Terms and Conditions

Union of Books · unionofbooks.com · Effective 1 October 2026

1. Who we are and what these terms cover

1.1 Union of Books (the "Site") is run by Fen Press Inc, a Delaware corporation whose registered office is at 8 The Green #25351, Dover, DE 19901, United States ("we", "us", "our"). Fen Press publishes under the imprints Vast Fiction, Ministry of Spark and Fen Press.

1.2 These terms apply to everyone who uses the Site. They have three parts:

• everyone who visits the Site (sections 1–3 and 9–15);
• Readers, who buy ebooks or paperbacks or leave tips (section 4);
• Creators, who supply content for books published through Union of Books (sections 5–8).

1.3 By using the Site, buying from it, or supplying content to it, you accept these terms. If you do not accept them, please do not use the Site.

1.4 These terms work alongside:

• our Privacy Policy at unionofbooks.com/privacy, which explains what personal data we hold and why;
• the terms of Link, Stripe's checkout service, which govern the payment for every ebook (see 4.1). For paperbacks, Fen Press is the seller (see 4.9);
• for Creators, the Creator Agreement each Creator signs with us. If the Creator Agreement and these terms disagree, the Creator Agreement wins.

2. Definitions

• Book: a work published through Union of Books in any language, edition, format or medium, including its ebooks, print editions, audiobooks and translations.
• Creator: any person or company who supplies Creator Content for a Book. Where Fen Press makes a Book itself, Fen Press is its Creator.
• Creator Content: what a Creator brings to a Book, and nothing else. It consists only of:
  • (a) the text the Creator writes or produces, including text produced with AI tools the Creator directs;
  • (b) the graphical designs the Creator provides, such as cover art, illustrations and images;
  • (c) the voices the Creator provides: recordings and samples of a voice, and the rights in that voice;
  • (d) translations of the Creator's text into any language, including translations made with our tools.
• Background IP: everything we own or license that exists independently of any one Creator. It includes, whether created before or after a Creator joins, and including wherever it is used in or to make a Book:
  • (a) our voices: the synthetic narration voices we provide, and the models, samples, settings, pronunciation guides and methods behind them;
  • (b) our styles: our house styles, guides, editorial and narrative rules, series formats and templates, and the instructions, tools and methods by which Books are planned, drafted, edited, translated and narrated;
  • (c) the Site: its software, design, text and features, including the store, the download system and the marking of each copy;
  • (d) our typeset designs: interior page designs, typography, layouts, cover layouts and templates, and the design of our editions;
  • (e) our names and marks: Union of Books, Fen Press, Vast Fiction and Ministry of Spark, and their logos and get-up;
  • (f) improvements to and works derived from any of the above.
• Edition: a Book as we make it, combining Creator Content with Background IP. This includes a typeset ebook or print file, and a narration made with our voices.
• Link: Link, Stripe's payment and checkout service, which is the seller of record for ebooks bought on the Site.

3. Using the Site

3.1 Lawful use only. You may use the Site for lawful purposes and in line with these terms.

3.2 What you must not do. You must not:

• interfere with the Site or its security;
• get around download limits, payment or the marks in each copy;
• use the Site to infringe anyone's rights;
• pretend to be someone else.

3.3 Machines are welcome. Search engines, AI systems and other automated readers may read the pages our robots.txt leaves open, provided they do not overload the Site. Checkout, downloads and tips are closed to them.

3.4 Age. To buy on the Site you must be old enough to make a contract where you live, or have a parent or guardian's permission. Creators must be at least 18.

4. Readers

4.1 Who sells you the ebook.

• When you buy an ebook, Link is the merchant of record. Link takes the payment, charges and pays any sales tax or VAT, issues the receipt, and handles payment questions and disputes.
• The payment is governed by Link's terms, which you see at checkout.
• We are responsible for the Book itself and for delivering it to you.

4.2 What you get.

• A Book is sold whole: every volume of it, in both EPUB and PDF, for the price shown, unless its Creator gives it away free (4.8).
• After payment we give you a download page.
• Each download link works for 30 days and allows 5 downloads of each file.
• You can get fresh links at any time from the "Your ebooks" page, using the email address you bought with.

