Distribution Terms and Conditions




By distributing your eBook through Expert Subject, LLC, you agree to accept our Terms of Service and agree to our Conditions, website features and functionalities. Our Terms and Conditions are subject to change without notice, from time to time in our sole discretion. We will notify you of amendments to these Terms by posting them to this website. If you do not agree to our Terms and Conditions, do not proceed with eBook distribution.

The terms of this agreement will govern Authors, Self-Publishers, Publishers, Literary Agents and Authorized representatives who are legally authorized and empowered to sell, distribute and collect royalties on behalf of the Author. All parties other than the Author will be referred to as “Authorized Representative” in this agreement.

Copyright

A. You must have all rights necessary to make your digital book published and distributed through our website and through all our affiliated channels of distribution. 

B. All digital books must have a Copyright page and shall belong to the Author or the party authorized by the Author as the copyright holder. Digital books without Copyright page will be rejected.

Table of Contents

All digital books must have Table of Contents or will be rejected.

Infringement

Upon receipt of a written notice, we will investigate all claims of infringement from the party infringed or Authorized Representative. We will remove the Author’s work from our website and from all distribution channels and delete the account if necessary.  It is the infringed party or the Authorized Representative’s responsibility to seek any compensation from the offender.
 
Termination

A. You are entitled to terminate your title at any time by deleting your digital book from your account.  We will cease all distribution of your Digital Book within 5-15 business days from the date of deletion or depending on the Vendor’s speed and time frame to execute our request.

B.  Following your digital book deletion from your account, our channel partners may still fulfill orders to your digital book until our request of deletion is received and processed by them and your title is pulled out from their website.  In such an event your royalties will still be reported and paid to you.

C. We may terminate your title and your account at any time and without notice if we prove you’re not in compliance with our Terms and Conditions, or for any reason in our discretion.  Following termination section A and B will apply.

D. Following termination, our channel partners may still keep digital copies of your book for the sole purpose of supporting their customers who have purchased your book prior to termination, for re-downloads due to errors and other technological reasons or technical related issues.

Digital Book Submission

A. It is the responsibility of the Author or his/her Representative to upload the digital book and digital cover in the correct format and in accordance to our submission requirement stated on the distribution form which can be accessed through their account.

B. If you do not have the appropriate file formats you may hire us to do the work by purchasing directly from our website, or you may hire a third party to do the task and return to upload your files with us. Providing the correct electronic files is a requirement for distribution and files must be free of formatting errors, free of viruses and provided at your own expense.   

C. We may be required and we reserve the right to modify your copyright page, to include our company name as your distributor or publisher, depending on our channel partners and their submission requirements. We may also reformat your digital book if necessary to correct any file errors that might prevent successful distribution of your work. If in the process any unintentional formatting errors appear, you may bring it to our attention and we will correct the errors and redistribute your work. 

ISBN Numbers

If you do not have your own ISBN number, one will be assigned to you per title free of charge. Once assigned, ISBN numbers cannot be changed. You may not delete your title only for the purpose of re-submitting it again with changes (see Revisions to Submissions below).  Deleting your title will permanently delete your free assigned ISBN number. If you wish to completely delete your title see the previous section on “Termination”.

Revisions to Submissions

A. You may revise your digital book submission as many times as you deem it necessary by clicking on the “Edit” button next to your title. Changes include, but not limited to, description, category, eBook file, eBook cover, price and channels of distribution.

B. Changes made to your title will be submitted to our channel partners within one to three business days from your submission date. However, implementations of your changes by our channels partners can vary and can take anywhere from 3 business days to three weeks or more, depending on the channel partner and their time frame in executing your changes. On average however most changes are implemented within one to two weeks.

Rejections

We reserve the right to reject your submission based on your digital book contents, subject matter, or digital files not submitted in accordance to our technical requirements, or for any other reason in our discretion. 

Distribution Rights

A. The Author or Authorized Representative herby grants Expert Subjects, LLC the nonexclusive worldwide rights to sell and distribute his or her electronic book, through Expert Subjects channel partners, affiliates and sales associates.

B. By distributing the digital book through Expert Subjects, LLC the Author or Authorized Representative acknowledges that he or she is not violating any laws or any pre-existing publishing agreement.

C. Since this is a nonexclusive agreement, the Author or Authorized Representative is responsible of selecting the desired channels of distribution from the list made available on the distribution form. 

D. The Author or Authorized Representative may not select distribution channels already in possession of the Author’s work in the same file format. For example, if the Author’s digital book is already available in the Apple iBook store, the Author can select all other channels except Apple.  

Royalties and Payments

A. We reserve the right to hold royalty payments, reverse or request reimbursements for any previous payments made to the Author or Author’s Representative if your account is:

1. Under investigation for copyright related issues or infringements.
2. In violation to the law or to a pre-existing publishing agreement.

