This policy explains what personal information Books Central Ltd collects through this website, the author portal and our publishing services, why we collect it, who we share it with and the rights you have.
Who we are
Books Central Ltd ("we", "us") trades as Books Central Publishing and is based in Southampton, United Kingdom. Books Central Ltd is a company registered in England and Wales, company number 14934830. Our VAT number is GB476049566. We are responsible for the personal information described in this policy. You can contact us about privacy at steve@bookscentral.co.uk.
What we collect
- Enquiries. When you use our Start your book form, we collect your name, email address, the details you give us about your book, the service you are interested in, and the internet (IP) address the enquiry came from, which we use to limit spam.
- Website chat. If you use the chat on our website, we keep the conversation, including any name and email address you give in it.
- Emails. When you email us, we keep your message and our reply.
- Authors we work with. Your name and pen name, email address, country, biography, the details you give us for paying your royalties, the terms agreed for your book, the files you share with us (such as your manuscript and cover), our messages, your invoices and your royalty statements.
- Author portal and office accounts. Your name, email address, a record of when you sign in, and your password, which is stored only in a scrambled form that cannot be turned back into the password.
- Payments. When you pay an invoice by card, the payment is handled by Stripe. We receive confirmation that you have paid and a payment reference, not your full card details.
- Buying our books. The buy links on our book pages take you to the store concerned, such as Amazon or Apple Books. That store's own privacy policy applies to your purchase.
How we use it, and the law we rely on
- To answer your enquiry and quote for our services (steps you ask us to take before a contract, or our legitimate interest in replying).
- To publish your book, pay your royalties and keep you informed, under our agreement with you (contract).
- To keep accounting and tax records (legal obligation).
- To keep our website and accounts secure and prevent spam and misuse (legitimate interests).
We do not sell your personal information.
Who we share it with
We use trusted suppliers to run our website and services. They handle personal information on our behalf:
- our website and publishing platform provider, which hosts this website, the author portal and our office systems on Amazon Web Services, and sends our emails through Amazon's email service;
- Stripe, for card payments;
- AI services, such as those of OpenAI and Google, which help us answer website chat and email enquiries and help us produce books (for example proofreading and cover artwork);
- AuthorVoices, which narrates audiobooks from a book's text;
- the stores and distributors that sell our books, which receive the book details needed to list each book, including the author's name;
- our professional advisers, and public authorities where the law requires it.
When you visit our website, your browser also loads fonts from Google Fonts and page styles from the jsDelivr network, which receive your internet address in order to send them.
Where it is stored
Our website and the information in it are hosted in the United States, and some of our suppliers process information in other countries. Where we transfer personal information outside the UK, we do so in line with UK data protection law.
How long we keep it
We keep personal information only for as long as we need it for the purposes above, including to meet our legal, accounting and tax obligations.
Cookies
Our website uses only the cookies it needs to work: one that keeps you signed in and protects our forms against misuse, one that remembers a browser you have chosen to trust when signing in to our office, and, if you use our website chat, one that keeps your conversation together. We do not use advertising or analytics cookies.
Your rights
Under UK data protection law you can ask us for a copy of your personal information, ask us to correct or delete it, ask us to restrict or stop using it, object to how we use it, and ask for it in a portable form. Some of these rights depend on the circumstances. To make a request, email us at steve@bookscentral.co.uk.
If you are unhappy with how we have handled your information, please tell us first. You can also complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk or on 0303 123 1113.
Changes to this policy
We may update this policy from time to time. The date it was last updated is shown at the top of this page.