4.3 Your copy carries your name.

• Our ebooks have piracy protection: each copy is marked with the buyer's name, email address and order number, on a licence page and on the pages of the PDF.
• The file is not locked to a device or an app, so you can read it on any device you own.
• By buying, you agree to this marking. Our Privacy Policy explains it.

4.4 Your licence. When you buy an ebook, or are given one free (4.8), you get a personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable licence to read it on any device you own, for as long as you like.

• You may not share, sell, lend, upload, broadcast or publicly perform the file or its contents.
• You may not remove or alter the marks in it.
• You own your copy of the file. You do not own the Book's content or any intellectual property in it.

4.5 Cancelling and refunds.

• Faulty or not as described. If a file is faulty or not as described, write to us and we will fix it or arrange a refund.
• EU and UK buyers. If you are a consumer in the EU or the UK, Link's terms give you the right to cancel your order within 14 days of the day you receive access to the ebook. To cancel, contact Link support at support.link.com, or write to us at contact@fenpress.com and we will arrange it.
• Other refunds. You can ask Link for a refund through Link support, for the reasons Link's terms allow. Link may consult us before deciding.
• After a refund. If you cancel or are refunded, your licence to the ebook ends, and you must delete the files.
• Your legal rights. Nothing in these terms removes any right you have under the consumer law of your country.

4.6 Tips.

• A tip is a voluntary thank-you paid to Fen Press, the publisher, to pay for the next Books. A tip buys nothing, and nothing is sent in return.
• Tips are processed by Stripe with Fen Press as the merchant; Link is not involved.
• Tips are not refundable, except where the law requires a refund or a tip was made by mistake and you tell us within 14 days.

4.7 Free audiobooks. Audiobooks we publish free as podcasts are for personal listening. The terms of the podcast app you use also apply.

4.8 Free ebooks.

• A Creator may give a Book's ebook away free, for a limited time or with no end date. The Book's page says when it is free, and until when if the offer ends.
• To get a free ebook you give us your email address, and your name if you like. Your copy is marked with them and with its order number, as in 4.3. By asking for it, you agree to this marking.
• A free copy is for you alone, under the same personal licence as a bought one (4.4). You may not transfer, share, sell, lend or upload it, and you may not remove or alter its marks.
• We give one free copy of a Book per email address.
• When an offer ends, copies already given stay yours to read under the same licence. New copies are then sold at the Book's price.
• A free copy costs nothing, so there is nothing to refund. If a free copy is faulty, write to us and we will fix it.
• You can ask us at any time to delete the email address and name you gave for a free copy, as our Privacy Policy explains. The marks already in your copy stay in it.

Paperbacks

4.9 Who sells you the paperback.

• When you buy a paperback, Fen Press is the seller. Stripe processes the payment for us.
• Paperbacks are printed for each order by our printing partner and posted directly to you.
• We sell paperbacks only to the countries offered at checkout.

4.10 Printing and delivery.

• Each copy is printed when you order it. Checkout shows the estimated delivery time.
• Ownership of the book and the risk of loss pass to you when it is delivered.

4.11 Prices, taxes and charges.

• The price and the shipping charge are shown before you pay.
• Any VAT or sales tax we must charge is included in the price or shown at checkout.
• We arrange delivery so that you should pay nothing on arrival. If a carrier or customs office does charge you for one of our parcels, tell us and we will refund it.
• In countries where book prices are fixed by law, our price is the same in every channel and is not discounted.

4.12 Cancelling a paperback order (consumers in the EU, the EEA and the UK).

• Your right. You may cancel within 14 days of the day you receive the book, without giving a reason.
• How to cancel:
  • use the "Cancel contract here" link on your order page or in your order email;
  • or send us the model withdrawal form, or any clear statement, at contact@fenpress.com.
  • We confirm receipt by email.
• You keep the book. We do not ask for it back.
• Your refund. We refund the price and the standard shipping charge within 14 days of hearing from you, to the payment method you used.
• Elsewhere. Outside the EU, the EEA and the UK, a paperback is printed as soon as it is paid for and cannot be cancelled after that. 4.13 still applies.
• Repeated cancellations.
  • After a buyer has cancelled two paperback orders under this section, we no longer accept paperback orders from them. Ebooks are not affected.
  • We recognise a buyer by their email address, payment card, name and delivery address, or phone number.
  • If an order is placed anyway, we refund it in full and do not print it.
  • The buyer may ask us to review this. A person decides, and may restore paperback ordering with or without an administration fee. Any fee is stated, and must be agreed and paid, before ordering is restored.
  • None of this limits a cancellation itself: every cancellation under this section is honoured and refunded in full.

