Terms and Conditions
These terms and conditions cover working with me in an editorial capacity, and detail everything you need to know about the process. Please note that paying a booking deposit or upfront payment for a service will also serve as confirmation that you have read, understood, and agreed to these terms. If you have questions, please contact me and I’d be happy to clarify.
Last updated August 2026.
General overview
These terms and conditions apply to work I, Jack Haworth (‘I’ or ‘me’), do for you, the Client (‘You’ or ‘the Client’).
You are under no obligation to offer me work; neither am I under any obligation to accept work you offer me.
I will provide services that you and I mutually agree and confirm in writing.
I will carry out the work unsupervised at such times and places as I determine, using my own equipment.
These terms may be updated occasionally. You are responsible for keeping up to date with these terms and conditions, and for reviewing them for updates when booking in new projects.
I am self-employed, responsible for my own income tax and National Insurance contributions, and will not claim benefits granted to your employees.
I am not VAT registered.
You confirm you are over the age of eighteen years old.
Your paying a booking deposit, providing upfront payment for a service, or communicating to me your explicit agreement in any other manner will serve as confirmation that you have read, understood, and agreed to these terms and conditions.
Content policy
If your work contains explicit and/or disturbing content (such as sexual abuse involving children or animals, incest, animal cruelty, etc.), you will disclose this prior to paying your booking fee so that I can determine whether or not to accept the project. Should you fail to disclose this content, I may pause or cease work on your project at any time. In this scenario, you agree to pay to cover any work on the project that I have already completed.
AI (artificial intelligence) policy
I provide editorial services for human-written work only. I do not provide services for manuscripts where artificial intelligence systems or generative AI have been used to draft, structure, create, or generate content. If I discover or strongly suspect that the manuscript was generated or drafted by AI in any capacity, I reserve the right to cease providing services in respect of that project. In such a situation, you agree to pay to cover any work I have already completed.
You agree you will not feed my content (including notes, editorial reports, comments, and resources provided as part of an editorial service) into any form of AI or language learning model. All edits, notes, and comments created as part of an edit are carried out and written by me, and generative AI is not used.
I will not feed your writing or manuscript into any form of AI or language learning model. This ensures all your work is protected and kept private.
Editorial process
During the term of my work for you, if you request additional tasks, or if the word count changes, I reserve the right to renegotiate the fee and/or the deadline.
Should you wish to credit me within the work, you will seek my permission prior to publishing my name and/or website in acknowledgement sections.
I may list your book in my editing portfolio, unless requested not to do so.
Any files relevant to the project are due at least 24 hours before the project start date. If files are not received on time, I reserve the right to postpone or cancel the project.
I adhere to the Code of Practice of any editorial associations I belong to, and strive to provide high-quality services in line with industry standards. However, a small number of residual errors may remain after a line edit, copyedit, or proofread. I do not promise or guarantee perfection and you acknowledge that, despite the best efforts of all parties, the final work may contain residual errors.
Where a service includes a review of additional material, you will send me the additional material within eight weeks of me completing the original work. If you do not provide it within that timeframe, the service will be closed out and considered completed. If you wish to have additional material reviewed after this time, an additional charge will be required. The work will be carried out subject to my availability.
Any further reviews I perform after an initial copyedit will be within a timeframe pertinent to my schedule.
Fees and bookings
You will pay me the agreed fee, as discussed in writing, in timely fashion.
I require a 25% booking deposit for full manuscripts. Deposits are non-refundable.
The deposit will be taken off your final invoice. The remainder of the fee is payable when the work is complete.
Deposits are due within three days of you receiving the invoice. I cannot guarantee the spot in my schedule until you pay the booking deposit.
Fees for partial manuscripts and smaller bespoke services are payable upfront. These payments are non-refundable except in extreme circumstances such as if I am seriously ill or otherwise made unable to complete the work.
The project will not begin until you have paid the booking deposit or made payment in full, depending on the service.
If upon receipt of the work, or at an early stage, it becomes apparent that significantly more work is required than was agreed, I reserve the right to renegotiate the fee and/or the deadline or decline the work entirely.
