Refund and Cancellation Policy

1. What this policy is, and how it fits with our Terms

This Refund and Cancellation Policy is part of, and is incorporated by reference into, the Nova Publishers Terms and Conditions ("Terms"). Capitalised terms used here and not defined here have the meanings given in section 1A of the Terms; the definitions in section 2 below supplement those.

Precedence. If anything in this policy conflicts with a signed Service Order, Statement of Work, or written package agreement between you and us, the signed document controls. On any question of refund or cancellation, this policy controls over the Terms (see Terms, section 1.4). Any summary of this policy appearing elsewhere, including Terms section 7, is illustrative only.

We wrote this policy to be readable. Every refund tier below is triggered by a specific, dated event that either has happened or has not, and not by anyone's judgement about how much work was "really" done. You should be able to look at this page and know exactly where you stand on any given day.

2. Definitions that determine your refund

These definitions are the entire policy. Read them first.

2.1 "Order Date" means the date on which we receive your first payment, in whole or in part, for a Publishing Package, Individual Service, or Add-On.

2.2 "Manuscript Submission" occurs when you first deliver to us any text, images, artwork, audio, or other material intended for publication or for use in producing your Work (by any means, in any format, complete or incomplete, final or draft). Delivering part of a manuscript is Manuscript Submission. Delivering a manuscript you later intend to replace is Manuscript Submission.

Manuscript Submission cannot occur before the Order Date. Material you sent us for the purpose of a quotation, an assessment, a sample edit, or a sales conversation is not Manuscript Submission, and does not move you into a lower refund tier.

2.3 "Design Commencement" occurs on the earlier of: (a) the date we deliver to you any cover concept, interior sample, layout, or other visual work product; or (b) the date we or a Contractor begin work on the design, editing, or production phase of your Work, as recorded in our project system.

2.4 "Final Approval" occurs when you approve, in writing or through our author portal, the final interior file and final cover file for production or distribution. Approval given by any person you have authorised to act on your behalf is your approval.

Deemed Final Approval. If you do not respond to a written request for Final Approval within 15 business days, we may treat the files as approved. Before we do, we must send at least two written reminders spaced at least 5 business days apart, and the clock runs from the later of the request or the second reminder. We will notify you in writing that we have deemed the files approved, and that notice will state plainly that your refund tier has changed and what it has changed to.

Reversing a deemed approval. You may reverse a deemed Final Approval within 5 business days of that notice, at no charge. A reversal restores your refund tier exactly as though the deemed approval had never occurred, and is not a scope change (Terms, section 5.3.1).

2.5 "Service Fulfillment", for an Individual Service or Add-On, occurs on the date we or a Contractor begin work on that service. We will notify you in writing on the day work begins. Returning a questionnaire or intake form is not, by itself, Service Fulfillment.

2.5.1 Milestone notification. We will notify you in writing, no later than the next Business Day, whenever Manuscript Submission, Design Commencement, Service Fulfillment, or Final Approval occurs, and each notice will state your current refund tier. You should never have to guess where you stand.

2.6 "Third-Party Costs" means any amount we pay to a third party on your behalf or in connection with your Work, including but not limited to: ISBN registration fees, copyright registration fees, Library of Congress control numbers, barcode generation, print-on-demand setup and unit costs, physical printing and shipping, distribution and catalogue setup fees, stock image and font licences, advertising and media spend, publicist retainers, review-service fees, audiobook narration and studio fees, and payment-processing fees.

2.7 "Business Day" means Monday through Friday, excluding United States federal holidays.

3. Publishing Packages: the refund ladder

For multi-stage Publishing Packages, your refund is determined by the most advanced milestone reached as of the date we receive your written cancellation request.

3.1 The 90-day outer limit. Separately from the table above, no refund is available under this section more than ninety (90) days after the Order Date, whatever stage your project has reached. This limit does not apply where the reason your project has not progressed is a delay on our side. In that case section 8.3 governs. This limit applies to Publishing Packages only, not to Individual Services under section 4.

3.2 The administrative retention. The retention in the first tier covers onboarding, project setup, consultation time, and account administration. It is not a penalty and it is not a cancellation fee. It applies once per package, and it is capped at $500 however large the package.

3.3 Third-Party Costs. In every tier above, Third-Party Costs irrevocably committed at your written direction or as expressly stated in your Service Order are deducted from the refund. We will itemise them. Where we later recover a Third-Party Cost, we pass that recovery through to you.

A Third-Party Cost deduction will never exceed the refund otherwise payable, and will never result in you owing us money.

3.4 Bundled and discounted packages. Where you purchased services as a discounted bundle, a refund is calculated against the discounted price actually paid, not against the sum of the standalone list prices.

