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Client Service Terms

1. Agreement

These Client Service Terms apply when a client purchases, commissions, or accepts a proposal for manuscript assessment, editing, or another editorial service from Riddle Ridge Led., operating as Ridgeview Manuscript Co. The specific service description, price, scope, estimated turnaround, and any written project-specific terms provided to the client form part of the agreement.

2. Manuscript Ownership

The client retains all ownership, copyright, publishing, licensing, and other rights in the manuscript. The client grants Ridgeview only the limited, temporary permission needed to access and work with the manuscript for the requested service and related administration.

3. Confidentiality

Ridgeview treats submitted manuscripts and related materials as confidential. Ridgeview will not publish, sell, distribute, disclose, reproduce, or use manuscript excerpts for testimonials, portfolios, training, social media, or other promotional purposes without the author's separate explicit permission, except where disclosure is legally required or strictly necessary to provide the service through an approved provider.

4. Human Editorial Review and AI

Ridgeview's manuscript assessments and editorial judgments are performed by a human. Ridgeview will not upload the client's manuscript, in whole or in part, to a generative AI system for assessment, editing, rewriting, training, or content generation without the client's explicit prior consent. Administrative use of technology or AI that does not involve submitting the unpublished manuscript is permitted.

5. Scope of Service

The client is purchasing only the work described in the selected service or project proposal. Reasonable questions seeking clarification of Ridgeview's completed assessment or recommendations are included. New editorial work, a second review after revisions, substantial follow-up review, work on additional manuscripts, or services outside the agreed scope may require a separate agreement and additional fee.

6. Client Responsibilities

• The client confirms that they own the manuscript or have authority to submit it for editorial review.

• The client is responsible for maintaining their own backup copies of all files.

• The client will provide information and files reasonably necessary for Ridgeview to perform the service.

• The client will not knowingly submit material they have no legal right to provide.

• The client remains responsible for the final manuscript, revisions, publication decisions, permissions, and use of Ridgeview's recommendations.

7. Editorial Judgment; No Guarantee

Editorial assessment and editing involve professional judgment. Ridgeview's recommendations are advisory, and the client decides whether to implement them. Another qualified editor may reasonably make different recommendations.

Ridgeview does not guarantee publication, acceptance by an agent or publisher, contest results, reviews, sales, commercial success, acceptance by a publishing platform or retailer, or that a manuscript will become completely error-free.

8. Not Legal Advice

Ridgeview provides editorial services, not legal services. Ridgeview may flag a potential copyright, permissions, privacy, defamation, trademark, or other legal concern, but doing so is not a legal opinion. The client is responsible for obtaining independent legal advice where appropriate.

9. Turnaround and Client-Caused Delays

Ridgeview will provide an estimated completion date or turnaround period when a project is accepted and will make reasonable efforts to meet it. If an unexpected delay occurs, Ridgeview will communicate with the client as promptly as reasonably possible.

If the client provides incorrect or incomplete files or information, changes the scope, fails to respond when input is needed, or otherwise causes a delay, Ridgeview may reasonably adjust the delivery date. A missed estimated date does not by itself create an automatic right to a refund, subject always to rights that cannot legally be waived.

10. Payment, Cancellation, and Refunds

If the client cancels before Ridgeview begins editorial review or editing, Ridgeview will refund the amount paid less any payment-processing fee that is genuinely non-refundable to Ridgeview, subject to applicable consumer law.

Once editorial work has begun, payments are generally non-refundable because professional time has been committed and work has commenced. Ridgeview may make exceptions in genuine exceptional circumstances at its discretion, without creating an obligation to do so in other cases.

If Ridgeview must cancel an accepted project and cannot complete the contracted service, Ridgeview will refund the amount attributable to work not completed, subject to applicable law.

11. File Retention

Ridgeview keeps manuscript and editorial working files for 90 days after the completed service is delivered, then deletes them from active storage unless a different period is legally required or agreed. Necessary business records may be retained separately for accounting, legal, security, or dispute purposes.

12. Concerns About the Service

If the client believes Ridgeview did not provide the service that was agreed upon, the client should contact Ridgeview within 14 days after delivery and explain the concern. Ridgeview will have a reasonable opportunity to review the issue and, where appropriate, clarify the work, correct an error, provide an inadvertently omitted item, or otherwise bring the service into conformity with the agreed scope.

A disagreement with an editorial opinion does not, by itself, mean the contracted service was not delivered and does not create a right to free additional editorial work.

13. Right to Decline or Discontinue

Ridgeview may decline a project before acceptance where the service is not appropriate for the manuscript, the project is outside Ridgeview's expertise or capacity, or another legitimate reason prevents Ridgeview from reasonably performing the work.

After acceptance, Ridgeview may discontinue a project for a legitimate reason, including abusive or threatening conduct, unlawful use of the service, repeated failure to provide information needed to complete the work, or another circumstance that makes continued performance unreasonable. If Ridgeview ends a project for reasons unrelated to client misconduct, Ridgeview will refund the amount attributable to uncompleted work, subject to applicable law.

14. Limitation of Liability

To the extent permitted by law, Ridgeview will not be liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or speculative losses arising from the client's use of editorial recommendations, including alleged lost profits, lost sales, lost publishing opportunities, or costs voluntarily incurred with third parties.

To the extent permitted by law, Ridgeview's aggregate liability arising from a particular contracted service will not exceed the amount the client actually paid Ridgeview for that service. Nothing in these Terms limits a right or liability that applicable law does not permit the parties to exclude or limit.

15. Consumer Rights

These Terms are intended to operate alongside applicable consumer-protection law, not replace it. Where mandatory consumer rights apply, those rights prevail over any inconsistent term. For online consumer transactions, Ridgeview will provide required pre-purchase disclosures, an opportunity to review and accept or decline the agreement and correct errors, and any required written copy of the agreement.

16. Disputes and Governing Law

Clients are encouraged to contact Ridgeview first so the parties have an opportunity to resolve a concern informally. These Terms are governed by the laws of Ontario and the applicable federal laws of Canada, subject to any mandatory consumer rights or jurisdictional rules that apply.

17. Entire Agreement and Changes

The service description, price, project-specific written terms, these Client Service Terms, and incorporated policies make up the agreement for the service. Any material change to an accepted project's scope, price, or timing should be confirmed in writing.

18. Contact

Service questions or concerns may be submitted through tthe Contact portal on this website. 

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