The following terms and conditions apply to any work done by me for a client.

• “I,” “me,” and “my” refers to Danielle Stockdale of Keen Eye Editing.
• “You” and “your” refers to clients or potential clients.
• “Us” and “we” refers to both a client or potential client and Danielle Stockdale.

General

• I am a self-employed individual responsible for reporting my own taxes.
• I am not obligated to accept work offered by anyone, nor is anyone obligated to offer me work.

Project terms

• The only editorial service I am providing at this time is a manuscript critique, the nature of which is described on the Services page of this website.
• Before I begin work, we will agree on the terms of the project, which will be outlined and described in a written contract.
• You must send me the project manuscript in its entirety, as a single document.
• Where and how I work is at my discretion; I will be unsupervised and using tools and equipment that I own.

Fee

• After evaluating the information and writing sample you provide and discussing the needs of the manuscript with you, I will issue a quote.
• My rate for manuscript critiquing is $0.007 per word. The total fee is calculated by multiplying $0.007 by the number of words in the manuscript.
• Once we have agreed upon the fee, you may not ask me to instead critique a different version of your manuscript that has a higher or lower word count. Be sure you submit to me exactly the material you want me to critique.
• Once we have agreed on a total fee, it is non-negotiable.

Retainer

• I require a non-refundable* deposit of 50% of the total fee. (*See the sections on postponement and cancellation below for details.)
• I will issue an invoice for this amount as soon as we’ve both agreed to terms and signed a contract.
• Payment of the deposit is due upon receipt of the invoice. Once it has cleared, your place in my schedule will be fixed, and I will be free to begin work on the project on the agreed-upon start date.
• If you fail to pay this deposit on time, your place in my schedule may be filled by another project, and your time slot will need to be renegotiated.
• I will not begin work on your project until this deposit has been paid.

Final payment

• I will issue an invoice for your final payment at the same time I present my completed editorial report.
• The final payment is due 14 days after receipt of invoice.
• Failure to make this final payment by the due date will result in the application of a compounded interest rate of 10% on the outstanding balance.
• On the fifteenth day after receipt of invoice, I will issue a new invoice with 10% interest added to the total.
• Until the outstanding balance is paid, I will add 10% more interest to the outstanding balance every 30 days and send a new invoice stating the updated total.

Project postponement

• Either one of us can ask for the time frame to be amended at any time for any reason.
• The party who wishes to amend the previously agreed-upon schedule must contact the other party as soon as possible. The amendment is not valid until both parties have acknowledged it in writing.
• A new schedule will be negotiated and agreed upon in writing.
• Once you have forfeited the time frame we originally agreed upon, that time will be made available to other projects. You may not be able to reclaim it.
• In the event of postponement, the retainer must still be paid if it has not been already. It will hold your new place in my schedule.

Cancellation

• Either one of us can cancel a service at any time for any reason.
• The party who wishes to cancel a service must contact the other party as soon as possible. The cancellation is not valid until both parties have acknowledged it in writing.
• Your retainer will be refunded if:
  • Either of us cancel a service 21 or more days prior to the agreed-upon start date.
  • I cancel a service less than 21 days prior to the agreed-upon start date.
• Your retainer will not be refunded if:
  • You cancel a service less than 21 days prior to the agreed-upon start date.
  • Either of us cancel a service after I’ve begun working on your project.
• Also, if either of us cancel after I’ve begun working on your project, you will be invoiced for a portion of the final 50% of the fee; the amount will be proportionate to the time I spent working on the project before it was canceled.

Copyright

• Any material I receive from you for editing purposes belongs to you.
• Any material I write in the course of an editing project, such as my editorial report, belongs to me. Such material cannot be reproduced without my written permission and proper attribution.
• If you are found to have violated copyright laws, I am held harmless from any claims, liabilities, or expenses.

Confidentiality

• I will not reproduce, give, or show to anyone any material you send me for editing purposes. An exception would be sharing material with third party services, and that’s only if you authorize me to do so in writing.

Disclaimers

• I do not guarantee that the manuscript will be completely error-free, though all efforts will be made to make it so.
• I will not force you to change anything in your manuscript that you do not want to change. You retain complete creative control.
• I make no guarantees as to the salability or marketability of the edited manuscript. I cannot guarantee that you’ll get picked up by an agent or publisher; that you’ll get published; that your book will be a bestseller; or that you’ll gain wealth and/or fame.
• Unless a co-writing/co-authorship arrangement is made in writing, all royalties and monies gained by the sale of the book will belong to you.

Legal jurisdiction

• Our agreement will be subject to the laws of the state of Iowa as well as the laws of the United States. We will both agree in writing to submit to the jurisdiction of the Iowan and American courts. Any court proceedings arising from our agreement will take place in the state of Iowa.

If any of these terms and conditions are unclear, or if you have any other questions or concerns, feel free to contact me and we’ll discuss them.