3.5 How the calculation works, with examples.

Refund = (amounts you have actually paid) × (the tier percentage), less Third-Party Costs.

For the first tier, refund = (amounts actually paid) less the administrative retention, less Third-Party Costs.

Example 1: early cancellation. $1,899 Launch Pro package, paid in full, cancelled before Manuscript Submission. Retention is the greater of $150 or 10% of $1,899 = $189.90. Refund: $1,709.10, less any Third-Party Costs.

Example 2: after submission. $1,899 Launch Pro package, paid in full, cancelled after Manuscript Submission but before Design Commencement. Tier is 50%. Refund: $949.50, less any Third-Party Costs.

Example 3: late cancellation. $3,799 Signature package, paid in full, cancelled after Design Commencement but before Final Approval. Tier is 25%. Refund: $949.75, less any Third-Party Costs. You do not owe us anything further.

3.6 No further charges on cancellation. Payment is taken in full when you accept your quote, or on the milestone schedule in your Service Order for packages above $5,000 (Terms, section 6.4). Cancelling never triggers a new invoice, and any milestone payment not yet due is cancelled. Where the tier calculation produces a figure at or below zero, no further amount is owed by either party. We absorb the difference.

4. Individual Services and Add-Ons

Services purchased on their own (cover design only, formatting only, editing only, audiobook production, author website, PR and marketing services, and similar) follow a simpler rule.

Third-Party Costs are deducted in both cases, per section 3.3. The 90-day limit in section 3.1 does not apply to Individual Services.

4.1 Marketing, PR, and advertising services. Media spend, publicist retainers, review-service placements, and paid promotional slots are non-refundable once committed to the third party, whether or not the campaign has run. We will tell you before we commit your budget.

4.2 Session-based services (coaching, consultation, developmental editing by the hour). Cancel or reschedule a scheduled session with at least 24 hours' notice and it is returned to your balance. Less than 24 hours' notice, or non-attendance, and the session is used.

Prepaid, unused sessions are refundable at any time, at the list per-session rate, less sessions already used and less any bundle discount that applied. Starting a session package does not forfeit the sessions you have not taken.

5. When we cancel, and when you get everything back

5.1 We decline or cannot complete your project. If we decline your manuscript, terminate the engagement for our own convenience, or are unable to deliver the services you purchased, you receive a full refund of all amounts paid, including any administrative retention, less only Third-Party Costs already irrevocably committed at your written direction.

5.2 Content-guidelines issue. If we accept your project and later determine that your Work raises an issue under our content guidelines (Terms, section 15), we will tell you in writing and give you 15 business days to provide acceptable substitute material. If you cannot or choose not to, we may terminate and you receive a refund calculated under the section 3 tiers, not a forfeiture. We do not charge an evaluation fee for having reviewed your book. This applies to every content-guidelines issue except those in Terms section 15.1 limb (b), which are covered by section 5.4 below.

5.3 Material failure on our side. If we materially fail to deliver a milestone and do not cure within 30 days of your written notice, you may cancel and receive a refund of amounts paid for the undelivered portion, without regard to the tier table and without regard to the 90-day limit.

"Undelivered portion" means amounts paid, less the price of milestones actually delivered to and accepted by you, using the milestone pricing in your Service Order. Every Service Order we issue states a price for each milestone, so this is always calculable.

5.4 Termination for serious breach. If we terminate because your Work contains material described in Terms section 15.1 limb (b), or because you committed fraud against us, we retain amounts equal to: work actually performed, Third-Party Costs committed, and our reasonable costs of investigation and distribution takedown. We refund the balance. Any royalties actually accrued to you will still be paid, subject to the indemnity provisions in the Terms.

For every other breach of your warranties, including a rights or permissions problem you did not realise you had, section 5.2 applies, and you get a tiered refund rather than a forfeiture.

6. How to request a refund

6.1 Put it in writing. Email connect@thenovap.com with the subject line "Refund Request". Include your name, your project or order number, and a short statement of what you are cancelling and why. A refund request is effective on the date we receive it, not the date you decided.

6.2 We acknowledge within 3 Business Days. We will confirm receipt, tell you which tier applies and why, itemise any Third-Party Costs being deducted, and give you a figure.

6.3 If you disagree with the tier. Tell us. Send us what you have. If our project records and your records disagree about when a milestone occurred, we will show you our dated records and we will resolve genuine ambiguity in your favour.

6.4 Payment. Approved refunds are issued within 7 to 14 Business Days of our confirming the amount, to the original payment method wherever possible. Refunds to a bank account or by cheque may take longer. Where the original payment method is closed or unavailable, we will arrange an alternative and may need identity verification first.

