I’m not a lawyer, and you probably aren’t one either, so the following is in plain English.
A few technicalities
GoCreate.me is owned and operated by Creative Communication Solutions Ltd. My pricing is in US dollars, but I’m based out of Canada, so I have to charge GST to Canadians. More info here.
What a custom author website includes
For a one-time fee, I will design, customize, and install a custom WordPress website on your hosting server, including specific premium plugin(s) that I will license for use on your website. Where licensing rights are concerned, you are “my client,” and I am “your developer.” I have the right to license those plugins on my clients’ sites. Unless the plugin developers change their business models (which would be totally out of my control), you’ll be able to click a button and update those plugins without ever having to pay a renewal fee. (You’re welcome!)
Depending on your chosen package and/or add-on services, a specific number of pages will be populated for you and your existing WordPress content may be transferred over. Refer to this page for the detailed list of what each package includes and this page for add-on services that are available.
With my one-time fee, I cannot update/maintain your site past my initial work. However, you will receive video tutorials when you buy a website package with detailed instructions on how to update/modify your site and finish populating your book pages, add/edit content on your own. (I promise it will be easy.) This website also contains instructions on how to keep your site updated and secure. As long as you keep your WordPress software, themes, and plugins up-to-date, your website should remain secure.
What you don’t get
I work hard to create custom websites and associated tutorials, and I hope that, as a fellow author, you will respect my hard work and intellectual property.
Purchasing one of my custom websites does not grant you the right to copy and/or install my theme and associated plugins on a second domain or anywhere else. Similarly, you can’t go through my code to delete/add/modify/copy it then resell it, give it away, or otherwise share it with someone else.
If you want to dig through my work and modify it to fit your needs and use it on the site for which you paid me, then go right ahead! (But I recommend you back up your files in case you break something because I won’t fix it for free.)
The costs associated with registering a domain name, getting a security certificate (if needed), and hosting your website are not included in what I offer here. Same goes for your newsletter and e-book delivery services. If you don’t have those services set up, please visit my recommended services page to find affiliate links to providers I like, use, and trust.
I only work on WordPress sites. If you use SquareSpace, WIX, or other types of websites, I’m not the person you need to help you update your site.
Paid 30-minute consultation
When you request to work with me, I’ll send you an invitation with a Calendly link to book a 30-minute consultation during one of my available slots. I currently live on the west coast of Canada, so I typically have openings between 10 am and 4 pm Pacific Time. If those hours are impossible due to your time zone, you can email me and we will try to find a special time that will work for both of us.
Calendly will require a $70 USD payment at the time of booking. The $70 consultation fee is non-refundable but can be used as a credit toward one of my custom website packages or add-on services. It must be used within 6 months of the consultation date. If you decide NOT to work with me, I will NOT issue a refund, but I will do my very best to offer valuable advice and recommendations during the 30-minute consultation.
Project turn-around time
Custom author websites vary in complexity, so I can’t give exact dates and turn-around times, but a non-E-Commerce site typically takes about two weeks from start to finish. An E-Commerce site typically takes about four weeks. Depending on the number of add-on services you include, those turn-around times could be longer.
The exact start and expected end dates will be discussed with you during the 30-minute consultation. Assuming the deposit is paid promptly, your slot will then be reserved on my calendar and I’ll communicate regularly so you know where we stand with your website project. GoCreate.me is a one-person company, so I can only work on so many projects at once. Refer to my availability page to get an idea of when I could work on your site, but more accurate deadlines will be discussed during the paid consultation call.
Delays could occur if you don’t send us some data on time. Such information may include: login credentials for your current hosting/website/domain name registrar, details about what you like/don’t like, branding/logo/cover designs, and/or any specific information that we will discuss during one of our video calls.
Final payment
In general, a 50% deposit is required upfront (the exact cost and tasks included will be discussed with you ahead of time) and the remaining 50% is due when GoCreate.me takes the site live.
Typically authors are able to populate their books while GoCreate.me is finalizing the staging site, which keeps the invoicing cycle simple. But if an author requires more time (due to a large back catalog of books or personal situation), then GoCreate.me will invoice the remaining 50%/final payment when all website tasks assigned to GoCreate.me are completed, even if the site isn’t live yet.
Whenever the author is ready to take the site live, then the author can email GoCreate.me, and we will help take the site live at that point (at no extra cost as long as no extra work was added to the scope of work and the final invoice was paid in full).
Post installation
As part of my custom website packages, I’ll verify that the content I populated for you adjusts nicely to fit screens with various widths, from mobile phones to desktops. If you notice display/alignment issues or any other problems that I missed within two weeks (fourteen calendar days) of going live, just contact me and I’ll fix those glitches for free.
