Refund and Cancellation Policy
Last updated: 30 April 2026
Certiva LLC, a Michigan limited liability company, trading as “Certiva Publishers” · 24566 Jade Dr, Farmington Hills, Michigan 48336 · hello@certivapublishers.com · (810) 522-4879
1. What this policy is, and how it fits with our Terms
This Refund and Cancellation Policy is part of, and incorporated by reference into, the Certiva Publishers Terms of Service. Capitalised terms used and not defined here have the meanings given in section 2 of the Terms.
Precedence. If anything here conflicts with a signed Service Order, the signed document controls. On any question of refund or cancellation, this policy controls over the Terms. Any summary of this policy appearing elsewhere, including Terms section 8, is illustrative only.
Every refund tier below is triggered by a specific, dated event that either has happened or has not — not by anyone's judgement about how much work was "really" done. You should be able to read this page and know exactly where you stand on any given day.
2. Definitions that determine your refund
These definitions are the entire policy. Read them first.
2.1 "Order Date" means the date we receive your first payment, in whole or in part, for a Package, Individual Service, or Add-On.
2.2 "Manuscript Submission" occurs when you first deliver to us any text, images, artwork, audio, or other material intended for publication or for use in producing your Work — by any means, in any format, complete or incomplete, final or draft. Delivering part of a manuscript is Manuscript Submission. Delivering a manuscript you later intend to replace is Manuscript Submission.
Manuscript Submission cannot occur before the Order Date. Material you sent us for a quotation, an assessment, a sample edit, or a sales conversation is not Manuscript Submission and does not move you into a lower tier.
2.3 "Design Commencement" occurs on the earlier of: (a) the date we deliver to you any cover concept, interior sample, layout, or other visual work product; or (b) the date we or a Contractor begin work on the design, editing, or production phase of your Work, as recorded in our project system.
2.4 "Final Approval" occurs when you approve in writing the final interior file and final cover file for production or distribution. Approval given by anyone you have authorised to act for you is your approval.
2.5 Deemed Final Approval. If you do not respond to a written request for Final Approval within 15 Business Days, we may treat the files as approved. Before we do, we must send at least two written reminders spaced at least 5 Business Days apart, and the clock runs from the later of the request or the second reminder. We will notify you in writing, and that notice will state plainly that your refund tier has changed and what it has changed to.
2.6 Reversing a deemed approval. You may reverse a deemed Final Approval within 5 Business Days of that notice, at no charge. A reversal restores your refund tier exactly as though the deemed approval had never occurred, and is not a scope change.
2.7 "Service Fulfillment", for an Individual Service or Add-On, occurs on the date we or a Contractor begin work on that service. We will notify you in writing on the day work begins. Returning a questionnaire or intake form is not, by itself, Service Fulfillment.
2.8 Milestone notification. We will notify you in writing, no later than the next Business Day, whenever Manuscript Submission, Design Commencement, Service Fulfillment, or Final Approval occurs, and each notice will state your current refund tier. You should never have to guess where you stand.
2.9 "Third-Party Costs" means any amount we pay to a third party on your behalf or in connection with your Work, including ISBN registration, copyright registration, Library of Congress control numbers, barcodes, print-on-demand setup and unit costs, printing and shipping, distribution and catalogue setup fees, stock image and font licences, advertising and media spend, publicist retainers, audiobook narration and studio fees, domain and hosting fees, and payment-processing fees.
2.10 "Business Day" means Monday through Friday, excluding United States federal holidays.
3. Packages: the refund ladder
For multi-stage Packages, your refund is determined by the most advanced milestone reached as of the date we receive your written cancellation request.
| Stage reached when you cancel | Refund |
|---|---|
| Before Manuscript Submission | Total amount paid, less an administrative retention of $100 or 10% of the package price, whichever is greater |
| After Manuscript Submission, before Design Commencement | 50% of the total amount paid |
| After Design Commencement, before Final Approval | 25% of the total amount paid |
| After Final Approval | No refund |
3.1 The 90-day outer limit. Separately from the table above, no refund is available under this section more than ninety (90) days after the Order Date, whatever stage your project has reached. This limit does not apply where the reason your project has not progressed is a delay on our side — in that case section 8.3 governs. This limit applies to Packages only, not to Individual Services under section 4.
3.2 The administrative retention. The retention in the first tier covers onboarding, project setup, consultation time, and account administration. It is not a penalty and not a cancellation fee. It applies once per package and is capped at $350 however large the package.
3.3 Third-Party Costs. In every tier above, Third-Party Costs irrevocably committed at your written direction or as expressly stated in your Service Order are deducted from the refund. We will itemise them. Where we later recover a Third-Party Cost, we pass that recovery through to you.