For lengthy or more complex projects, I may invoice you periodically. We will agree on any such payment plans in writing.
Your final invoice will be sent upon job completion (where a deposit was paid) and is payable within seven days of your receiving it from me. I will only release files when final payment is made.
Under the terms of the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998, I reserve the right to charge interest and compensation if payments exceed the date specified on the invoice.
Cancellations and rescheduling
You are free to cancel or reschedule by providing four weeks’ notice via email. I must acknowledge this for it to be valid (and agree to do so wherever reasonably possible).
If four weeks’ notice is given for cancellations, the service will be cancelled and the spot in my schedule released. Any deposit paid is non-refundable and a new deposit will be required for any future bookings.
Should you provide me with less than four weeks’ notice of cancellation, I reserve the right to charge 100% of the remaining fee, not including the deposit.
Should you provide me with less than four weeks’ notice of rescheduling, I reserve the right to charge a rescheduling fee equal to 25% of the total fee.
Should you cancel while the service is in progress, I reserve the right to charge 100% of the fee, not including the deposit.
Either you or I may terminate a contract for service if the other party has committed a serious breach of its or these terms.
I am free to cancel or postpone the service at any time in the unlikely event of difficult or severe circumstances such as illness or bereavement. I will contact you to renegotiate the timeframe, or to find you an alternative editor.
If I need to cancel the service, or if the proposed changes to the timeframe are not suitable for you, your deposit may be applied towards another of my services. This credit must be used within twelve months of the original booking.
If you fail to deliver files on time (at least 24 hours before the start date), the project will be cancelled and the spot in my schedule will be released. A new deposit will be required for any future bookings.
Client communication
You agree to respond to my emails to you within a timely manner throughout the duration of the service.
After booking a service, if you are unresponsive for more than 10 days without notice (including before the agreed start date), I reserve the right to pause the project until communication resumes, at which time I will reschedule it in line with my availability. The original delivery date will move accordingly.
If the period of unresponsiveness continues, I may cancel the project. In such cases I will invoice you for any work I have already completed in excess of the deposit amount. Any future bookings will require a new deposit.
If a consultation is included with a service, this must be carried out within eight weeks of me returning the files to you. Should you fail to arrange the consultation within this time frame, the service will be closed out and considered completed. If you wishes to have a consultation after this time, an additional charge will be required. The consultation will be subject to my availability.
Consultations included with a service will be carried out using an agreed-upon platform.
Text-chat consultations will be carried out using an agreed-upon platform.
Consultations may be conducted via text-chat to allow me flexibility in scheduling and to accommodate different time zones.
Copyright and confidentiality
All content you deliver to me will remain your property. I will keep the nature and content of the work confidential and will not make it known to anyone else without your written permission.
You agree not to publicly release my edits, editorial notes, comments, or critiques, including on social media, or to other parties, without my written permission.
You are responsible for your own work and I cannot be held accountable or liable for any associated legal or copyright issues, or negative feedback and reviews.
I declare that I am also an author, and engaged in creative pursuits outside of providing editorial services. You acknowledge that any similarities in style, themes, or ideas between your work and any of my existing or future works are purely coincidental, and you agree not to pursue legal action for such resemblances.
Data protection
The information that you and I may keep on record is covered by the terms of the General Data Protection Regulation (‘GDPR’). No more such information will be held than is necessary, at any time, to comply with those terms and with any compliance statement or privacy policy published by either you or me. Both you and I agree that, where consent is required to hold or process such data, such consent has been requested and obtained and both facts can be demonstrated. Either of us may view the other’s records to ensure that they are relevant, correct and up to date.
In case of emergencies, such as me becoming severely ill, and where I am unable to contact you, your name and email address may be passed on to a trusted individual to notify you of any delays, disruptions to the service, or cancellations. You agree you are happy for this information to be passed on in the case of an emergency or any severe circumstances impacting the work.
Legal jurisdiction
This agreement is subject to the laws of England and Wales. Both you and I agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the English and Welsh courts.