Terms of service.
Last updated: January 10th, 2025
Welcome to Hawthorn & Aster! By accessing our website or using our services, you agree to be bound by the following Terms of Service. Please read them carefully.
1. Eligibility & Use of Services
By accessing or using the Hawthorn & Aster website and our related services, you confirm that you are at least 18 years old and legally capable of entering into binding agreements. If you are using our services on behalf of a business or organization, you represent that you have the authority to do so.
You agree to use our services only for lawful purposes and in accordance with these Terms of Service. You may not use our site or services:
To violate any applicable laws or regulations;
To infringe upon the intellectual property, confidentiality, or privacy rights of others;
To harass, abuse, or harm another person or group;
To submit false, misleading, or incomplete information;
To use bots, AI tools, or automated systems to scrape, extract, or copy content from our website or materials without express written permission;
To upload or submit AI-generated content in a way that misrepresents its origin or intent;
To interfere with or disrupt the operation of our site, community spaces, ARC teams, reader groups, or the experience of other users or clients.
Hawthorn & Aster reserves the right to refuse or discontinue services to anyone for behavior that violates these terms, creates a hostile or unsafe environment, or otherwise conflicts with our values of respect, inclusion, and professionalism. This includes interactions with our internal team, contracted service providers, and our extended community of authors, readers, and reviewers.
2. Community Standards
At Hawthorn & Aster, we believe that storytelling and publishing thrive in spaces built on inclusion, empathy, and mutual respect. Whether you're an author, reader, reviewer, or industry professional, we ask that you engage with our community in a way that honors those values.
These Community Standards apply to all interactive areas under the Hawthorn & Aster umbrella, including ARC Teams, comment sections, and replies to our mailing list.
We expect participants to:
Treat all individuals with respect, especially those from marginalized backgrounds;
Use constructive, thoughtful language when offering feedback;
Engage in ways that are affirming, trauma-informed, and aligned with Own Voices principles where applicable;
Respect the time, labor, and creative work of others.
We do not tolerate:
Hate speech, racism, transphobia, ableism, or any form of harassment;
Doxxing, bullying, or degrading commentary;
Piracy or the unauthorized distribution of books or materials;
Spamming or unsolicited promotion;
Failure to honor ARC, tour, or collaboration agreements (from either authors or readers).
Violations of these standards will result in immediate removal from ARC teams and our mailing list. In extreme cases, we may implement a full IP block. For authors, Hawthorn & Aster reserves the right to discontinue professional relationships and refuse future services.
Please note: while we personally moderate our mailing list replies and comment sections, we are not responsible for conduct in third-party spaces not directly managed by Hawthorn & Aster.
To report a violation of these standards, please email admin@hawthornandaster.com.
3. Scope of Services
Hawthorn & Aster offers a range of marketing, pre-publication, and author support services designed to empower indie and self-published romance authors at every stage of their publishing journey.
Our services include (but are not limited to):
Marketing Services: ARC Team Management, Book Tours, and Social Media Blasts
Pre-Publication Support: Beta Reading, Sensitivity Reading, Developmental Editing, Copy Editing, Line Editing, and Proofreading
Creative Services: Interior Book Formatting, Custom and Premade Book Cover Design, Bookmark and Sticker Design
Author Support Solutions: Social Media Management, Ready-Made and Custom Canva Templates, Newsletter Support, Author PA Services, and Web Design & Maintenance
Some services are provided directly by Hawthorn & Aster, while others are performed by vetted freelance professionals operating under the H&A umbrella. All service-specific expectations, deliverables, and timelines are outlined in individual contracts or booking confirmations at the time of engagement.
Please note:
We do not guarantee increased book sales as a result of our marketing or publicity efforts.
We cannot guarantee a set number of reviews, nor do we guarantee positive reviews, as our readers are not Hawthorn & Aster employees and maintain full autonomy over their opinions and platforms.
While we encourage readers to delay reviews below three stars until after publication or to refrain from tagging the author directly, we do not control individual reviewer behavior.
To see a full, detailed list of our offerings, please visit our Services page:
https://www.hawthornandaster.com/services
4. Payment Terms
Hawthorn & Aster accepts payments via PayPal, Klarna, and major credit/debit cards. All payments are processed securely through third-party e-commerce platforms.
Payment requirements vary depending on the type of service and the individual service provider involved. As Hawthorn & Aster contracts with freelance professionals, some services may be subject to provider-specific payment policies. Please review individual service agreements carefully.
For Hawthorn & Aster–branded marketing services, payment is due upfront and in full unless a payment plan has been previously agreed upon in writing. For editing, beta reading, sensitivity reading, and similar services, a non-refundable reservation fee is required to secure your spot on the schedule.
A processing fee of 3.49% + $0.49 is applied to individual service providers to account for the cut taken by e-commerce platforms. This fee is already included in the pricing of Hawthorn & Aster–branded services and will not appear as a separate charge.
