1. Standard package scope
The standard package covers one complete custom book with a manuscript-fit interior page plan; the cover is separate. Thirty-two pages is a common planning point, not a fixed minimum or maximum. The final print count and illustration coverage are agreed in writing after the manuscript, pacing, visual complexity, trim, ink choice, and print-format requirements are reviewed. The package also includes one trim size, one paperback edition, client-supplied final proofread text, one approved visual direction, a custom front-cover design and the final print-ready paperback cover file, complete interior layout, artist-directed AI visuals or a coordinated AI-assisted treatment, within-scope revisions through final approval, print-ready paperback files, an ebook file when appropriate, and Amazon KDP production/listing support as defined below.
Writing from scratch, developmental editing, substantial proofreading, a page plan or illustration load outside the agreed scope, a new manuscript, a new language, multiple trim sizes or editions, complex technical layouts, major concept changes, and traditional or non-AI illustration are available through a separate written quote.
2. Deposit, balance, and file release
After the direction, scope, and expectations are confirmed in writing, the client pays a fixed $100 deposit toward the $200 package. The remaining $100 is due at final approval. Final production files are released after the final balance is paid. Custom projects follow the payment schedule in their separate written quote or invoice.
3. Revisions and scope changes
Revisions are included through final approval within the approved concept and agreed scope. Text corrections, image refinements, and layout adjustments to the approved book are revisions. A new manuscript, replacement visual concept, major page-count increase, new language, additional trim size, or another edition changes the scope and requires a new quote or written adjustment.
4. Client text, approvals, and submitted rights
The client supplies final, proofread text for the standard package and is responsible for reviewing spelling, names, facts, page order, legal notices, and final proofs before approval. The client must own or have permission to publish every manuscript, image, trademark, name, logo, and other submitted item. Approval means the client has reviewed the current proof and authorizes the next stated step.
5. AI-assisted workflow and disclosure
The standard package uses artist-directed AI-generated or AI-assisted visuals, or a coordinated AI-assisted visual treatment. The process is disclosed openly. The client agrees to provide truthful platform disclosures, including accurate KDP AI-content information when required. A fully traditional or non-AI workflow is available only by separate quote.
6. Delivered files and usage rights
The client receives broad commercial publishing use for the final approved delivered files. Human-created layout, design, editing, modifications, and production work are licensed or transferred only as stated in the written project agreement. AI-generated elements may not qualify for exclusive copyright protection in every jurisdiction, so these terms do not promise exclusive copyright in every AI-generated element.
Delivered files normally include the agreed final print-ready paperback files and an ebook file when appropriate. Editable working files, layered source files, prompts, unused concepts, and production-source materials are not included unless agreed in writing.
7. Schedule and approval delays
The production schedule is confirmed in writing after the direction and scope are approved and before the deposit is requested. Client delays in supplying final text, requested material, feedback, approvals, or payment may move the schedule. Any revised schedule will be discussed in writing; this page does not promise a fixed delivery date.
8. Cancellation and refunds
For the standard package, if the client cancels before final print-ready files are prepared, the initial $100 deposit will be returned. The client should contact Toby promptly so work can stop and the project status can be confirmed in writing.
Once the client has approved the final proof in writing, paid the full $200, and the final print-ready files have been prepared or delivered, the approved work is final and no refund is offered, except where applicable law requires otherwise. Custom-project cancellations, disputes, chargebacks, exceptional circumstances, and questions about whether a project has reached either checkpoint are reviewed under the written project agreement and documented in writing.
9. Amazon Listing Guarantee*
For a compliant title and a client KDP account in good standing, Toby will correct and resubmit correctable cover or interior production-file issues at no additional charge until the title is accepted and live. Correctable issues include production matters such as trim, bleed, cover dimensions, embedded fonts, and export settings.
The client controls the KDP account. MyBookIllustrator will never ask for a KDP password, tax information, bank information, or sensitive account credentials. The client must own or have permission to publish all submitted material.
