1. Agreement to Terms

These Terms and Conditions (“Terms”) govern your use of every website, application, and service operated by PlotFoundry LLC, including plotfoundry.com, readerling.com, Scribi Writer’s Studio, the Readerling platform, and any other product or service that requires a PlotFoundry account (collectively, the “Services”).

PlotFoundry operates as a unified ecosystem. By creating an account on any PlotFoundry product, you agree to these Terms and our Privacy Policy across the entire ecosystem. If you do not agree, do not use the Services.

2. Eligibility and Age Verification

You must be at least 13 years of age to create an account or use the Services. We require a date of birth at signup. This is used to determine eligibility for age-restricted features, including Mature Content on Readerling. By using the Services, you represent and warrant that you meet this age requirement and that the date of birth you provided is accurate.

If you are between 13 and 18 (or the age of majority in your jurisdiction), you represent that a parent or legal guardian has reviewed and agrees to these Terms on your behalf. Certain features — including Mature Content access, purchases, and (where applicable) author payouts — are restricted to users 18 and over.

Date of birth cannot be changed by the user directly. Users who believe their date of birth was entered in error may contact admin@plotfoundry.com to request a correction; we may require reasonable verification before making such changes.

If we learn that a user is under 13, we will terminate their account and delete any associated data promptly.

3. Accounts and User Roles

A single PlotFoundry account works across the entire ecosystem. Your login credentials work for Scribi, Readerling, and any other PlotFoundry product. Your purchases, licenses, and subscriptions are attached to that account regardless of which product you bought them from.

Within the ecosystem, your account can carry one or both of the following roles:

• Author: Created automatically when you sign up through Scribi or otherwise establish a writing profile. Author capabilities include using Scribi, publishing content to Readerling (subject to eligibility), and accessing author analytics.
• Reader: Required to interact with Readerling as a reader — following authors, joining reader groups, reacting to posts, purchasing books (when available), participating in beta reading, and so on. Accounts created on Readerling receive a reader profile automatically; accounts created through Scribi must claim a reader profile separately to use reader features.

You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account credentials and for all activity that occurs under your account. You agree to notify us immediately at admin@plotfoundry.com if you suspect unauthorized access. PlotFoundry is not liable for any loss arising from unauthorized use of your account.

4. Definitions

• “User Content” means private creative work you produce, store, or sync using Scribi — manuscripts, outlines, notes, images, worldbuilding data, and similar materials — that you have not chosen to make publicly available on Readerling.
• “Published Content” means any material you have chosen to make publicly available on Readerling, including author profile content, book pages, posts, and ebook files made available for purchase, beta reading, or other distribution. Published Content can only originate from a deliberate publish action you initiate through Scribi or another PlotFoundry tool.
• “Reader Content” means material created by reader-role users on Readerling, including reactions, beta-read feedback, future reviews and ratings, and content posted in reader groups.
• “Comments” means any text, images, or other material posted in public-facing community areas of the Services — forums, comment sections, public discussion threads — outside of the structured author and reader content described above.
• “Software” means any downloadable desktop application distributed by PlotFoundry, including Scribi Writer’s Studio.
• “Web Services” means any cloud-based functionality accessed through a PlotFoundry account, including cloud sync, backup, forums, the Readerling platform, and any web applications we operate.
• “Mature Content” means content containing material intended for adult audiences, including but not limited to erotica, sexually explicit material, graphic violence, and other content that is inappropriate for users under 18.
• “Net Proceeds” means the sale price of a transaction minus payment processor fees actually charged on that transaction.
• “Watermark” means a per-user identifier embedded in ebook files downloaded from Readerling, used to link a distributed file to the account that downloaded it.

5. Intellectual Property — Your Private Work

You own your work. PlotFoundry claims no ownership of your User Content. We access, store, and process User Content solely to provide the Services you have requested (cloud sync, backup, recovery, and related operational needs). We do not use User Content for AI training, marketing, analytics, or any secondary purpose. See our Privacy Policy for the technical details.

6. Intellectual Property — Content You Publish to Readerling

You retain ownership of all content you choose to publish to Readerling. When you publish content to Readerling — whether it’s an author profile, a book page, a post, an ebook file made available for sale or beta reading, or anything else — you grant PlotFoundry a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to host, display, distribute, transmit, and (where applicable) deliver that content for the purpose of operating Readerling and the broader PlotFoundry ecosystem. This includes generating watermarked compilations of ebook files for delivery to readers.

This license is limited to operating the Services. It ends when you remove the content or close your account, except as needed for legitimate operational records, completed transactions, watermark traceability, and compliance with applicable law.