For security reasons, once the two-week post-installation window is over you should revoke any administrator access that was granted and modify hosting passwords or any other credentials you temporarily shared with GoCreate.me.
Contacting me
Please communicate with me via EMAIL as my inbox is my to-do list. I don’t use social media even though you may find old accounts on there. Social media interactions will be ignored. If we’ve worked together already, you already know my email address. If not, use this contact form.
Additional work
There won’t be hidden charges. I’ll tell you ahead of time if additional costs apply or if you’re asking for features that aren’t included in the website packages. Any additional work past the basic installation will be billed at $140/hr (USD)* in 15-minute increments ($35/15-minutes).
*This is my rate for 2023. I reserve the right to change it in the future.
Third-party contracts
GoCreate.me is a one-woman business. I reserve the right to contract other parties to help me if the demand from the author community calls for it in the future. Rest assured that I will train/oversee those folks properly, though. I do care. Writers are my peeps!
Termination
For website packages, I will require a 50% deposit (minus the pre-paid $70 consultation fee) prior to beginning work. That deposit is non-refundable once I have begun work on your site. The final 50% payment will be due when going live OR after having completed all of my share of work on your server (see Final Payment above).
Should GoCreate.me become unable to finish a contract due to no fault on the client’s side, then a decision on a partial refund would be made on a case-by-case basis.
Add-on services that haven’t been initiated and are canceled at least 72 hours prior to their planned date, won’t be invoiced. Any deposit made on those add-on services would be forfeited.
Fine print
No website or database can be made 100% secure as hackers constantly improve security circumvention measures and techniques. I abide to commonly accepted coding practices, and I’ll ensure your database and website are as secure as possible. If I spot something fishy/not secure while working on your site, I’ll let you know right away.
That doesn’t mean I want to be held responsible if your hosting company/server/other plugins you already have installed create problems. By hiring me to set up your author theme, you agree to not institute legal proceedings against me, my company, or this website. You can’t request financial compensation in the event of database breach or other site malfunction that may result from errors or damages resulting from unauthorized access or use of your website, which could originate from any source. You will indemnify, defend, and save me harmless against any claim, damages and expenses, actions or causes of action arising from or prompted by the use of any material supplied to me by you.
I will not be held responsible for delays in delivery caused by acts of God, strikes, fires, floods, or any other similar circumstances beyond my control.
Image, font, marketing, and other rights
As part of my custom website work, I’ll be using your book cover image(s) and your logo (optional). If other assets are discussed, which you’d like to use on your site, please provide me with images for which you own the rights. If not, your ass will be on the legal line, not mine. I typically use royalty-free Google web fonts and royalty-free images, so no licensing is required for website usage. If you require specific premium fonts, you may have to pay recurring webfont licensing fees. When images or other things sit in a gray area for use on your site, I’ll let you know in the video tutorials and the decision and implications associated with the use of those items are all yours to make and deal with.
You will also grant me the non-exclusive right to display/mention/brag about your website as part of my marketing efforts (and you also get some extra visibility out of it). I’m not claiming any rights on any of your written work. I just want to showcase your new website. It’s a win-win, right? If you’re not cool with this, simply let me know and I will NOT mention your website in my marketing efforts. (And if you use a pen name, don’t worry, I will NOT disclose your real identity unless you want to.)
Viruses, malware, and other bad things
I’ve been building websites since 2006. I know what I’m doing. The code I wrote does not contain malware or spyware (or any other malicious things). Similarly, I didn’t include affiliate links in my code. In fact, my premium themes include instructions on how you can make additional income from Amazon, Kobo, Apple Books, and any other retailers that offer affiliate programs. I created my premium themes to help fellow writers make the most out of their writing careers.
All that said, in order to not reinvent the wheel, my themes rely on free, open-source parent themes created by third-parties. I did not comb through their code line by line. Instead, I relied on WordPress.org to do that as part of their (very strict) approval process when they listed such themes in their official theme depository. I can’t and won’t be held liable if those third-parties messed up and included something they shouldn’t have, and/or if hackers find vulnerabilities in the code now or in the future, and/or if you don’t keep your WordPress installation, themes, and plugins updated.
IMPORTANT: You must keep your WordPress installation, themes (including the parent theme), and plugins up-to-date. Instructions on how to do that can be found here. I won’t update my premium child themes unless there are security concerns or incompatibility with their parent theme. If that happens, I’ll email those who purchased that specific theme with step-by-step instructions on how to update it.
Last Modified: May 8, 2023