The guarantee does not override Amazon decisions about content, metadata, rights, account status, identity, policy compliance, acceptance, distribution, suppression, or continued availability. It does not cover later client changes, policy changes after delivery, account suspension, rights disputes, prohibited content, or material outside the agreed project.
10. Automated Author Showcase
The Author Showcase is an automated community-listing service, separate from a paid book project. A submission includes one book-cover image and may include one author photo. The submitter must be at least 18, provide accurate information, and own or have permission to publicly display every submitted name, title, summary, biography, image, likeness, logo, and link. An author photo may show only a consenting adult. Do not upload a photograph of a child in either image; illustrated children on a book cover are permitted. The submitter must also exclude a child’s private information and consent to automatic public posting after email verification.
By submitting, the author grants MyBookIllustrator a limited, non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, revocable license to store, sanitize, resize, format, reproduce, and publicly display the submitted public fields and processed image derivatives solely to operate the Author Showcase and its public listing feed. The author keeps ownership of the submitted material and may end this display license by removing the listing through the private management link, subject to brief technical backup retention and any legal preservation need.
Listings are posted automatically from information supplied by submitters. MyBookIllustrator does not independently verify identity, authorship, ownership, image rights, a pictured adult’s consent, publication status, accuracy, claims, or external links, and a listing is not an endorsement. Verification proves control of the submitted email address only. MyBookIllustrator may reject, hide, or remove a listing, image, or link at any time for suspected spam, impersonation, deception, unsafe or unlawful material, rights complaints, child-privacy concerns, technical risk, or violation of these terms. The submitter remains responsible for the listing, its images, and any destination it links to.
11. Referral partner pilot
The referral program is a U.S.-only pilot for U.S.-based adult partners referring U.S.-based authors. There is no signup fee or referral quota. Signup requires only a name, email address, U.S. and adult confirmations, acceptance of these terms, and promises to disclose the commission and promote fairly; it does not require a website, promotion plan, contact list, introduction, or payout destination. The email-verification link first displays a confirmation screen and activates the account only after the applicant chooses to continue. Completing that step automatically activates the account and default associate page without individual owner approval. Email verification confirms control of the submitted address only; it is not an identity check or MyBookIllustrator endorsement.
Activation creates one permanent affiliate ID in the format MBI- followed by 12 system-generated characters. The affiliate ID is also the referral code used everywhere in this program; there is no separate partner code. It does not change when a partner edits a profile or vanity address. A partner is an independent participant—not an employee, representative, or legal agent—and is responsible for applicable disclosures, public content, and tax obligations.
Each active partner receives a default public associate page addressed by the permanent affiliate ID. A partner may optionally choose an available, case-insensitively unique vanity address using 3 to 40 lowercase letters, numbers, and single hyphens. Reserved, deceptive, impersonating, infringing, or offensive addresses are not permitted. If an active partner renames an allowed vanity address, the old address continues to the current page; MyBookIllustrator may disable an old or current address when reasonably necessary for security, abuse prevention, legal compliance, or enforcement of these terms.
Partner customization is limited to one of four approved background palettes; no hero art or one of three existing MyBookIllustrator story scenes; a split or editorial layout; one of three fixed page focuses; one of three fixed call-to-action labels; a selection of 3 to 8 items from MyBookIllustrator’s 12 approved portfolio/concept/style studies; approved section order and visibility; optional working-title and service-choice form controls; and a plain-text display name, headline, and short introduction within the portal’s stated limits. The hero and project form remain required. The project form always retains the author name, email, meaningful project details, adult/contact confirmations, anti-spam controls, server-bound affiliate ID, and complete $200 / $100 plus $100 offer disclosure. The partner is responsible for permitted text being accurate, lawful, non-infringing, and consistent with the required commission disclosure.