A Third-Party Cost deduction will never exceed the refund otherwise payable, and will never result in you owing us money.
3.4 Bundled and discounted quotes. Where you purchased services as a discounted bundle, a refund is calculated against the discounted price actually paid, not against the sum of standalone rates.
3.5 How the calculation works, with examples.
Refund = (amounts you have actually paid) × (the tier percentage), less Third-Party Costs.
For the first tier: refund = (amounts actually paid) less the administrative retention, less Third-Party Costs.
Example 1 — paid in full. $3,000 package, paid in full, cancelled after Manuscript Submission but before Design Commencement. Tier is 50%. Refund: $1,500, less any Third-Party Costs.
Example 2 — payment plan, early cancellation. $3,000 package, $1,200 paid so far, cancelled before Manuscript Submission. Retention is the greater of $100 or 10% of $3,000 = $300. Refund: $900. We do not bill you for the remaining $1,800.
Example 3 — payment plan, late cancellation. $3,000 package, $1,200 paid so far, cancelled after Design Commencement. Tier is 25% of amounts paid = $300. Refund: $300. We do not bill you for the balance, and you owe us nothing further.
3.6 Payment plans: no acceleration, ever. If you cancel, we stop billing you. We will not accelerate, invoice, or charge unpaid future instalments as a consequence of cancellation. Your obligation is limited to amounts already due for work already performed. Where the tier calculation produces a figure at or below zero, no further amount is owed by either party — we absorb the difference.
4. Individual Services and Add-Ons
Services purchased on their own — cover design only, formatting only, editing only, audiobook production, author website, PR and marketing — follow a simpler rule.
| Stage reached when you cancel | Refund |
|---|---|
| Before Service Fulfillment (before we begin work) | Total amount paid for that service, less $100 or 10% of the service price, whichever is greater, capped at $350 |
| After Service Fulfillment | No refund |
Third-Party Costs are deducted in both cases, per section 3.3. The 90-day limit in section 3.1 does not apply to Individual Services.
4.1 Marketing, PR, and advertising. Media spend, publicist retainers, review-service placements, and paid promotional slots are non-refundable once committed to the third party, whether or not the campaign has run. We will tell you before we commit your budget.
4.2 Session-based services (coaching, consultation, hourly developmental editing). Cancel or reschedule a scheduled session with at least 24 hours' notice and it returns to your balance. With less notice, or non-attendance, the session is used.
Prepaid, unused sessions are refundable at any time, at the list per-session rate, less sessions already used and less any bundle discount that applied. Starting a session package does not forfeit the sessions you have not taken.
4.3 Author websites and hosting. Design and build fees follow the table above. Domain registration and hosting fees paid to a third party are Third-Party Costs and are refundable only to the extent the provider refunds them to us.
5. When we cancel, and when you get everything back
5.1 We decline or cannot complete your project. If we decline your manuscript, terminate for our own convenience, or are unable to deliver the services you purchased, you receive a full refund of all amounts paid, including any administrative retention, less only Third-Party Costs already irrevocably committed at your written direction.
5.2 Content-guidelines issue. If we accept your project and later determine that your Work raises an issue under our content guidelines (Terms, section 16), we will tell you in writing and give you 15 Business Days to provide acceptable substitute material. If you cannot or choose not to, we may terminate and you receive a refund calculated under the section 3 tiers, not a forfeiture. We do not charge an evaluation fee for having reviewed your book. This applies to every content issue except those in Terms section 20.3(c), which are covered by section 5.4 below.
5.3 Material failure on our side. If we materially fail to deliver a milestone and do not cure within 30 days of your written notice, you may cancel and receive a refund of amounts paid for the undelivered portion, without regard to the tier table and without regard to the 90-day limit.
"Undelivered portion" means amounts paid, less the price of milestones actually delivered to and accepted by you, using the milestone pricing in your Service Order. Every Service Order we issue states a price for each milestone, so this is always calculable.
5.4 Termination for serious breach. If we terminate because your Work contains material sexually depicting, exploiting, or sexualising minors, or because you committed fraud against us, we retain amounts equal to work actually performed, Third-Party Costs committed, and our reasonable costs of investigation and distribution takedown. We refund the balance.
For every other breach of your warranties — including a rights or permissions problem you did not realise you had — section 5.2 applies, and you get a tiered refund rather than a forfeiture.
6. How to request a refund
6.1 Put it in writing. Email hello@certivapublishers.com with the subject line "Refund Request." Include your name, your project or order number, and a short statement of what you are cancelling and why. A refund request is effective on the date we receive it, not the date you decided.
6.2 We acknowledge within 3 Business Days. We will confirm receipt, tell you which tier applies and why, itemise any Third-Party Costs being deducted, and give you a figure.