Hawthorn & Aster does not issue full refunds once service has begun. Once materials have been distributed—such as when review copies or marketing assets have been delivered—refunds will not be issued. We do not charge cancellation fees, though our individual service providers may maintain independent policies.
In the event of late or non-payment, services may be paused or canceled at our discretion. All services are billed in U.S. dollars (USD). We do not currently charge sales tax or VAT for our digital services.
5. Cancellations & Refunds
Reservation fees and down payments are non-refundable. These payments secure your spot on our calendar and compensate for time allocated in advance.
If you need to cancel a service, you may request a partial refund—but only if work has not yet begun and materials have not been distributed (such as ARC copies or marketing assets). Refunds are issued solely at our discretion and must be requested in writing at least two weeks before your scheduled start date by emailing admin@hawthornandaster.com.
Once a service is underway, no refunds will be issued. This includes situations where clients disengage, delay communication, or choose not to make use of the deliverables.
We do allow clients to reschedule projects with at least two weeks’ notice. While there is no formal limit on how many times a project may be rescheduled, we ask that this courtesy not be abused. We reserve the right to reassess this policy if patterns of disruption arise.
In some cases, unused payments for Hawthorn & Aster–branded marketing services may be credited toward a future booking, provided the request is made before work has begun. These credits must be used within 12 months of the original booking date and cannot be transferred to other services or used with independent freelancers.
Freelancers contracted through Hawthorn & Aster maintain their own refund and cancellation policies. We are not responsible for those terms or how they are communicated.
6. Intellectual Property
All content, branding, and creative assets on the Hawthorn & Aster website—including graphics, copy, templates, layouts, taglines, and original designs—are the intellectual property of Hawthorn & Aster and may not be copied, redistributed, or repurposed without express written permission.
Our signature tagline, "You did the hard part. Let us handle the rest," is part of our brand identity and may not be used in marketing, promotional materials, or derivative work outside of our business.
Authors and clients retain full ownership of all materials they submit to Hawthorn & Aster.
Any deliverables created by Hawthorn & Aster (such as formatted files, custom covers, Canva templates, or website builds) become the property of the client upon final handover and payment. Clients are welcome to modify and reuse their delivered assets for personal or professional use; however, redistribution, resale, or repackaging for third-party use is not permitted.
Freelancers contracted under the Hawthorn & Aster umbrella maintain ownership of their original work unless otherwise specified in their individual agreements. Usage rights, licensing terms, and modification permissions for those assets are subject to the service provider’s own terms and conditions.
Hawthorn & Aster reserves the right to showcase non-confidential client work (e.g., book covers, websites, templates) in our portfolio or promotional materials unless otherwise agreed in writing.
7. Confidentiality & Privacy
We treat all materials and communications shared with us as confidential. This includes—but is not limited to—manuscripts, marketing strategies, brand assets, login credentials, pen names, and any personal or professional information disclosed via email or uploaded through our website.
We do not share client work publicly without written permission. Portfolio pieces (such as websites, covers, bookmarks, or sticker designs) may only be shared with signed consent. Testimonials submitted to our site may be used in promotional materials, on individual service provider pages, or on social media unless otherwise requested.
We collect names, email addresses, payment information, and newsletter sign-ups solely for business operations. We do not sell, rent, or share your information with third parties.
While we do not require NDAs for standard services, we are happy to sign one upon request if your project requires additional protection.
At this time, client materials and project files are retained indefinitely unless otherwise requested.
8. Limitation of Liability & Disclaimers
We cannot guarantee specific outcomes, including:
Book sales
Number of reviews
Star ratings
Social media engagement
Platform visibility or algorithm performance
Hawthorn & Aster is not responsible for performance or functionality issues related to third-party platforms, including (but not limited to): Canva, Mailchimp, BookFunnel, Booksprout, Instagram, Facebook, Amazon, BookBub, and Draft2Digital.
We are not liable for delays, technical failures, or disruptions outside our control. We are also not responsible for indirect, incidental, or consequential damages—such as lost revenue, missed opportunities, or reputational harm.
9. Force Majeure
Hawthorn & Aster shall not be held liable for any delay or failure in performance due to causes beyond our reasonable control. This includes, but is not limited to, natural disasters, internet outages, labor disputes, pandemics, or acts of war.
We will communicate promptly and make every effort to adjust timelines or reschedule deliverables as needed.
10. Modifications to Terms & Services
We reserve the right to modify, update, or discontinue any aspect of our services or these Terms at any time without prior notice. Users are responsible for reviewing these Terms regularly.
By continuing to use our website or services, you agree to any updated Terms of Service.
11. Governing Law & Contact Information
These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of New York, United States of America, without regard to conflict of law provisions.
Questions? Contact us at:
admin@hawthornandaster.com