1. Acceptance of these Terms
These Terms of Use (the “Terms”) govern access to and use of thethinplaces.com (the “Site”), the marketing website for The Thin Places book series, operated by Annie Barber (“we,” “us,” or the “Operator”). By accessing or using the Site you agree to be bound by these Terms and by the Privacy Policy, which is incorporated into these Terms by reference. If you do not agree, do not use the Site.
2. Intellectual property
All content on the Site, including without limitation the book excerpts and quotations, synopsis and site copy, cover art and illustrations, the name The Thin Places, the individual book titles, the character names, and the fictional world and settings described in the series (collectively, the “Content”), is owned by the Operator or used with permission, and is protected by United States and international copyright, trademark, and other intellectual property laws. Materials created by others and used with their permission remain the property of their respective owners, and the Operator cannot grant rights in them. All rights not expressly granted in these Terms are reserved. Nothing on the Site grants, by implication, estoppel, or otherwise, any license or right to use any Content except as expressly stated herein.
3. Limited license
You are granted a limited, revocable, non-exclusive, non-transferable license to access the Site, to link to any page of it, and to view, print, and download a single copy of its pages for personal, non-commercial use, provided all copyright and proprietary notices are kept intact. This license does not permit republication or redistribution of the Content, reproduction of the cover art or excerpts on other sites or in other media, modification of the Content, or any commercial use, in each case without the Operator’s prior written permission.
4. Educational and personal fan use
Notwithstanding Section 3: (a) teachers and librarians may print pages of the Site and read the excerpts and quotations published on it aloud in classrooms, libraries, and story times, for noncommercial educational purposes; (b) personal, noncommercial fan art and fan writing based on the series are permitted, provided they are not sold, not used to promote any product or service, and not presented as official or endorsed; and (c) brief quotations from the Site with attribution are permitted in reviews, articles, and school assignments. Any use beyond this section requires written permission, which may be requested at legal@thethinplaces.com. The permissions in this section may be modified or withdrawn prospectively at any time.
5. Prohibited uses
You agree not to: (a) use the Site in violation of any applicable law; (b) use any automated means to scrape, harvest, or index the Site for the purpose of republishing its Content; (c) interfere with the operation or security of the Site; (d) misrepresent affiliation with or endorsement by the Operator or the series; or (e) use the Content to train, fine-tune, or ground a machine learning model or dataset without written permission.
6. Third-party websites and retailers
The Site links to third-party websites, including retailer sites where the books may be purchased. Those sites are not under the Operator’s control. All purchases occur on the retailer’s site and are governed exclusively by the retailer’s terms, policies, and privacy practices. The Operator makes no representation regarding, and accepts no responsibility for, the content, pricing, availability, or operation of any third-party site, or for any transaction you enter into with one. Links are provided for convenience only and do not constitute endorsement.
7. Newsletter
By submitting your email address, you consent to receive periodic email regarding the books and the series, delivered through Kit (formerly ConvertKit) and handled as described in the Privacy Policy. Subscription is confirmed by double opt-in. Every email contains an unsubscribe mechanism, and unsubscription is effective immediately. The newsletter is intended for individuals 13 years of age or older; the Operator recommends that a parent or guardian subscribe on behalf of younger readers.
8. Children
The books marketed on the Site are written for readers ages 9 to 12; the Site itself is directed to parents, guardians, teachers, librarians, and adult readers. The Site does not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. The treatment of children’s information is addressed in Section 6 of the Privacy Policy.
9. Unsolicited submissions
The Operator does not accept or consider unsolicited manuscripts, story ideas, characters, plots, or other creative material, whether sent by email, in reply to the newsletter, or otherwise. Please do not send any. Material sent anyway is not received in confidence, its receipt creates no confidential, agency, or fiduciary relationship, any similarity between it and the Operator’s present or future work is coincidental, and it may be discarded without review or reply.
10. Disclaimer of warranties
The site and all content are provided “as is” and “as available,” without warranties of any kind, express or implied, including without limitation the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title, and non-infringement. The operator does not warrant that the site will be uninterrupted, timely, secure, or error-free, or that content is accurate or complete. Content may be changed, moved, or removed at any time without notice.
11. Limitation of liability
To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, in no event shall the operator be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages, or for any loss of data, goodwill, or profits, arising out of or in connection with your use of, or inability to use, the site, whether based on warranty, contract, tort, or any other legal theory, and whether or not the operator has been advised of the possibility of such damages. The operator’s total aggregate liability arising out of or relating to the site or these terms shall not exceed one hundred U.S. dollars (USD $100).
Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion of certain warranties or the limitation of certain damages; to that extent, portions of Sections 10 and 11 may not apply to you.
12. Indemnification
You agree to indemnify and hold harmless the Operator from and against any claims, damages, losses, and expenses, including reasonable attorneys’ fees, arising out of your violation of these Terms or your misuse of the Content.
13. Notice to California users
Pursuant to California Civil Code Section 1789.3, California users are entitled to the following notice: the Site is provided by the Operator identified in Section 1. Complaints regarding the Site, or requests to receive further information regarding its use, may be sent to legal@thethinplaces.com or to the Complaint Assistance Unit of the Division of Consumer Services of the California Department of Consumer Affairs, 1625 North Market Blvd., Suite N 112, Sacramento, CA 95834, telephone (800) 952-5210.
14. Governing law and venue
These Terms, and any dispute arising out of or relating to them or the Site, are governed by the laws of the State of Wyoming, USA, without regard to its conflict-of-laws principles. The exclusive venue for any such dispute shall be the state and federal courts located in Wyoming, and you consent to personal jurisdiction there, provided that nothing in this section limits any non-waivable right you may have to proceed in the courts of your own jurisdiction. Before filing any claim, you and the Operator each agree to send the other a written description of the dispute and to attempt in good faith for thirty days to resolve it informally; this does not prevent either party from seeking urgent injunctive relief or from filing in time to preserve a claim.
15. General provisions
These Terms and the Privacy Policy constitute the entire agreement between you and the Operator regarding the Site. If any provision of these Terms is held unenforceable, that provision shall be enforced to the maximum extent permissible and the remaining provisions shall remain in full force. The Operator’s failure to enforce any provision is not a waiver of it. You may not assign these Terms; the Operator may assign them in connection with a transfer of the Site or the series.
16. Changes to these Terms
The Operator may revise these Terms at any time by posting the revised version at this address with an updated effective date. Continued use of the Site after a revision is posted constitutes acceptance of the revision.
17. Contact
Questions about these Terms, and requests for permissions beyond those granted in Section 4, may be directed to legal@thethinplaces.com.