4.13 Damaged, misprinted or lost copies (everywhere).

• Damaged or misprinted: tell us within 30 days of delivery, with a photo. We will send a new copy or refund you. You do not need to return the faulty one.
• Lost: if your paperback has not arrived within 30 days of dispatch, tell us and we will reprint it or refund you.

4.14 Legal guarantee. If you are a consumer in the EU, the EEA or the UK, you also have the legal guarantee of conformity under the law of your country. In the EU, that lasts at least two years from delivery. 4.13 is in addition to that guarantee, not instead of it.

5. Creators: who owns what

5.1 Creators own their Creator Content.

• Each Creator keeps ownership of their Creator Content, or keeps the licence under which they hold it. Nothing in these terms transfers it to us.
• Where Creator Content was made with AI tools, the Creator owns whatever rights the law recognises in it. We make no promise that any such rights exist.

5.2 We own the Background IP.

• We keep all rights in the Background IP, including where it is used in or to make a Book or an Edition.
• A Creator gets no rights in Background IP except the limited licence in 5.5.
• A Creator may not use our voices, styles, typeset designs or the Site outside Union of Books without our written permission.

5.3 Creators own only their Creator Content.

• A Creator's ownership is limited to the text they produce, translations of that text, the graphical designs they provide and the voices they provide.
• Translations belong to the Creator, including translations made with our tools. Our translation tools and methods remain Background IP.
• An Edition combines Creator Content with Background IP, and each part stays with its owner.
• We hold whatever rights exist in what we contribute to an Edition, including our typesetting and our narrations with our voices. Those rights are always subject to the Creator's rights in the underlying Creator Content.
• A Creator may not use our Editions, such as our typeset files and narrations, outside Union of Books without our written permission.

5.4 The licence a Creator gives us. Each Creator grants us a worldwide, non-exclusive, paid licence for as long as the Creator Agreement lasts. Under it we may:

• edit, format and typeset the Creator Content, and adapt it to each format;
• translate it into any language;
• narrate it, including with synthetic voices;
• publish, reproduce, distribute, sell and lend it in any medium, now known or invented later;
• use excerpts, covers, descriptions, and the Creator's name or pen name, likeness and biography, to promote the Book;
• authorise printers, distributors, retailers, libraries and listening platforms to do these things on our behalf.

Payment is set by the Creator Agreement: we keep a 10% commission on each sale, the costs of the sale are paid from the rest, and the remainder goes to the Creator. Copies already sold before the licence ends remain licensed to their Readers, who may go on downloading them.

5.5 The licence we give a Creator. While the Creator Agreement lasts, we grant each Creator a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable licence to use the Background IP, through Union of Books only, to make and publish their Books. Creators may share links to, and short excerpts from, their Books to promote them.

5.6 Voices.

• A voice a Creator provides is used only to narrate that Creator's Books, unless the Creator agrees otherwise in writing.
• Any synthetic voice we make from it is used on the same terms. We stop using it for new narrations when the Creator Agreement ends.
• Our models and methods remain our Background IP. The voice itself remains the Creator's.

5.7 Moral rights. As far as the law allows, each Creator agrees not to assert moral rights against the editing, typesetting, translation, abridgement or narration of their Creator Content made under these terms. We will always credit the Creator's chosen name.