The authenticated dashboard may accept one optional profile image and one optional header image only after the partner confirms ownership or permission to use it. JPEG, PNG, and still WebP inputs are subject to strict byte, dimension, aspect, MIME, and rate limits; accepted files are decoded, resized, stripped of original metadata, re-encoded as new WebP files with random names, stored outside the public web root, and served only through the controlled same-origin media route. SVG, animation, executable content, arbitrary paths, and other uploads are not accepted. The partner grants MyBookIllustrator a limited, revocable license to process and publicly display each accepted image solely on that associate page and may replace or remove it from the dashboard.
The portal does not accept arbitrary HTML, scripts, outside links, email addresses, testimonials, or partner edits to MyBookIllustrator’s price, deposit, refund, Amazon or KDP, guarantee, rights, workflow, or other offer claims. MyBookIllustrator controls the hero-art and portfolio-study libraries, layout and focus copy, buttons, required form content, all standard offer, legal, disclosure, and service language. Portfolio selections are presented as artist-directed, AI-assisted studies, not as named client books or publication claims. Every real associate page includes a private report control tied to its permanent affiliate ID; MyBookIllustrator may review a report and pause or remove a page or image under these terms.
Only the standard $200 custom book package qualifies. The author must be a new lead, meaning they had no project inquiry, active sales conversation, quote, or paid MyBookIllustrator project during the prior 180 days when the partner’s promotion first reached them. The author may confirm one valid active partner code in any clear, documented way: the visible referral-code field, email, text, written chat, documented phone call, an author-confirmed partner introduction, or the form on an associate page that visibly identifies the partner. Confirmation may occur after work starts, but it must occur before final payment clears and before another partner code is confirmed.
Before an author submits or otherwise confirms a code and we create a project referral record, browser-tab attribution is pending only. A newer, valid, explicit ref= value on another approved referral link in the same tab can take priority over and replace an older pending value; navigation without an explicit code retains the current pending value. An active associate page keeps its customer journey on that page: offer, process, selected portfolio/style studies, and project-start controls use in-page navigation, while the built-in form is bound to the displayed partner’s exact permanent affiliate ID. This continuity does not use a referral tracking cookie and does not require a contact list or one-to-one introduction.
The form built into an active associate page is bound to that partner’s displayed permanent affiliate ID on the server, so it does not show a code-entry field and client-side browsing data cannot substitute a different ID. When the author submits that form, or otherwise confirms one valid active code through an allowed channel, we create the private per-project referral record. The first author-confirmed code then locks to that project; later browsing, session values, or partner claims cannot replace it, except for a clear documented clerical correction allowed by these terms. The submission also creates a limited partner-dashboard event. It can request a free sample or a project start, but attribution alone never establishes the 180-day new-lead test, qualifying offer, project fit, payment or delivery milestone, commission eligibility, or payout. We still review fit, direction, scope, and every milestone, and request the $100 deposit only after written confirmation.
The first-stage commission is $15 only after the referred author’s $100 deposit is cleared and non-pending, project fit and scope are confirmed, work has started, and 24 hours have elapsed after clearance without an immediate failure or reversal. The second-stage commission is $35 only after the final $100 payment is cleared and non-pending, completed delivery of the approved standard project occurs, and 24 hours have elapsed after clearance without an immediate failure or reversal. A lead, inquiry, quote, free sample, unqualified deposit, custom quote, expanded book, traditional non-AI project, Author Showcase submission, or unrelated service earns no commission.
The $15 + $35 schedule applies to every ordinary partner. This release authorizes one named partner to accept a different written two-stage schedule through a private, non-transferable invitation; no other affiliate qualifies for that exception. The special schedule applies only after the invited partner accepts it through the portal, is stored with that permanent affiliate account, and is copied into each new qualifying project referral record. It does not change any other partner’s plan or the author’s $200 price. Unless the private invitation says otherwise, every other eligibility, clearance, delivery, refund/reversal, attribution, payout, and conduct rule in this section still applies.
No commission is owed on an unpaid, fully refunded, reversed, or charged-back payment stage. A partial refund reduces that stage’s commission in the same proportion as the refunded part of the applicable $100 payment. If a commission was already paid before a later refund, reversal, or chargeback, the correction is offset proportionally only against future referral commissions; the partner is not required to make a separate repayment, and MyBookIllustrator will not debit the partner’s payout account.