6.5 Payment-method specifics. Refunds of card payments are returned to the card used. Refunds of bank wires are returned by bank wire to the originating account.

7. Printed books and physical goods

7.1 Print-on-demand is not returnable. Each printed copy is manufactured after your order is placed. We do not accept returns or exchanges of correctly-produced printed books.

7.2 Damaged or defective copies. If a printed copy arrives damaged, misprinted, mis-trimmed, or materially defective, tell us within 30 days of delivery and send photographs. We will replace the affected copies at no charge, or refund them, at your election. Replacement or refund is our primary remedy for a print defect. If a replacement is also defective, you may require a full refund of the affected copies and we will not ask you to accept a third attempt. Nothing here limits any implied warranty that cannot be limited under the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act or applicable state law.

7.3 Print tolerances. Print-on-demand manufacturing carries normal variances. Cover position, trim, and colour registration may vary by up to 1/16 inch, and colour may vary modestly between print runs and between manufacturing facilities. Variances within these tolerances are not defects.

7.4 Bookstore purchases. Books bought through our online bookstore are covered by sections 7.1 to 7.3 above. This policy is the bookstore's returns policy, and there is no separate document. Digital downloads (ebooks and audiobook files sold direct) are refundable until the file has been downloaded; once downloaded, they are non-refundable except where the file is defective and we cannot supply a working replacement within 5 Business Days.

8. Delays, non-responsiveness, and dormant projects

8.1 Client delay, holds, reactivation, and archiving are governed by Terms sections 4.1 and 4.3 to 4.6, which apply here in full. In short: days we spend waiting on you do not count toward our quoted timeframes; we may place a project on hold after 90 days of silence and three written attempts to reach you; you may reactivate free within 12 months; we keep held-project files for 24 months and give 30 days' written notice before deleting anything; and we charge no hold, storage, or reactivation fees.

8.2 Your delays do not extend your refund window. The 90-day outer limit in section 3.1 runs from the Order Date and does not pause while we wait for you. Placing a project on hold creates no refund right and does not extend the 90-day limit.

8.3 Our delays. If we cause a delay, tell us in writing. If we do not resume material work within 30 days of your notice, section 5.3 applies, the tier table does not, and the 90-day limit in section 3.1 does not apply.

9. Disputes and chargebacks

9.1 Talk to us first. If you are unhappy with a charge, email connect@thenovap.com. We would rather resolve it directly, and in practice we usually can. Most disputes we see come from a misunderstanding about which milestone had been reached.

9.2 What we do if you file a card dispute. You have a legal right to dispute a card charge with your issuing bank, and nothing in this policy limits that right or asks you to waive it. If you do file a dispute, we will respond to your bank with our records: your dated acceptance of this policy at checkout, dated milestone approvals and notifications, delivered files, and correspondence. We will also continue trying to resolve it with you directly.

9.3 While a dispute is open. We may pause new production work on the disputed project while the dispute is resolved. We will not withhold files you have already paid for, terminate your account, or delete your materials because you filed a dispute (Terms, sections 9.6, 16.4, and 19.4). Withholding is permitted only in the narrow circumstances in Terms section 16.4, which require a claim actually filed in a court or arbitral forum. A chargeback is not that.

9.4 Bank wire. A bank wire generally cannot be reversed by your bank. If you pay by bank wire, this policy is your route to a refund. If you want the protection of a card dispute process, pay by card. We are telling you this plainly because you should know it before you choose a payment method.

10. Recurring charges and subscriptions

Where you purchase a subscription or any service that renews automatically:

• We disclose the renewal price, renewal date, and cancellation method before you pay.
• We send you a reminder before each renewal.
• You can cancel online, in your account, in the same way you signed up. You do not have to call us, email us, or speak to anyone to cancel.
• Cancelling stops the next charge. Notwithstanding section 4, it does not refund the current term unless your Service Order says otherwise.
• We will never charge you for future unrendered service as a consequence of cancelling.

11. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy. If we do, we will increment the version number and post the new version here. Because this policy is part of our Terms, material changes are notified by email to registered account holders at least 30 days before they take effect, as with the Terms themselves.

Changes apply only to orders placed after the change takes effect. The version governing your order is the one in force when you accepted our Terms or on your Order Date, whichever is earlier. We keep dated copies of prior versions. Ask and we will send you yours.

12. Contact

Nova Publishers Inc.
Virginia, USA
Email: connect@thenovap.com
Phone: (703) 249-9257

We respond to refund requests within 3 Business Days.