6. Creators: promises and responsibilities

6.1 What each Creator warrants. Each Creator warrants to us, at signing and each time they supply content, that:

• (a) No infringement. The Creator Content does not infringe any intellectual property right of anyone, including copyright, trade marks, database rights and moral rights. It also does not breach anyone's rights of privacy or publicity, or any duty of confidence.
• (b) Ownership or licence. Everything the Creator creates or supplies on the platform belongs to them, or is duly licensed to them on terms that allow every use in 5.4.
• (c) Voices. Every voice provided is either the Creator's own or provided with the written, informed consent of the person whose voice it is, and that consent covers synthetic reproduction for the uses in 5.4 and 5.6. No voice imitates a real person who has not consented.
• (d) No passing off. The Creator Content does not copy another writer's work. It does not present itself as the work of, or as endorsed by, a real person who did not make or endorse it.
• (e) AI use. The Creator has told us accurately whether and how AI was used to make the Creator Content, and used any AI tools in line with those tools' terms.
• (f) Lawful content. The Creator Content is not defamatory, unlawful or deceptive, and it complies with section 9.
• (g) Authority. The Creator is free to enter into these terms and the Creator Agreement.

6.2 Indemnity. Each Creator will indemnify us against any claim, loss, liability or reasonable cost, including legal fees, that arises from a breach of their warranties. We will tell the Creator promptly about any such claim and let them take part in its defence.

6.3 Our right to decline or remove. We may decline to publish a Book, or remove one, if:

• we reasonably believe it breaches these terms or the law, or infringes someone's rights;
• it is the subject of a credible complaint;
• the law requires it.

7. Notice and takedown

7.1 Reporting. If you believe a Book or anything on the Site infringes your rights or is unlawful, write to contact@fenpress.com with the subject "Rights notice", or by post to our designated agent: Copyright Agent, Fen Press Inc, 8 The Green #25351, Dover, DE 19901, United States. Please include:

• your contact details;
• the work or right you believe is infringed;
• where the material is on the Site;
• a statement that you believe in good faith the use is not authorised by the owner, its agent or the law;
• a statement that the information in your notice is accurate and, under penalty of perjury, that you are the owner or authorised to act for the owner;
• your physical or electronic signature.

7.2 What we do. We will look into the report promptly. If you are right, the material comes down. We may remove material while we look into it. We will tell the Creator, and give our reasons to anyone whose material we remove.

7.3 Counter-notice. A Creator who believes material was removed by mistake may send a counter-notice to the same address, as the law allows. We may restore the material if the law permits.

7.4 Repeat infringers. We will end our relationship with Creators who repeatedly infringe.

8. Creators: ending the relationship

8.1 Ending. Either side may end a Creator's participation as the Creator Agreement provides. We may end it immediately for a serious breach of section 6 or section 9.

8.2 After it ends.

• We will stop selling the Creator's Books on the Site within 30 days.
• Readers keep the copies they bought.
• Sections 5.1–5.3, 6.1, 6.2 and 10–15 continue.

9. Compliance with law

9.1 Our part. We run Union of Books in compliance with the laws that apply to us. These include:

• the laws of copyright and other intellectual property;
• consumer-protection law;
• data-protection and privacy law;
• tax law, with Link as seller of record for ebook sales;
• the rules on disclosing AI-generated content, where they apply to us;
• sanctions and export-control law.

9.2 Your part. You must comply with every law that applies to you and to your use of the Site.

9.3 Creators' part. Creators must make sure that their Creator Content, and the way they make and supply it, comply with every applicable law. This includes the laws on:

• intellectual property;
• defamation;
• privacy and data protection;
• the protection of a person's voice, name and likeness;
• obscene or harmful content;
• consumer protection and advertising;
• AI transparency and disclosure;
• sanctions.

9.4 Sanctions. You may not buy from the Site, or supply content to it, if you are located or ordinarily resident in a country or region subject to comprehensive US sanctions. The same applies if you are named on a US government list of restricted parties, or owned or controlled by someone who is.

9.5 When the law requires action. We may do any of the following where the law requires it, or where we reasonably believe it does:

• withhold a Book in a country;
• remove material;
• suspend a Creator;
• keep records, or share information with the authorities;
• change these terms.

9.6 Your rights under the law. Nothing in these terms limits any right you have under law that cannot be excluded by contract.

10. Our liability

10.1 The Site as it is. We provide the Site as it is and as available. We do our best to keep it working and accurate, but we do not promise it will be uninterrupted or free of errors.

