1. About Novelist
Novelist is a service operated by Mackley Studios, Inc. These Terms of Service form an agreement between you and Mackley Studios, Inc. In these terms, "Novelist," "we," "us," and "our" refer to Mackley Studios, Inc.
These terms apply when you use the Novelist website, app, accounts, paid subscriptions, and related services. By using Novelist, creating an account, or starting a subscription, you agree to these terms.
2. Eligibility
You must be at least 13 years old to use Novelist. If you are under the age of legal majority where you live, a parent or legal guardian must review and agree to these terms for you. If you are using Novelist on behalf of an organization, you represent that you have authority to accept these terms for that organization.
3. Accounts
You are responsible for providing accurate account information, keeping credentials secure, and all activity that occurs under your account. Contact Novelist support promptly if you believe someone accessed your account without permission.
You are also responsible for keeping your devices and browser profiles protected.
4. Your Content
You retain ownership of manuscripts, notes, outlines, characters, comments, media, and other material you create or store in Novelist (collectively, "Your Content"). You grant Novelist only the limited rights to use Your Content as needed to provide, maintain, sync, back up, secure, support, and improve the service.
You are responsible for Your Content and for ensuring that you have the rights needed to create, store, edit, or share it.
5. Local Storage, Sync, And Backups
Some of Your Content, along with editor state, thumbnails, preferences, and cached records, is stored in your browser. Clearing browser data, changing browsers, removing a browser profile, or using private browsing may delete locally stored content or make it unavailable.
Signed-in users may use cloud sync and online backup, but those features are not a substitute for your own exports and backups. You should keep independent copies of Your Content.
6. Plans, Billing, And Subscriptions
Novelist offers a Free plan and may offer paid plans such as Pro. Free plans include limited manuscript and word capacity. Paid plans provide higher limits and may include cloud sync, online backup, and additional features.
Paid subscriptions are processed by Stripe. Subscription terms, billing intervals, discounts, renewals, cancellations, and payment method handling may be managed through Stripe Checkout and the Stripe Customer Portal.
Paid subscriptions renew automatically for the interval selected at checkout until you cancel. You authorize Stripe to charge the payment method on file at the start of each renewal period, including applicable taxes. The price and billing interval are shown before you subscribe.
Prices and plan features are listed on the Pricing page and may change over time. We will give reasonable advance notice of an increase to an existing subscription price. The new price will apply to a later renewal, and you may cancel before it takes effect. Feature changes apply prospectively unless a different rule is required by law or stated in a separate written offer.
7. Cancellations And Refunds
You may cancel a paid subscription through the billing portal when available. Unless otherwise required by law or stated in a separate written policy, payments are non-refundable and access remains available until the end of the current billing period. Account deletion cancels the subscription as part of the deletion process and ends account access when cleanup completes; it does not create a refund unless one is required by law.
8. Acceptable Use
You agree not to use Novelist to:
- violate laws or regulations
- infringe intellectual property or privacy rights
- attempt to access systems or accounts without permission
- interfere with the security, operation, or integrity of the service
- upload malware, abusive automation, or harmful code
- scrape, reverse engineer, or bypass usage limits except where law allows
- use Novelist to harass others or create or store unlawful, exploitative, or abusive material
9. Suggestions, Proofing, And Automation
Novelist may include proofing, review, suggestion, or automation features. Those features are tools for writers, not a guarantee that text is accurate, lawful, publication-ready, or free from errors. You remain responsible for reviewing their output and deciding whether to use it.
10. Service Availability
Novelist may change, suspend, or discontinue parts of the service. We work to provide a reliable writing environment, but we do not guarantee uninterrupted availability or that all features will remain available in their current form.
11. Novelist Intellectual Property
The Novelist software, design, branding, and service content are owned by Mackley Studios, Inc. or its licensors. You receive a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable license to use the service as intended.
12. Privacy And Third-Party Services
Your use of Novelist is also governed by the Privacy Policy, which explains how information is collected, used, and protected.
Novelist uses Stripe to process payments, Google to provide optional sign-in, and Cloudflare to host, secure, and deliver the service. When you use Stripe or Google features, those companies may process information under their own terms and privacy policies. See Stripe's Privacy Policy,Google's Privacy Policy, andCloudflare's Privacy Policy.
13. Disclaimer Of Warranties
Novelist is provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis. To the extent permitted by law, we disclaim implied warranties, including merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement.
14. Limitation Of Liability
To the fullest extent permitted by law, Novelist will not be liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, including loss of profits, loss of Your Content or other data, or business interruption.
To the fullest extent permitted by law, Novelist's total liability for all claims related to the service will not exceed the greater of 100 U.S. dollars or the amount you paid Novelist during the 12 months before the event giving rise to the claim. This liability cap does not apply where applicable law prohibits Novelist from limiting its liability.
15. Disputes With Others
You are responsible for disputes arising from Your Content or your dealings with other people. Novelist has no obligation to participate in, mediate, or resolve those disputes. This does not prevent Novelist from complying with legal process or exercising its rights under these terms.
16. Responsibility For Claims
To the extent permitted by law, you agree to defend, indemnify, and hold Novelist harmless from third-party claims, damages, losses, liabilities, and reasonable expenses, including legal fees, arising from Your Content, your violation of another person's rights, your unlawful misuse of Novelist, or your material violation of these terms. Novelist may assume control of the defense with counsel of its choice. You agree to provide reasonable cooperation and may not settle a covered claim in a way that admits fault by or imposes obligations on Novelist without Novelist's written consent.
17. Termination
You may stop using Novelist at any time. We may suspend or terminate accounts that violate these terms, create security risk, abuse the service, or require action for legal or operational reasons.
Export important manuscripts before deleting your account.
Deleting your account removes your cloud-synced projects and account records and clears Novelist's site data from the browser where you complete the deletion. Locally stored copies may remain in other browsers that never reconnect.
Closing your account does not end terms that must remain effective, including terms concerning ownership, disclaimers, liability limits, responsibility for third-party claims, disputes, and governing law.
18. Changes To These Terms
We may update these terms from time to time. The updated version will be indicated by a revised "Last updated" date. Continued use of Novelist after changes means you accept the updated terms.
19. Governing Law And Disputes
These terms are governed by the laws of the State of Utah, without regard to conflict-of-law principles. Nothing in these terms limits mandatory consumer protections that apply where you live. Except where applicable law requires otherwise, any court proceeding arising from these terms or the service must be brought exclusively in a state or federal court located in Utah. You and Novelist consent to the jurisdiction of those courts.
20. General Terms
These terms and the Privacy Policy are the entire agreement between you and Novelist concerning the service and replace earlier agreements about the same subject. If one provision is unenforceable, the remaining provisions continue in effect. A failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver. You may not transfer your rights or obligations under these terms without our written consent. Mackley Studios, Inc. may transfer these terms as part of a merger, acquisition, corporate reorganization, or sale of Novelist or related assets.
21. Contact
If you have questions about these terms, contact Mackley Studios, Inc. atsupport@mackleystudios.com.