Privacy Policy
How we collect, use, protect and share your information when you visit our website or work with us on your book.
1. Introduction & Scope
This Privacy Policy explains what personal information Pen & Laurel collects, how we use and share it, how long we keep it, and the choices and rights available to you. It applies to visitors of penandlaurel.com and to clients and prospective clients who contact us, request a quote, or engage our Services.
This Policy does not cover the privacy practices of third-party publishing platforms, payment processors, social networks, or other services you may use in connection with your book; please review their own privacy policies separately.
2. Information We Collect
We collect information in the following ways:
- Information you give us directly: your name, email address, phone number, mailing address, pen name, payment and billing details (processed by our payment processor, not stored in full by us — see Section 6), and any manuscript, outline, interview recording, photograph, brand asset or other material you share with us for your project.
- Communications: the content of emails, contact-form submissions, calls, and messages you exchange with our team, including project feedback and revision notes.
- Automatically collected data: IP address, browser and device type, pages visited, referring URL, and approximate location, collected through cookies and similar technologies when you use our website (see Section 5).
- Information from third parties: for example, if you are referred to us by a partner, or if a platform (such as a scheduling tool or payment processor) shares limited account information with us to facilitate the engagement.
3. How We Use Your Information
We use the information we collect to:
- Provide, manage and deliver the Services you request, including ghostwriting, editing, design, formatting, publishing and marketing work;
- Communicate with you about your project, quotes, invoices, and account;
- Process payments and maintain financial and tax records;
- Improve our website, Services and internal processes, including through aggregated, de-identified analytics;
- Send you marketing communications about our Services, with your consent where required by law, and always with an option to opt out (see Section 9);
- Detect, investigate and prevent fraud, abuse, and security incidents;
- Comply with legal obligations and enforce our Terms and Conditions.
- Keep accurate records of what was ordered, agreed, delivered and approved, and use those records — including correspondence, call notes, chat transcripts, delivery and file-access logs, IP address and device data — to respond to refund requests, payment disputes, chargebacks, arbitration and legal claims;
- Verify your identity and the authorization of payments, and protect you and us against fraud.
4. Legal Bases for Processing
If you are located in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, or another jurisdiction with similar requirements, we process your personal information on one or more of the following legal bases: performance of a contract with you (to deliver Services you have requested), our legitimate interests (such as improving our Services and preventing fraud, balanced against your rights), your consent (for example, for marketing emails or non-essential cookies, which you may withdraw at any time), and compliance with a legal obligation.
5. Cookies & Tracking Technologies
Our website uses cookies and similar technologies (such as pixels and local storage) to remember your preferences, understand how visitors use the site, and, where applicable, measure the performance of our marketing. Categories of cookies we may use include:
| Category | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Essential | Required for basic site functionality, such as navigation and form submission. |
| Analytics | Help us understand aggregate traffic and usage patterns so we can improve the site. |
| Marketing / Advertising | Used to measure the effectiveness of campaigns and, where enabled, to show relevant ads on other sites. |
You can control cookies through your browser settings, including blocking or deleting them; doing so may affect the functionality of parts of our website. Where required by law, we will request your consent before setting non-essential cookies.
6. How We Share Information
We do not sell your personal information. We share information only in the following circumstances:
- Service providers: vendors who perform services on our behalf, such as payment processing, email delivery, cloud storage, scheduling, website hosting and analytics, under contractual confidentiality and data-protection obligations.
- Subcontracted writers, editors and designers: the specific team members assigned to your project, who are bound by confidentiality obligations as described in our Terms and Conditions.
- Legal and safety reasons: where we believe disclosure is necessary to comply with a legal obligation, protect the rights, property or safety of Pen & Laurel, our clients or the public, or enforce our agreements.
- Business transfers: in connection with a merger, acquisition, financing, or sale of all or part of our business, subject to standard confidentiality arrangements.
- With your direction: where you ask us to share information with a third party, such as a publishing platform or collaborator.
- Payment disputes: with our payment processors, your card issuer or bank, and their dispute-resolution teams, limited to the records needed to respond to a chargeback, reversal or fraud claim you initiate;
- Professional advisers: our lawyers, accountants, insurers and collection agencies, under confidentiality obligations, where needed to protect our rights or recover amounts owed.