10.2 Limits. As far as the law allows:

• we are not liable for indirect or consequential loss, or for lost profits, data or goodwill;
• our total liability to you for any claim is limited to the greater of what you paid for the Book concerned and US$100.

10.3 What we do not limit. Nothing in these terms limits liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, for fraud, or for anything else the law does not allow to be limited.

11. Changes to these terms

11.1 We may change these terms. We will post the new version on the Site with its date. Where a change materially affects Creators, we will also tell them by email at least 30 days before it applies.

11.2 Changes do not affect purchases already made.

12. Governing law and disputes

12.1 Governing law. These terms are governed by the laws of the State of Delaware and the federal laws of the United States, without regard to conflict-of-law rules.

12.2 Talk to us first.

• Before starting any claim, write to contact@fenpress.com with your name, how to reach you, what the problem is and what you want.
• We will try to resolve it with you within 60 days.
• Neither side may start arbitration or court proceedings until those 60 days have passed. Any time limit for bringing the claim is paused while they run.

12.3 Individual arbitration. This section 12.3 applies to you if you live in the United States, and to every Creator wherever they live.

• Any dispute that arises from these terms, the Site or any Book, and is not resolved under 12.2, will be decided by final and binding arbitration, not in court, except as 12.6 provides.
• The American Arbitration Association (AAA) runs the arbitration. For Readers it uses its Consumer Arbitration Rules; for Creators, its Commercial Arbitration Rules.
• A single arbitrator decides. Hearings take place by video, or in the county where you live, unless both sides agree otherwise.
• Fees are paid as the AAA's rules provide.
• The arbitrator may award any individual relief a court could award, but only to the party making the claim, and only as far as needed for that party's own claim.
• The Federal Arbitration Act governs this section.

12.4 No class actions.

• You and we may bring claims against each other only individually. Neither side may bring a claim as a plaintiff or class member in any class, collective, consolidated or representative action.
• The arbitrator may not combine the claims of more than one person, or preside over any class or representative proceeding.
• If this section 12.4 is found unenforceable for a particular claim, only that claim goes to court instead of arbitration. That court case is put on hold until the individual claims have been decided.

12.5 Many similar claims at once. If 25 or more similar arbitration demands are filed against us or by us with the same or coordinated lawyers, the AAA administers them in batches under its Mass Arbitration Supplementary Rules, which you and we accept.

12.6 What stays in court.

• Either side may bring an individual claim in a small-claims court, if the claim qualifies there.
• Either side may go to court to stop the infringement or misuse of intellectual property, including the Background IP, Creator Content and Books, or unauthorised access to the Site.
• Court cases allowed by these terms are heard in the state or federal courts located in Delaware, and you and we consent to those courts' jurisdiction.
• For any dispute that goes to court, you and we give up any right to a jury trial, as far as the law allows.

12.7 Opting out.

• You may opt out of arbitration within 30 days of first accepting these terms. To do so, email contact@fenpress.com with the subject "Arbitration opt-out", giving your name and the email address you use with us.
• If you opt out, sections 12.3 to 12.5 do not apply to you, and disputes go to the courts named in 12.6.

12.8 Consumers outside the United States.

• If you are a consumer who lives outside the United States, sections 12.3 to 12.7 do not apply to you.
• You may bring proceedings in the courts of the country where you live.
• You keep the protection of that country's mandatory laws.

12.9 Payments. For ebooks, disputes about a payment itself are between you and Link, under Link's terms. For paperbacks and tips, Fen Press is the seller and these terms apply.

13. General

13.1 Severability. If any part of these terms is found unenforceable, the rest still applies.

13.2 No waiver. If we do not enforce a term at once, we can still enforce it later.

13.3 Transfer. You may not transfer your rights under these terms. We may transfer ours to a company that takes over the Site, provided your rights are not reduced.

13.4 Entire terms. These terms, together with the documents in 1.4, are the whole agreement between you and us about the Site.

14. Language

These terms are written in English. If we publish a translation and it differs from the English, the English version applies, unless the law where you live says otherwise.

15. Contact

Fen Press Inc, 8 The Green #25351, Dover, DE 19901, United States · +1 302 303 2845 · contact@fenpress.com, for questions, rights and takedown notices, and arbitration opt-outs