss arising from your failure to safeguard your credentials.

4. Books, Payments & Subscriptions

The Service is priced per book, not per word. You may purchase a single book outright for a one-time fee (yours to keep, read, export, and edit without limit — no subscription required), or subscribe monthly for a fixed number of books each renewal period. Subscription books do not roll over: any unused books from one period do not carry into the next. Cover regeneration and in-editor AI editing are unlimited and free on any book you own or have generated, whether purchased outright or through a subscription.

Paid purchases are billed through our payment processor. Subscriptions renew automatically at the end of each billing period unless cancelled beforehand. You may cancel at any time from your account dashboard; cancellation takes effect at the end of the current billing period, and no further charges will be made. One-time book purchases never expire and are not tied to a subscription.

If your subscription ends and you do not resubscribe, your book library (including generated manuscripts, covers, and exported files) will be permanently deleted 30 days after your subscription ends. Resubscribing at any point before that 30-day window closes restores full access and keeps your library intact. Books you purchased outright are unaffected by a subscription ending. See our Privacy Policy for details on how this differs from a full account-deletion request.

We reserve the right to change pricing or plan structures for future billing periods, with notice provided in advance.

5. Refund Policy

All purchases — one-time book purchases and subscription charges alike — are final and non-refundable, except where required by law (see Section 6 below for your EU/EEA/UK withdrawal right). The Service delivers a real, tangible result — a generated book and cover — and incurs its cost the moment you generate or continue a book, which is why we do not offer discretionary refunds. Subscribers may cancel at any time to stop future renewal charges; cancellation does not refund charges already made. Full detail is in our Refund Policy.

If you initiate a chargeback or other payment-provider dispute instead of contacting support, we will contest it using your account's purchase and usage records.

6. EU/EEA/UK Right of Withdrawal

If you are a consumer located in the European Union, European Economic Area, or United Kingdom, you ordinarily have a 14-day right to withdraw from an online purchase without giving a reason. Because the Service delivers digital content immediately upon payment, that right does not survive full performance of the contract: at checkout, you are asked to expressly request immediate access and, where this right applies to you, to waive it in exchange for that immediate delivery. If you do not consent, do not proceed with checkout.

This section governs your withdrawal right specifically and is the only refund entitlement available under this policy — see Section 5 above.

7. Ownership of Generated Content & Your Input

As between you and us, you retain 100% of the rights to the book content, covers, and other material you generate using the Service, including the right to publish, sell, and commercially exploit that content on any platform (including Amazon KDP, Gumroad, Apple Books, and others). We claim no ownership interest in your generated content and place no restriction on your ability to register copyright in, republish, or transfer rights to it.

You retain ownership of the input, prompts, and source material you provide to the Service. We may use anonymized, aggregated data about Service usage to improve the Service, but will not use your specific generated content to train models without your consent.

You represent and warrant that any topic, prompt, source material, outline, image, or other content you submit as input to the Service (a) you own or otherwise have the necessary rights to use, (b) does not infringe the intellectual property, privacy, or other rights of any third party, and (c) complies with applicable law. We may rely on this representation without independently verifying it.

8. AI-Generated Content Disclaimer

Content produced by the Service is generated using artificial intelligence and may contain factual inaccuracies, inconsistencies, or errors. You are solely responsible for reviewing, fact-checking, and editing any generated content before publishing or distributing it. Transfer of rights under Section 7 does not relieve you of any obligation to disclose AI involvement in your content where required by a publishing or distribution platform (for example, Amazon KDP's AI-content disclosure requirements) or by applicable law.

We do not guarantee that generated content is unique, original, free from similarity to content generated for other users, copyrightable, or fit for any particular commercial purpose. Because the Service applies the same underlying AI models across all users, content generated for you — including text and cover images — may resemble or overlap with content generated for other users working on similar topics. You are responsible for independently verifying originality before relying on generated content commercially.

AI-generated cover images may, by coincidence, depict figures, styles, or elements that resemble real people, existing artwork, or other third-party material. You are solely responsible for reviewing any AI-generated image before publishing or distributing it, including verifying that it does not depict a recognizable real person without authorization or otherwise infringe a third party's publicity, trademark, or copyright rights.

The Service and its operators are not a publisher, editor, literary agent, or a source of legal, tax, or other professional advice. Nothing generated by or communicated through the Service constitutes such advice, and you should seek qualified professional advice where appropriate before publishing or relying on generated content.

9. Acceptable Use

You agree not to use the Service to generate content that is illegal, infringes on the intellectual property or rights of others, is defamatory or abusive, or otherwise violates applicable law. You also agree not to attempt to circumvent the Service's security, rate limits, or usage entitlements, or to use automated scripts to abuse the Service.

10. Copyright Complaints & Takedowns

If you believe that content generated, hosted, or distributed through the Service infringes your copyright or other intellectual property rights, contact us at support@theauthor.io with: (a) a description of the work you believe has been infringed, (b) the specific URL or other identifying location of the allegedly infringing material, (c) your contact information, and (d) a statement that you have a good-faith belief the use is not authorized. We may remove or disable access to the material, request additional information, or suspend the account of a user we reasonably believe to be a repeat infringer, in each case at our discretion and without prior notice to the user who submitted the content.

11. Disclaimer of Warranties & No Guarantee of Results

The Service is provided "as is" and "as available," without warranties of any kind, express or implied, including warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or non-infringement. We do not guarantee that the Service will be uninterrupted, error-free, or that generated content will be accurate or suitable for any particular purpose.

We do not guarantee any particular result from using the Service, including book sales, revenue, royalties, publishing acceptance, marketplace performance, or audience engagement. Testimonials, examples, and case studies referenced on our website or in our marketing are illustrative of individual experiences, not typical results; your results will depend on factors outside our control, including your content, market conditions, and your own marketing and distribution efforts.

12. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, our total liability arising from or related to your use of the Service is limited to the amount you paid us in the twelve (12) months preceding the claim. We are not liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, including loss of profits, revenue, or data.

13. Indemnification

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold us harmless from any claims, damages, or expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising from your use of the Service, your generated content, or your violation of these Terms.

14. Termination

You may stop using the Service and close your account at any time. We may suspend or terminate your access, with or without notice, if we reasonably believe you have violated these Terms, engaged in fraudulent or abusive activity, or for any other reason at our discretion. Upon termination, your right to access the Service ends immediately; outstanding subscription charges remain due.

15. Governing Law & Disputes

These Terms are governed by the laws of Canada, without regard to conflict of law principles, except that if you are a consumer resident in the European Union, European Economic Area, or United Kingdom, the mandatory consumer-protection provisions of your country of residence that cannot be waived by agreement continue to apply, including those addressed in Section 6. Any dispute arising from these Terms or the Service will first be addressed through good-faith negotiation; if unresolved, it will be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Canada, without prejudice to any mandatory right you may have to bring proceedings in your country of residence under applicable consumer-protection law.

16. Miscellaneous

These Terms, together with our Privacy Policy, constitute the entire agreement between you and us regarding the Service. If any provision of these Terms is found unenforceable, the remaining provisions remain in full effect. Our failure to enforce any provision does not waive our right to enforce it later. You may not assign your rights under these Terms without our consent; we may assign our rights freely in connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets.

17. Contact

Questions about these Terms, or to report a violation, can be sent to support@theauthor.io.