The decision to publish is yours and is always explicit: content reaches Readerling only when you initiate a publish action through Scribi or another PlotFoundry tool. By publishing, you confirm that you intend the content to be publicly available, and that you have the rights necessary to make it available.

7. Intellectual Property — Our Content

All materials produced by PlotFoundry — including software, website content, logos, trademarks, and documentation — are the intellectual property of PlotFoundry LLC and are protected by applicable law. You may not reproduce, modify, distribute, or create derivative works from our materials without prior written consent, except as necessary for normal use of the Services.

8. Acceptable Use

You agree not to use the Services to:

• Violate any applicable local, state, national, or international law or regulation;
• Post or transmit material that is defamatory, obscene, fraudulent, or that infringes the intellectual property or privacy rights of any third party;
• Harass, threaten, impersonate, intimidate, or coordinate harassment campaigns against any person;
• Post content that promotes hatred, discrimination, or violence based on race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, or any other protected characteristic;
• Post political propaganda, conspiracy theories, or other content unrelated to writing, publishing, reading, or the creative process;
• Distribute malware, spam, or any code designed to disrupt the Services;
• Attempt to gain unauthorized access to the Services, other accounts, or systems connected to the Services;
• Strip, remove, alter, or attempt to circumvent any watermark or other identifier in files downloaded from the Services;
• Circumvent, disable, or attempt to defeat Mature Content gating, age verification, or any other access-control feature;
• Mis-tag, manipulate, or game the genre and trope tagging system;
• Abuse the beta reader program, including using beta access to obtain or distribute books outside the program;
• Use the Services to solicit or promote any unlawful activity; or
• Circumvent, disable, or interfere with any security or access-control feature of the Services.

9. Mature Content

Readerling supports Mature Content, but access is gated. We do not show Mature Content to anyone under 18 under any circumstances, and we do not show it to adult users unless they have explicitly opted in.

By default, the Mature Content toggle is off. Users 18 and over may enable it through their settings. Users under 18 do not have the option to enable it. When a user with the toggle off visits an author profile, book page, post, or other surface marked as Mature Content, they receive a warning explaining the content and offering to enable Mature Content for their account.

Once a user has opted in, PlotFoundry does not algorithmically suppress, downrank, or otherwise hide Mature Content from that user’s discovery surfaces. There is no “dungeon” for opted-in content. Readers who want Mature Content can find it on the same footing as any other content.

Authors who publish Mature Content to Readerling are required to mark it as such at the time of publication, whether the content is a book page, an author post, or any other surface. We use automated moderation to assist in flagging unmarked content, but author responsibility is primary. Authors who publish Mature Content without flagging it — including authors who publish erotica without marking it, or who skirt the flags — will receive warnings and, where patterns of misuse are established, may have their Readerling privileges restricted, suspended, or terminated.

10. AI Content Disclosure

PlotFoundry’s position is that readers have a right to be informed about what they are reading and purchasing. To support that, Readerling provides a voluntary AI Content Flag that authors may apply to books containing substantial generative AI prose.

The AI Content Flag is specifically about generative AI used to produce the prose content of a book. It is not about AI-assisted work such as brainstorming with AI, generating beat sheets, researching with AI, or using AI for spelling, grammar, or developmental feedback. Tools that help an author write are not the same as tools that write for the author.

PlotFoundry is not an anti-AI platform. We are a pro-honesty platform. Authors who choose to use generative AI in their prose are welcome here, provided they are transparent about it.

If it is conclusively established that an author has knowingly failed to flag a book that contains substantial generative AI prose, the author will receive warnings. Patterns of evasion may result in escalating restrictions, up to and including termination of Readerling privileges.

11. Genre and Trope Tagging

Readerling uses a self-tagging system for genres and tropes. Authors tag their own work. We may, over time, introduce reader voting that allows the community to suggest the addition of tags an author has missed, or to flag tags that have been applied to work where they don’t belong.

Authors who systematically mis-tag their work to attract traffic from popular genres or tropes that do not actually describe their book are subject to the same warning-and-escalation process described elsewhere in these Terms. We will weigh community input alongside our own judgment in these cases.

12. Community Standards and Moderation

PlotFoundry community spaces — including forums, comment sections, Readerling profiles, reader groups, and any other public-facing features — exist to support authors and readers in connecting around books. They are privately operated spaces, not public platforms. Participation in our community is a privilege, not a right.

We expect all community members to treat one another with basic respect and decency. Content that is racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, or otherwise hateful or discriminatory has no place here and will be removed. The same applies to harassment, personal attacks, threats, coordinated pile-ons, and content designed to provoke or demean rather than contribute to genuine discussion.

