Refund Policy

This policy explains when you can ask for a refund, how one is worked out at each stage of a project, and what cannot be refunded. It forms part of our Terms & Conditions and applies to every service we provide.

1. The principle

Our services are made to order: a story written for your idea, illustrations drawn for your characters, a layout built for your book. Once that work has been done it cannot be resold, so refunds are based on how much of the project has been completed when you ask — not on whether the files have been handed over.

2. Before work begins

If you cancel after paying but before we have started — no brief taken, no writing, no sketching, no files opened — you receive a full refund of what you have paid, less any third-party cost we have already committed on your behalf.

3. After work has begun

Once a project is under way, a refund covers the part of it we have not yet done. We calculate it against the stages set out in your quote:

• A stage that is complete and has been delivered to you — whether or not you have approved it — is payable in full and is not refunded.
• A stage in progress is charged in proportion to the work completed, assessed against the drafts, sketches or files produced to that point.
• Stages not yet started are refunded in full.

We will send you a written breakdown showing exactly how a figure was reached before we process anything.

4. What is not refundable

• Stages that have been completed and delivered, or that you have approved.
• Third-party costs already paid or committed — printing, ISBNs, licensed images or fonts, platform and distributor fees, courier charges.
• Rush or priority fees, once the work has been scheduled against them.
• Projects where final files have been delivered and the project closed, except where section 6 applies.
• Work abandoned because the material you supplied breached section 6 of our Terms & Conditions.

5. Things outside our control

We cannot refund a project because a publishing platform declined your book, because sales were lower than you hoped, because a printer's schedule slipped, or because reviews were not what you expected. Our fee is for the work we do, which is separate from how the market receives the finished book.

Equally, we do not charge you for our own failures. If we cannot deliver what we agreed, the next section applies.

6. If the work is not what we agreed

If delivered work does not match the brief, please tell us within 14 days and give us the chance to put it right. Most concerns are resolved through our Revision Policy, and corrections to our own mistakes are always made at our cost.

Where we genuinely cannot deliver what was agreed, we will refund the stage concerned in full, whether or not it has already been delivered. A dislike of a creative direction that follows the brief you approved is a matter for revision rather than refund.

7. If we cancel

If we end a project for a reason that is not your fault — we lack the capacity to finish it, or we conclude we are not the right studio for it — you receive a full refund of every stage not completed, and we will hand over the work produced so far so another studio can continue from it.

8. How to request a refund

Email us at info@dummy123.com with your name, the project or invoice number, and what has prompted the request. Please put it in writing so there is a clear record of what was asked and when.

We acknowledge requests within 2 working days and give you a decision, with the calculation behind it, within 10 working days. If we need more information from you to assess it, we will ask promptly.

9. How refunds are paid

Approved refunds are issued within 14 working days of the decision, to the original payment method. How soon it reaches you after that depends on your bank or card issuer, which is usually a further 3 to 10 working days. Bank charges or currency differences on the return leg are not ours to control and are deducted from the amount refunded.

10. Payment disputes

If something has gone wrong, please come to us first. Raising a chargeback before we have had the chance to respond freezes the project and the funds, and resolves nothing faster. We would far rather fix the problem, and we will supply our project records to your card issuer where a dispute is raised.

11. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The policy that applies to your project is the one in force when you accepted your quote, so a later change will not alter a project already under way.