There is no minimum payout threshold. Portal status is informational: MyBookIllustrator manually reviews every attribution, new-lead decision, payment status, milestone, refund or reversal, commission calculation, payout destination, and payout release. Once that review confirms the applicable 24-hour clearance wait and stage milestone are complete, MyBookIllustrator issues the partner’s chosen electronic payout within two business days. Electronic choices are PayPal, Zelle, Venmo, or Cash App. If the relevant processor shows the payment as pending or under review, stage eligibility waits until it clears and we explain the status to the partner in writing.
A partner may choose a mailed business check instead. Only after the commission is eligible, MyBookIllustrator privately requests the legal payee name and U.S. mailing address, mails the check by USPS, and sends a notice with the mailing date and check number. If it has not arrived after 10 business days, the partner may report it; we will verify the address, stop the original check, and reissue it rather than leave two checks negotiable. No partner should provide a bank or card number, password, bank or payment-app login, tax identifier, payout email or handle, or mailing address through signup, public forms, public profile fields, or an author form.
Every payout notice identifies the per-project referral record ID or IDs included, amount, payment date or check mailing date, method, and electronic transaction or check reference. A referral record ID is an internal identifier for one author/project and is different from the partner’s permanent affiliate ID/referral code. Referral records may show received, deposit pending, deposit eligible, payout pending/review, final pending, completed, paid, or disqualified/reversed status. Partners may view limited events in the private dashboard, ask MyBookIllustrator for their referral ledger, and request correction of an attribution, milestone, refund, offset, or payout record, subject to customer privacy.
Partners must place a clear and conspicuous commission disclosure close to every referral link, code, or endorsement, follow applicable FTC endorsement rules, and share only where the recommendation is relevant and permitted. The standard-plan disclosure is: “I may earn up to a $50 referral commission if you purchase MyBookIllustrator’s $200 package using my code.” The sole invited special-plan partner must use the otherwise identical disclosure with that account’s actual $100 maximum. Partners may not use unsolicited bulk messages, fake reviews or testimonials, deceptive endorsements, hidden disclosures, false guarantees, repeated link dropping, promotion in communities that prohibit it, impersonation, self-referrals or same-household referrals, duplicate identities, manipulated customer information, fraudulent inquiries or payments, typo or deceptive domains, bidding on “MyBookIllustrator,” “Toby Mikle,” or confusingly similar branded search terms, or other paid advertising that uses the brand, offer, referral code, or link without MyBookIllustrator’s prior written approval. A violation may disqualify the affected referral and terminate participation.
The dashboard can provide a script-free HTML card for a partner’s own website only after that partner accepts the current embed representation policy. The card includes the controlled offer, attributed link, and disclosure for that account’s actual maximum commission. A partner may make ordinary spacing adjustments needed for a site, but may not remove, hide, obscure, contradict, or misstate the disclosure; change the approved offer; add unapproved promises; or imply that the partner is a MyBookIllustrator employee, agent, official representative, or someone authorized to bind the business. Acceptance of the policy version and time is stored with the account. MyBookIllustrator may request correction or removal of a noncompliant placement and may pause the page or affected attribution under these terms.
MyBookIllustrator may pause a public page, disable a current or historical vanity address, suspend or close an account, hold a disputed commission, disqualify an affected referral, or terminate participation for suspected spam, fraud, deception, impersonation, infringement, security abuse, unlawful conduct, or another material violation. We may also change or pause the pilot prospectively. When reasonably possible, the partner will receive a reason and a correction path. A prospective change or account action does not erase an earned, undisputed commission, while disputed, pending, or unqualified stages remain subject to manual review and the actual attribution, payment, delivery, refund, and reversal facts.
12. Portfolio display and questions
Client work is displayed in a portfolio only with client permission or as otherwise agreed in writing. Questions about these terms or a project may be sent to tobymikle@gmail.com.