I’m joining The Quill. If I don’t make payment in full or set up my payment plan in the next 3 business days, you can charge my card $15,000 for the administrative services and cancel this contract.
THE ORDER OF THE QUILL
MEMBERSHIP AGREEMENT
THIS AGREEMENT (hereinafter the “Agreement”) is made between The Author Incubator, LLC (hereinafter the “Company” or “we/us”) and you (the “Participant”, “yourself” or “you”).
Article One
Terms and Conditions
Section 1.1 If the Company approves the Application and accepts you into The Order of the Quill (the “Program”), then this Agreement, and the Application completed by the Participant, outline the obligations of both the Company and yourself with respect to the terms and conditions of your Program. Together, the Agreement and the Application form the whole agreed upon contract between you and us.
Section 1.2 The Company may amend this Agreement at any time by sending a revised version to the e-mail or physical address you provided in your Application or by posting changes in your Basecamp group.
Article Two
Payments
Section 2.1 By completing the Application and signing this Agreement, you authorize the Company to charge your credit or debit card, cash your check, or accept your wire payment to enroll you in the Program if your Application is accepted.
Section 2.2 You agree that if you are accepted into the Program, you are responsible for full payment of fees for the entire course of the Program, regardless of whether you have selected the one-time paid-in-full plan or monthly payment plan.
Section 2.3 You agree that if you are late in making your payment to the company, The Company may revoke your membership privileges. You agree that your contractual commitment to pay the fees that are due is not waived, even if those revoked membership privileges cannot be reinstated.
Article Three
Termination and Refunds
Section 3.1 This program is 100% non-refundable. No refunds will be issued for any reason. We understand there may be issues of travel, health or other things going on in your life, which is why the program has so much built-in flexibility. The Company fully expects you to have periods of non-participation. Therefore the Membership cannot be put on hold at any time during the Program for any reason.
Section 3.2 If the payment plan is selected, the debt owed may be transferred or pledged to a financing entity or payment plan administrator, however in all cases, you agree to make monthly payments on a timely basis or privileges of membership may be revoked at the Company’s discretion.
Section 3.3 Since we are going straight into the Quill editing process with your manuscript (which is a different process than for non-Quill members), we will immediately be accruing fixed costs in working with you. Your payment plan must be made or commence within 3 business days. Failure to do so will result in our active efforts to collect the full fee as quickly as possible through all legal means. You will also risk forfeiting the copyright of the book should we decide to publish it in order to fulfill the financial obligation.
Section 3.4 If you decide to leave the program at any time, you will immediately be assessed the full balance which will be immediately due in full. Non-participation does not affect your contractual obligation.
Section 3.5 The Company may, at its sole discretion, terminate this Agreement, and limit, suspend, or terminate your participation in the Program without refund or forgiveness of the remaining monthly payments if you become disruptive or difficult to work with, if you fail to follow the Program guidelines, or if you impair the participation of Program instructors or participants in the Program or violate any of the confidentiality and privacy policies in Article Four of this Agreement.
Section 3.6 If this Agreement is terminated for any reason, you will no longer have access to the online training library or any other benefit of membership in the Program.
Section 3.7 Our goal and intention is to provide Author Management Services until your final book marketing campaign. They will last from 14 months to a maximum of 18 months from the day after the final module of The Author’s Way. If you take an excessive amount of time responding to emails and messages either from us or our publishing partners or you miss payments that cause publishing to be delayed, we reserve the right to terminate this agreement. As such, this agreement is capped at 18 months or once your final book marketing campaign happens, whichever comes first.
Article Four
Confidentiality and Privacy
Section 4.1 We agree to respect your confidential and proprietary information, ideas, plans, and trade secrets (collectively, “Confidential Information”).
Section 4.2 You agree:
- To respect the privacy of fellow Program participants and, therein, not to violate the publicity or privacy rights of any Program participant,
- Not to infringe on any Program participant’s or the Company’s copyright, patent, trademark, trade secret or other intellectual property right,
- That any confidential Information shared by Program participants or any representative of the Company is confidential and proprietary, and belongs solely and exclusively to the participant who discloses it or the Company,
- Not to disclose such information to any other person or use it in any manner other than in discussion with other Program participants during Program sessions,
- That all materials and information provided to you by the Company may only be used by you as authorized by the company, and
- That the reproduction, distribution and sale of these materials by anyone outside of the Company is strictly prohibited.
Section 4.3 If you violate, or display any likelihood of violating, any of your agreements contained in this Article Four the Company and/or the other Program participant(s) will be entitled to injunctive relief to prohibit any such violations to protect against the harm of such violations.
Section 4.4 Except where required by court order or subpoena, each party hereto shall keep confidential the terms of this agreement and shall not disclose to a third party any of the provisions hereof or any information obtained pursuant hereto, except that a party may disclose such information to an accountant or attorney agreeing to be bound by the terms of this Agreement for the purpose of or in connection with obtaining advice or counseling from such accountant or attorney.
Article Five
Warranties
Section 5.1 We have made every effort to accurately represent the Program and its potential. Any claims of actual earnings can be verified and examples of actual earnings can be verified upon request. The testimonials and examples used are not intended to represent or guarantee that anyone will achieve the same or similar results. Each individual’s success depends on any factors, including his or her background, dedication, desire, and motivation.
Section 5.2 You acknowledge that as with any business endeavor, there is an inherent risk of loss of capital and there is no guarantee that you will earn any money as a result of your participation in the Program. By signing below, you also acknowledge that you have represented to the Company that payment of your Program membership fees will not place a significant burden on you or your family.