We look for patterns of abuse, not one-time mistakes. Good-faith members who occasionally misstep will not be treated the same as members who demonstrate sustained bad-faith behavior or who attempt to manipulate the platform against other members.

Community members may report content they believe violates these standards. Reports are reviewed by our moderation team, supplemented by automated systems. PlotFoundry reserves the right, at our sole discretion and without prior notice, to:

• Remove or disable access to any content we determine violates these Terms or community standards;
• Issue warnings to users;
• Temporarily mute, suspend, or permanently ban users from any or all community features;
• Limit the reach or visibility of a user’s content where full removal is not warranted; and
• Take any other action we deem appropriate to maintain a safe and welcoming environment.

Over time, PlotFoundry may extend limited moderation input to trusted community members through a reputation-based system. The intent is to weight the input of members who demonstrate consistent good-faith reporting more heavily than the input of members whose reporting suggests campaigning, retaliation, or other forms of abuse. Final moderation authority remains with PlotFoundry.

Moderation decisions are final. There is no formal appeals process for content removal or account restrictions related to community conduct. We are under no obligation to explain, justify, or debate individual moderation actions.

PlotFoundry is not obligated to monitor all community content proactively, but we may do so at any time. The absence of moderation action on any particular content does not constitute endorsement or approval.

13. Forum and Community Content

PlotFoundry does not pre-screen, endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of any Comments, posts, reactions, reviews, or other user-generated material in public areas of the Services. You acknowledge that:

• You may encounter content that is inaccurate, offensive, or objectionable;
• PlotFoundry is not liable for any user-generated content;
• Any reliance on user-generated content is at your own risk; and
• You are solely responsible for any content you post.

14. Author Posting Eligibility

To publish new content to Readerling as an author — book pages, author posts, updates, ebooks for sale or beta reading — you must have either a valid Scribi software license or an active PlotFoundry web subscription.

If your Scribi license is valid and you are not banned, you may continue to publish freely. If your web subscription lapses (and no other valid license exists), or if your posting privileges are otherwise restricted:

• Content you have already published to Readerling remains visible;
• You can no longer publish new content or update existing content;
• You may, at any time, elect to remove your published content from Readerling.

This requirement exists to maintain the integrity of the platform and to ensure that the people contributing to it are invested in it.

15. Commerce, Payments, and Merchant of Record

PlotFoundry LLC is the merchant of record for all transactions processed through any of our Services. This includes Scribi software licenses, cloud subscriptions, and any current or future Readerling transactions — including ebook purchases, serial fiction subscriptions, and reader wallet or token systems that may be introduced.

Payment processing is currently handled by Stripe. We may change payment processors at our discretion. Your payment information is handled by the payment processor and is not stored by PlotFoundry; see our Privacy Policy for details on what we receive and retain.

Sales tax, VAT, and other applicable taxes are PlotFoundry’s responsibility as the merchant of record. Authors do not bear tax-collection responsibility for sales processed through Readerling.

16. Refunds

Scribi software and subscriptions: Governed by the purchase terms applicable at the time of purchase.

Readerling ebook purchases: Refundable within 30 days of purchase, provided that the reader has not (a) read 20% or more of the book through the Readerling reader, or (b) downloaded the ebook file for use outside Readerling. Once either threshold is crossed, the purchase becomes non-refundable. See Watermarking and Anti-Piracy for why downloads are treated as a refund-disqualifying event.

Subscriptions: Subscription fees (including any future serial fiction subscriptions) are non-refundable. You may cancel a subscription at any time, in which case it will not renew, but fees already paid are not refunded.

Reader wallets and tokens: If PlotFoundry introduces a reader wallet, token, or similar system for paying for serialized fiction or other ongoing content, funds added to or spent through such a system are treated as subscription fees and are non-refundable.

17. Author Royalties and Payouts

For sales processed through Readerling, PlotFoundry pays royalties to authors as follows:

• Books priced under $2.99: The author receives 30% of Net Proceeds per sale.
• Books priced at $2.99 or above: The author receives 90% of Net Proceeds per sale.
• Subscriptions and reader wallet spending: The author receives 90% of Net Proceeds attributable to their work.

“Net Proceeds” means the sale price minus payment processor fees actually charged on the transaction (currently approximately 3% plus $0.30 per transaction through Stripe; subject to change). PlotFoundry does not deduct any additional operating expenses, hidden fees, or other charges before calculating Net Proceeds.