7. Data Retention
We retain personal information for as long as necessary to provide the Services, comply with our legal, tax and accounting obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements. Project files and manuscripts are typically retained for a reasonable period after project completion for reference and quality-assurance purposes, after which they may be archived or securely deleted. You may request earlier deletion subject to Section 9 and any legal retention requirements we must observe.
8. Data Security
We use administrative, technical and physical safeguards designed to protect personal information against unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure or destruction, including access controls, encrypted transmission where applicable, and confidentiality obligations for our team and contractors. No method of transmission or storage is 100% secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security; you share information with us at your own risk, and we encourage you to use strong, unique passwords for any accounts and to notify us immediately at connect@penandlaurel.com if you suspect unauthorized access.
- If we become aware of a security incident that affects your personal information, we will notify you and any required regulator as required by applicable law, including Washington’s data-breach notification law (RCW 19.255).
9. Your Privacy Rights
Depending on where you live, you may have some or all of the following rights regarding your personal information: to access a copy of it; to correct inaccurate information; to request deletion; to request a portable copy in a structured format; to object to or restrict certain processing; to withdraw consent for marketing or non-essential cookies at any time; and to lodge a complaint with your local data-protection authority.
California residents have rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act (as amended), including the right to know what personal information we collect and how it is used and shared, the right to request deletion, the right to correct inaccurate information, and the right to opt out of the “sale” or “sharing” of personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising — we do not sell personal information as defined by the CCPA. EEA/UK residents have rights under the GDPR/UK GDPR as summarized above.
To exercise any of these rights, contact us at connect@penandlaurel.com. We may need to verify your identity before completing certain requests, and some information may be retained where permitted or required by law (for example, financial records for tax purposes).
10. International Data Transfers
We are based in the United States, and information we collect may be stored and processed in the United States or other countries where our service providers operate. Where required by applicable law, we use appropriate safeguards, such as standard contractual clauses, for transfers of personal information from the EEA, UK, or other regions with data-transfer restrictions.
11. Children’s Privacy
Our website and Services are directed at adults and are not intended for children under 16. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 16. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us at connect@penandlaurel.com and we will take steps to delete it.
12. Third-Party Links
Our website may link to third-party sites, including publishing platforms and social media. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of those sites, and we encourage you to review their privacy policies before providing personal information to them.
13. Calls, Text Messages, Live Chat & Forms
- Contact and project forms. Information you submit through our website forms (such as your name, email, phone, service interest and project details) is sent to our team by email and stored in our records so we can respond to you.
- Live chat. Our website chat is provided by a third-party chat service. Messages you send, and the technical information your browser shares (such as IP address, browser and pages viewed), are processed by that provider and kept as transcripts so we can follow up and keep a record of what was discussed. Please don’t share payment card details in chat.
- Calls. Calls with our team may be recorded or transcribed for quality, training, accuracy and dispute resolution; we will tell you at the start of a recorded call.
- Text messages. If you give us your mobile number and agree to receive texts, we may send project updates, scheduling messages and, only with your separate consent, marketing messages. Message frequency varies; message and data rates may apply. Reply STOP to opt out at any time or HELP for help. Consent to texts is not a condition of purchase. We do not sell or share your mobile number or text-messaging consent with third parties for their own marketing.
14. Do Not Track & Global Privacy Control
Some browsers send a “Do Not Track” signal. Because there is no common standard for how to respond to it, our website does not currently respond to Do Not Track signals. Where required by applicable law, we treat a Global Privacy Control (GPC) signal from your browser as a request to opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information for targeted advertising for that browser.
15. Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or legal requirements. We will post the revised policy on this page with an updated “Last updated” date, and, where changes are material, we will provide additional notice (such as an email or website banner) as appropriate. Your continued use of our website or Services after changes take effect constitutes acceptance of the revised policy.
16. Contact Us
Questions, requests, or complaints about this Privacy Policy or our data practices should be directed to:
- Pen & Laurel, a Desverso LLC company
- Email: connect@penandlaurel.com
- Address: 2135 112th Ave NE Ste 201, Bellevue, WA 98004
- Attn: Privacy / Data Protection