Article Six
Publishing Policies
Section 6.1 You acknowledge that your Launch Date with Difference Press cannot be changed. You will be required to complete the publishing portion of this program in accordance with the schedule and best practices set out by your editor for that launch date or simply forego that component of the program. You acknowledge that neither publishing with us, nor your attendance at the Book Launch event, nor any other component of the program is mandatory. It is up to you to get what you need out of the program. When you elect to participate in a program component, you agree to comply with program policies.
Section 6.2 As part of the Program, you may elect to publish with any publishing partner of the Company. For that process, Company will act as your agent. If this Agreement is terminated for any reason after you have published or while you are in the process of publishing with a publishing partner, then you will no longer have access to Company as an agent. There will be no additional fees to you for Company’s agent services.
Section 6.3 The choice to publish with the Company’s publishing partner must be made within a maximum of 30 days of your Book Launch or you may forfeit this benefit.
Section 6.4 If this Agreement terminates after you have published with, or while you are in the process of publishing with the Company’s publishing partner, you acknowledge this arrangement may not continue. The Company is not bound by the terms of your agreement with any other party.
Article Seven
Miscellaneous
Section 7.1 Conflict with other Agreements. This Agreement shall prevail and amend any other written or oral agreement of the parties as needed to comply with the terms and conditions herein.
Section 7.2 Severability. The provisions of this Agreement shall be deemed severable and the invalidity or unenforceability of any provision shall not affect the validity or enforceability of the other provisions hereof. If any provision or clause of this Agreement, or portion thereof, shall be held by any court or other tribunal of competent jurisdiction to be illegal, void, or unenforceable in such jurisdiction, the remainder of such provision shall not be thereby affected and shall be given full effect, without regard to the invalid portion.
Section 7.3 Force Majeure. Neither party shall be in default or otherwise liable for any delay in or failure of its performance under this Agreement where such delay or failure arises by reason of any act of God or any government or any governmental body, war, terrorist act, insurrection, the elements, strikes or labor disputes, or other similar or dissimilar cause beyond the control of such party.
Section 7.4 Applicable Law. This Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Section 7.4.1 Jurisdiction. Each party hereby submits to the exclusive jurisdiction of, and waives any venue or other objection against, any federal court sitting in the State of Virginia, U.S.A., or any Virginia state court in any legal proceeding arising out of or relating to this contract. Each party agrees that all claims and matters may be heard and determined in any such court and each party waives any right to object to such filing on venue, forum non-convenient, or similar grounds.
Section 7.5 Construction of Terms. Wherever the context requires, the singular includes the plural, and the masculine includes the feminine and neuter.
Section 7.6 Headings. Headings are used in this Agreement for convenience only and will not be used to interpret this Agreement or any part of it.
Section 7.7 Assignment. Participant may not assign this Agreement, or any rights or obligations hereunder, by operation of law or any other manner, without the Company’s prior written consent.
Section 7.8 Advice of Counsel. The parties acknowledge and agree that each have had the unrestricted opportunity to consult with independent legal counsel of his/her own choosing, that any decision not to be so represented was voluntarily and independently made by that party, and that the provisions of this Agreement will not be construed in favor of either party.
Section 7.8.1 Prior knowledge of terms. The parties acknowledge a copy of this agreement was placed in Basecamp for viewing prior to signature via electronic means.
Section 7.9 Notices. All notices required or permitted by either party under this Agreement may be sent via e-mail. If no response is received, notice will be deemed given when personally delivered or, if earlier, when received after mailing by registered or certified U.S. mail, postage prepaid, with return receipt requested.
Section 7.10 The Author Incubator reserves the right to terminate this agreement in circumstances where the company becomes insolvent, makes an assignment for the benefit of creditors, goes out of business, or ceases production.
Section 7.11 Waiver. Failure of either party to insist on strict compliance with any of the terms, covenants, and conditions of this agreement shall not be deemed a waiver of such terms, covenants, and conditions, or of any similar right or power hereunder at any subsequent time.
Thank you for signing the Agreement. If your application is a good fit, we will accept your initial deposit or payment in full for the program, and we will send you all the details for your Order of the Quill™ membership. If we do not believe we can serve you effectively, you will be informed within 3 business days of the event and you will be refunded.
ADDENDUM 1
SCHEDULE OF SERVICES
AUTHOR MANAGEMENT SERVICES
- Publishing Services for your eBook, Print Book, and Audio Book, including editing, proofreading, and design.
- Marketing Services and Support for your eBook Launch, Amazon Bestseller Campaign, announcing publishing deal and author copies, Audio Book Launch, Print Pre-order Campaign, Book store Signing and Print Launch Celebration.
- WRITE YOUR NEXT BOOK. Admission to repeat The Author’s Way (TAW) and write a book as a reward for your one year anniversary in The Order of the Quill. (See addendum 2 for important information on how to take advantage of this benefit)
ONGOING SUPPORT BONUSES
- FB Group and Accountability Zoom with The Author Incubator Coaches
- Live, In-Person Members-only Events
ADDENDUM 2
TERMS TO WRITE A SECOND BOOK WITH THE QUILL
To qualify to write your next book as a Quill member, the following criteria must be met:
- Participant has had no outstanding payments for the program.
- Participant has met their one year anniversary in the Quill and has applied to write a second book.
When you apply to write your second book the following will be included:
- A completed manuscript.
- Your book will be up for pre-order on Amazon.
- A developmental edit of your manuscript.
- The option to renew Quill membership for continued Author Management Services for your second book.
Upon applying to write your second book, the following terms are agreed to:
- Changing TAW cohorts is not permitted due to space allocations and limitations.
- If you decide to join the TAW cohort you are assigned to for writing your second book, you agree to submit a draft manuscript on the due date, or to be charged the full participation fee as a penalty for not completing your manuscript.
- I also understand I may sign up for my TAW cohort and cancel without penalty as long as I cancel nine weeks before my assigned TAW Cohort due date.