Payout schedule:

• One-time book sales: Paid out 60 days after the end of the calendar month in which the sale occurred. This window accommodates the 30-day refund period and allows time for any refund-related reconciliation.
• Subscription and reader-wallet revenue: Paid out at the end of each calendar month. Because these revenue sources are non-refundable, no additional reconciliation window is needed.

Royalty payouts require valid tax documentation and a working payout method on file with our payment processor. Payouts under any applicable minimum threshold may be held and combined with future earnings until the threshold is met.

Suspended and terminated accounts: An account that has been suspended or terminated will not accrue further royalties from the date of action forward. Royalties accrued prior to that date will be paid out on the standard schedule (60 days after the end of the month for book sales; end of month for subscription and wallet revenue). This window also allows PlotFoundry to determine whether the suspension or termination relates to financial abuse of the system, in which case withheld funds may be retained where permitted by law.

18. Watermarking and Anti-Piracy

Every ebook file downloaded from Readerling is compiled with a per-user watermark embedded in the file. The watermark contains an internal PlotFoundry account identifier — it does not contain your name, email address, or any other personally identifying information that would be readable outside of PlotFoundry’s systems. See our Privacy Policy for further detail.

The watermark exists to deter and address piracy. If a watermarked file is found in unauthorized distribution channels, PlotFoundry may use the watermark to identify the source account. We may then take account-level action, including warnings, restrictions, suspension, or termination, in accordance with our general moderation framework (patterns over one-time events, where possible).

Downloading an ebook makes the purchase non-refundable, as described in Refunds. Stripping, altering, or attempting to circumvent the watermark is a violation of these Terms and grounds for immediate action.

Authors retain their own copyright in their work and may, at their own discretion and expense, pursue independent legal action against parties who pirate their books. PlotFoundry is not obligated to pursue such action on behalf of authors and is not a party to any such action initiated by an author.

19. Affiliate Links

Book pages on Readerling may include outbound links to third-party storefronts (such as Amazon, Apple Books, Kobo, and similar) where the book is available for purchase. Authors provide these links themselves.

PlotFoundry reserves the right to append affiliate codes to any outbound storefront link provided through Readerling. Affiliate revenue generated through these links accrues to PlotFoundry and helps us maintain the royalty and payout structure described elsewhere in these Terms. Affiliate revenue does not reduce or otherwise affect author royalties on books sold through Readerling itself.

Only direct storefront links are accepted. Short-link aggregators, redirect services, and similar tools that mask the destination are not permitted.

20. Beta Reader Program

Readerling offers a beta reader program that allows authors to share works in progress with selected readers for feedback. The program operates under the following framework:

• No license, no download: Beta access is time-limited and revocable. Beta readers do not receive a copy of the book, are not granted a license to the book, and cannot download or export the book file. Beta access expires when the beta period ends or when the author closes the beta.
• Feedback collection: Beta readers may provide feedback through in-app comments and reactions. Readerling may also collect anonymized engagement data — such as where readers paused or accelerated — to help authors understand reader experience.
• Feedback ownership and use: Beta readers retain ownership of their feedback. By participating in the beta, beta readers grant the author and PlotFoundry a non-exclusive license to use the feedback for the purpose of operating the beta program and developing the book.
• Anonymized sharing: Authors may not publicly share or quote beta feedback by default. Readers may, on a per-beta basis, opt in to allow authors to share their feedback in anonymized form, with no personally identifying information. This option is off by default.
• End of beta: When the beta period ends, beta readers no longer have access to the book, and beta feedback is no longer accessible to the reader who submitted it.

Authors and beta readers are not in a contractual employment or service relationship through Readerling. PlotFoundry provides the infrastructure; the creative and editorial relationship between author and reader is theirs to define within the framework above.

21. Suspension, Termination, and Bans

PlotFoundry may suspend or terminate your access to any or all Web Services at any time, for any reason or no reason, with or without notice. Common reasons include violation of these Terms, abusive behavior, financial abuse, or legal requirements. Where possible, we look for patterns rather than acting on isolated incidents.

Important: Scribi desktop software licenses are separate from Web Service access. A ban or suspension from Readerling, the forums, or any other Web Service does not revoke any validly purchased Scribi desktop software license. You retain the right to use any validly purchased Software offline in accordance with its license terms, even if your access to Web Services has been terminated.

However, posting new content to Readerling is a Web Service action and is gated by both (a) having a valid Scribi license or active web subscription, and (b) not being subject to a Readerling ban or posting restriction. A user with a valid Scribi license who has been banned from Readerling can continue to use Scribi offline, but cannot push new content to Readerling.

You may also be banned from Readerling while retaining your Scribi license entirely — for example, where the conduct that led to the ban is unrelated to your software usage.

