Author Agreement
Author Agreement
Welcome to Life-Changing Wisdom. This Author Agreement covers publishing your book on our marketplace as an author. It is the plain-language agreement for authors who want to publish and build a readership, without running a full storefront. For the complete legal terms, see the Vendor Agreement.
If you later choose to become a full vendor (to sell merchandise and run a storefront), you accept the Vendor Agreement at that time, and its additional terms apply on top of this one.
1. Author or vendor: your lane
When you join, you choose your lane.
- As an author, you publish books, build your author profile, sell your books, and connect directly with your readers. This agreement covers that.
- As a vendor, you do all of the above and also run a full storefront, sell merchandise, and use the wider seller tools. That path is covered by the Vendor Agreement.
You can start as an author and switch on the vendor option later. Until you do, these author terms are what apply to you.
2. What you publish and sell
As an author, you sell your books: ebook, audiobook, paperback, and hardcover formats, published through the platform. You set your retail price. You do not sell merchandise or run a full storefront as an author; that opens up when you activate the vendor option.
3. The split: 85/15 on books
The retail price your reader pays is split between you and the platform. This is a split, calculated on the retail price before any costs.
- On books, the split is 85/15: your share is 85%, the platform's is 15%.
What each side carries. You carry the production cost of physical books, what Lulu charges to print and ship each copy, which comes out of your share. The platform carries the payment processing fees (Stripe), which we do not pass to you. For digital books (ebook and audiobook), with no production cost, your full share is yours.
The 85/15 split gives you $21.25 and the platform $3.75.
Production (Lulu print and ship) comes out of your $21.25.
Payment processing (Stripe) comes out of the platform's $3.75.
Sales tax is added on top of the $25.00, paid by the reader, and sent to the state. It is not part of either side's share.
Your dashboard shows your production cost and your net on each book before you publish, so you price with your real margin in front of you.
4. How you get paid
You become eligible for payout 21 days after the applicable order is marked completed. This window covers returns and chargebacks. Payouts are sent through Stripe to the bank account you connect, and Stripe's transfer to your bank is separate and depends on your connected account's payout schedule and bank processing. There is no minimum threshold. You receive a sale notification on every sale and a weekly earnings summary, and your full earnings and per-book breakdown live in your Royalty Statement.
You connect a Stripe account to receive payouts. You are responsible for keeping it valid.
5. Your readers and their data
When a reader buys your book, you receive their email and order details, and you build the relationship directly. Building a readership that follows you is the point of publishing here.
That access carries responsibilities that protect your readers and the platform's email standing:
- You can contact a reader about their order anytime. To add them to a marketing or newsletter list, you need their opt-in consent. A purchase by itself is permission to serve them, not to market to them.
- You market only to your own readers. You do not sell, rent, or transfer reader data to anyone.
- Every marketing email includes a working unsubscribe, and you honor it.
- You follow applicable email and privacy laws, including the federal law that governs commercial email (the CAN-SPAM Act).
These responsibilities continue after you leave, for the data you gathered here.
6. Anthologies and co-authors
You can publish on your own, or as a co-author in an anthology, a single book with several contributing authors.
If you are a co-author in an anthology, you do not need a storefront and you do not need to be a vendor. You join as an author, you accept this agreement, and:
- The book's primary author submits the anthology for publication.
- You receive an invitation to consent, and you confirm your participation before the book goes live.
- The anthology is linked to your author profile, so the book appears in your profile and credits you.
- Your share of each sale is deposited to you automatically through Stripe, per the split agreed for that anthology. The platform calculates and records each co-author's share on every sale; there is no manual math.
If you are the primary author of an anthology, you are responsible for the split arrangement among the co-authors and for inviting them to consent before publication.
7. You own your content
- You keep full ownership of your work. Your copyright stays with you.
- You can publish your work in other places too. This is non-exclusive.
By publishing here, you grant the platform a non-exclusive license to sell, display, and market your book, to create print-on-demand copies through Lulu when readers order, and to make your book available in the formats you publish.
You represent that the work is yours or that you have the rights to everything in it, including images and quotes, that it does not infringe anyone's rights, and that it is not defamatory.
8. Publishing standards
Submissions are reviewed using our Wisdom Alignment Test, a check that the work carries genuine, applicable wisdom. It looks at practicality, authenticity, reflection, craftsmanship, and impact. The bar is honest rather than harsh: work that comes from a real place and is ready to read passes. When a submission is reviewed, you see where it scored and where any issues were found, so you know exactly what to adjust. We curate so the marketplace stays focused on depth.
9. Refunds and returns
Refunds follow our Refund and Return Policy.
Digital books (ebook and audiobook) have a 7-day window for a genuine problem such as a file that does not work. Once downloaded, they are not returnable.
Printed books are produced on demand by our print partner, Lulu, which means each copy is manufactured when the order is placed. Because of that, printed copies are not returnable for change of mind. If a reader receives a copy that is damaged, defective, or incorrectly packaged, Lulu provides a replacement copy based on photographic evidence, when reported within 30 days of the shipment date. The reader submits a photo of the problem rather than shipping the book back. For these cases we route the replacement through Lulu.
There is a difference between a printing defect and a content problem. Lulu manufactures your book exactly from the files you upload and does not check or fix your content. If a reader's complaint comes from your files rather than the printing, such as a typo, a low-resolution image, or the wrong file, that is not a manufacturing defect. Any reprint or refund for a content reason is your responsibility as the author, not the platform's. Always order and review one proof copy before you promote or bulk-order your book.
If a refund is issued on your sale, your share and the platform's share reverse in proportion.
10. What the platform isn't responsible for
We are a marketplace, not a publisher. We do not guarantee a level of sales, and we do not edit or proofread your book. Print quality, shipping delays, and lost packages are handled with our fulfillment partner, and we help resolve issues when we can.
11. Leaving
You can leave anytime. Email team@lifechangingwisdom.com. We remove your listings within 5 business days, fulfill orders already placed, and pay you all earned revenue. If we suspend or end your account for a violation, we tell you why, and you still get paid for completed sales. The reader relationships you built remain yours, subject to the data responsibilities in Section 5.
12. Legal protection
If a claim is brought against the platform because of your content, you agree to cover the related legal costs and damages. To stay clear of this: publish only work you own or have permission to use, license your images and quotes, and keep your descriptions truthful.
13. Governing law
This agreement is governed by Connecticut law, and disputes are handled in Connecticut courts. Contact us first; most things resolve with a conversation.
14. Acceptance
By accepting, you confirm that you have read this Author Agreement, agree to the 85/15 book split, understand the reader-data and consent terms, understand the publishing standards, own the rights to your content, and will follow applicable laws.
Life-Changing Wisdom Marketplace LLC · 1019 Main St, Unit #1033, Bridgeport, CT 06604 · team@lifechangingwisdom.com