6.3 If you disagree with the tier. Tell us, and send us what you have. If our project records and your records disagree about when a milestone occurred, we will show you our dated records and we will resolve genuine ambiguity in your favour.
6.4 Payment. Approved refunds are issued within 7 to 14 Business Days of our confirming the amount, to the original payment method wherever possible. Refunds to a bank account or by cheque may take longer. Where the original payment method is closed or unavailable, we will arrange an alternative and may need identity verification first.
6.5 Payment-method specifics. Card refunds are returned to the card used. PayPal refunds are returned through PayPal. Bank-transfer refunds are returned by bank transfer to the originating account. Zelle payments are refunded by bank transfer, because Zelle does not support reversals (see section 9.4).
7. Printed books and physical goods
7.1 Print-on-demand is not returnable. Each printed copy is manufactured after the order is placed. We do not accept returns or exchanges of correctly-produced printed books.
7.2 Damaged or defective copies. If a printed copy arrives damaged, misprinted, mis-trimmed, or materially defective, tell us within 30 days of delivery and send photographs. We will replace the affected copies at no charge, or refund them, at your election. If a replacement is also defective, you may require a full refund of the affected copies and we will not ask you to accept a third attempt. Nothing here limits any implied warranty that cannot be limited under the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act or applicable state law.
7.3 Print tolerances. Print-on-demand manufacturing carries normal variances. Cover position, trim, and colour registration may vary by up to 1/16 inch, and colour may vary modestly between print runs and facilities. Variances within these tolerances are not defects.
7.4 Retailer purchases. We do not operate a bookstore. Copies bought from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or any other retailer are governed by that retailer's returns policy, not this one.
8. Delays, non-responsiveness, and dormant projects
8.1 Client delay, holds, reactivation, and archiving are governed by Terms sections 5.1 and 5.3 to 5.6, which apply here in full. In short: days we spend waiting on you do not count toward our quoted timeframes; we may place a project on hold after 90 days of silence and three written attempts to reach you; you may reactivate free within 12 months; we keep held-project files for 24 months and give 30 days' written notice before deleting anything; and we charge no hold, storage, or reactivation fees.
8.2 Your delays do not extend your refund window. The 90-day outer limit in section 3.1 runs from the Order Date and does not pause while we wait for you. Placing a project on hold creates no refund right and does not extend the 90-day limit.
8.3 Our delays. If we cause a delay, tell us in writing. If we do not resume material work within 30 days of your notice, section 5.3 applies, the tier table does not, and the 90-day limit does not apply.
9. Disputes and chargebacks
9.1 Talk to us first. If you are unhappy with a charge, email hello@certivapublishers.com. We would rather resolve it directly, and in practice we usually can. Most disputes we see come from a misunderstanding about which milestone had been reached.
9.2 What we do if you file a card dispute. You have a legal right to dispute a card charge with your issuing bank, and nothing here limits that right or asks you to waive it. If you do file a dispute, we will respond to your bank with our records: your dated acceptance of this policy, dated milestone approvals and notifications, delivered files, and correspondence. We will also keep trying to resolve it with you directly.
9.3 While a dispute is open. We may pause new production work on the disputed project. We will not withhold files you have already paid for, terminate your account, or delete your materials because you filed a dispute (Terms, sections 10.6, 18.4, and 20.4).
9.4 Zelle and bank transfer. Zelle and direct bank transfers are treated by the banking system as cash-equivalent and generally cannot be reversed by your bank. If you pay that way, this policy is your route to a refund. If you want the protection of a card dispute process, pay by card or PayPal. We say this plainly because you should know it before you choose.
9.5 PayPal. PayPal operates its own dispute process with its own deadlines, and PayPal's decision on a PayPal transaction governs that transaction regardless of what this policy says.
10. Recurring charges and subscriptions
Where you purchase a service that renews automatically — website hosting or maintenance, for example:
- We disclose the renewal price, renewal date, and cancellation method before you pay.
- We send you a reminder before each renewal.
- You can cancel in the same way you signed up. You do not have to call us or speak to anyone.
- Cancelling stops the next charge. It does not refund the current term unless your Service Order says otherwise.
- We will never charge you for future unrendered service as a consequence of cancelling.
11. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy. If we do, we will change the "Last updated" date and post the revised policy here. Because this policy is part of our Terms, material changes are notified by email to account holders at least 30 days before they take effect.
Changes apply only to orders placed after the change takes effect. The policy governing your order is the one in force when you accepted our Terms or on your Order Date, whichever is earlier. We keep dated copies of earlier policies — ask and we will send you yours.
12. Contact
Certiva Publishers — a Certiva LLC company 24566 Jade Dr, Farmington Hills, Michigan 48336 hello@certivapublishers.com · (810) 522-4879
We respond to refund requests within 3 Business Days.