If your account is terminated, we will make reasonable efforts to allow you to retrieve your synced data for a period of 30 days following termination, unless doing so would violate the law or compromise the safety of other users. After that period, we may delete your data. Royalties accrued prior to termination will be paid out on the schedule described in Author Royalties and Payouts, except where withholding is permitted in cases of financial abuse.

You may terminate your account at any time by contacting admin@plotfoundry.com.

22. Data Storage and Liability

We take reasonable measures to protect data stored on our servers, including encryption in transit and at rest, access controls, credential rotation, and routine security review. However, PlotFoundry is not liable for any loss, corruption, or unauthorized access to User Content, Published Content, or other data stored on our systems, to the maximum extent permitted by law. This includes losses caused by hardware failure, software bugs, third-party service outages, cyberattacks, or other events beyond our reasonable control.

You are strongly encouraged to maintain local backups of any important work.

23. Law Enforcement and Legal Compliance

PlotFoundry will comply with valid legal process, including subpoenas, court orders, and law enforcement requests, to the extent required by applicable law. This may include disclosing account information, User Content, Published Content, Comments, watermark data, or other data associated with your account.

Where permitted by law, we will make reasonable efforts to notify affected users before disclosing their data in response to legal process. However, we are not required to do so and may be prohibited from doing so by the terms of the legal process itself.

24. Third-Party Services

The Services may integrate with or link to third-party services (such as AI providers, payment processors, cloud infrastructure, and outbound storefronts). Your use of any third-party service is governed by that provider’s own terms and privacy policies. PlotFoundry is not responsible for the practices or content of any third-party service.

25. Cookies

Our websites use only essential cookies necessary for authentication and session management. We do not use cookies for advertising, behavioral tracking, or profiling. For more detail, see our Privacy Policy.

26. Linking to Our Website

You may link to our publicly available web pages provided that the link: (a) is not deceptive or misleading, (b) does not falsely imply sponsorship or endorsement by PlotFoundry, and (c) is appropriate to the context of the linking site. You may not use PlotFoundry’s logos or trademarks without a written trademark license agreement. We reserve the right to request removal of any link at any time.

27. Disclaimer of Warranties

The Services are provided “as is” and “as available” without warranties of any kind, either express or implied, including but not limited to implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement. PlotFoundry does not warrant that the Services will be uninterrupted, error-free, secure, or that defects will be corrected.

28. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, PlotFoundry LLC, its officers, directors, employees, and agents shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages — including but not limited to loss of profits, data, use, or goodwill — arising out of or related to your use of or inability to use the Services, regardless of the theory of liability.

In no event shall PlotFoundry’s total aggregate liability to you for all claims arising from or related to the Services exceed the amount you have paid to PlotFoundry in the twelve (12) months immediately preceding the event giving rise to the claim, or fifty dollars ($50.00), whichever is greater.

Nothing in these Terms shall exclude or limit liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, or any other liability that cannot be excluded or limited under applicable law.

29. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless PlotFoundry LLC, its officers, directors, employees, and agents from and against any claims, liabilities, damages, losses, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) arising out of or related to: (a) your use of the Services; (b) your violation of these Terms; (c) your violation of any third-party rights; or (d) any Published Content, Comments, Reader Content, or User Content you submit through the Services.

30. Governing Law and Disputes

These Terms shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Oregon, without regard to its conflict-of-law provisions. Any dispute arising under these Terms shall be resolved in the state or federal courts located in Washington County, Oregon, and you consent to the personal jurisdiction of those courts.

31. Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. If we make material changes, we will provide notice by email or through the Services at least 14 days before the changes take effect. Your continued use of the Services after the effective date constitutes acceptance of the revised Terms. If you do not agree, you must stop using the Services.

The current version of these Terms is always available through our websites. PlotFoundry tracks the version of these Terms each user has agreed to; when a new version takes effect, you may be prompted to review and accept the revised Terms before continuing to use the Services.

32. Severability

If any provision of these Terms is found to be unenforceable or invalid, that provision will be limited or eliminated to the minimum extent necessary, and the remaining provisions will remain in full force and effect.

33. Entire Agreement

These Terms, together with our Privacy Policy and any applicable Software license agreements, constitute the entire agreement between you and PlotFoundry LLC regarding your use of the Services. They supersede all prior agreements, representations, and understandings.

34. Contact Us

If you have questions about these Terms, contact us at:

General inquiries: info@plotfoundry.com

Account, privacy, and data requests: admin@plotfoundry.com

Mail: 5441 S Macadam Ave Ste N, Attn: PlotFoundry LLC Legal, Portland, OR 97239, USA