B. All sales are reported on a monthly basis in your account. Royalty payments will be paid within 5 to 10 business days of receiving payments from our channels partners.

C. For all newly distributed titles, payments will be made two to three months from the initial distribution date, depending on our vendors’ payment structure. Following the initial payment, all future payments for the same title will be made on a monthly or quarterly basis depending on the vendors’ payment cycle.

D. Payments are made via PayPal. Authors and Author’s Representatives must have a valid PayPal account to receive payments.
 
E. Expert Subjects, LLC will pay Authors or Author’s Representatives 90 percent of all Net Earnings paid to us by our Vendors (Exceptions May apply, see F). Net Earnings are the total amounts of sales, less the Vendor’s commission on sales, less any file delivery fees if applicable, or any other fees applied by retailers. Any returns or credit card back charges will also be deducted from the Net Earnings.

F. Payments are only made for Net Earnings of $5 and above. Any amount less than $5 will not be paid until the account reaches this threshold. The 90% of all Net Earnings paid to the Author or the Author’s representative will only apply for amounts equal or greater than $15. All amounts less than $15 and greater than the threshold will be subject to $1.5 payment transfer fee. For example, if your total earning on a given month is $7.00, the amount transferred to you will be $5.50 ($7 less $1.5). If however your total earning is $30 (therefore, more than $15), the amount transferred to you is $27 (90 percent of total earning).  

G. Payments will be held for invalid PayPal accounts. Royalties will be paid once the Author or the Author’s Representative has resolved their account status with PayPal.

Taxes and Withholdings

A. Under US Tax Law, we are required to request information in regards to your tax status and to report your earnings to the IRS and issue form 1099 MISC or form 1042S for foreigners, for each calendar year. Citizens, legal residents and businesses are required to complete form W-9 and foreign citizens are required to complete form W-8BEN, otherwise they will be subject to tax withholding.  Failing to provide accurate tax information and mailing address will result in 28% tax withholding for all US personnel and 30% for all foreigners. All tax withholdings will be deducted from the royalty amounts and paid to the IRS.

B. Foreigners might be fully exempt, or subject to partial or full tax withholding depending on their country’s tax treaty with the United States. You can check your country’s Income Tax Treaty with the US here.  If applicable, tax withholdings will be deducted from the royalty payment and paid to the IRS.

C. Foreigners must complete Form W-7 and obtain an ITIN number from the IRS to claim their tax treaty benefit (foreign businesses see E); otherwise they will be subject to the 30% tax withholdings. Foreigners must check first if a tax treaty exists between their country and the US at the link provided in B.  You can apply for an ITIN number here.

D. Foreigners may complete their W-8BEN without having an ITIN number and proceed with title distribution, as long as they are in the process of obtaining a Tax Identification Number from the IRS and return to complete form W-8BEN on time PRIOR to royalty payment or accept the 30% Tax withholdings.

E. Foreign Businesses are required to obtain an Employer Identification Number (EIN) to complete the W-8BEN form. Businesses can obtain an EIN number immediately here

F. Foreign businesses may complete their W-8BEN without having an EIN number and proceed with title distribution, as long as they are in the process of obtaining a number from the IRS and return to complete form W-8BEN on time PRIOR to royalty payment or accept the 30% Tax withholdings.

G. It is the responsibility of all citizens, legal residents, local businesses and foreigners to report and declare their earnings paid to them by Expert Subjects, LLC to their appropriate governments and on their income tax returns.

Indemnification

A. The Author or the Author’s Representative agrees to indemnify and hold harmless Expert Subjects, LLC and it’s employees, contractors and channel partners (distributors) of and from any and all claims or legal proceeding asserting claims, demands, losses, causes of action, damage, lawsuits, judgments, including attorneys' fees and costs, contrary to any warranty or representation stated in this Agreement.

B. Upon receiving notice of any claim, demand, action or suit or other legal proceeding alleging facts inconsistent with or contrary to any of the warranties or representations, Expert Subjects, LLC shall have the right to withhold any sums payable to the Author or Author’s Representative as security for the payment of the Author’s potential obligations.

Limitation of Liability

A. IN NO EVENT SHALL EXPERT SUBJECTS, LLC AND IT’S EMPLOYEES, CONTRACTORS AND CHANNEL PARTNERS/DISTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, PUNITIVE, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM ANY LOSS OF SALES, LOSS OF PROFIT, DISTRIBUTION ERRORS, FILE ERRORS, MISTAKES, LOSS OF DATA, USE OF OUR WEBSITE, SERVICE INTERUPTIONS, UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO OUR SECURE SERVERS OR ACCESS TO YOUR PERSONAL ACCOUNT, THEFT, VIRUSES, PERSONAL INJURY, PROPERTY DAMAGE, EXEMPLARY OR RELIANCE DAMAGES ARISING FROM OR IN RELATION TO THE AGREEMENT.  

B. It is the Author’s (or the Author’s Representative) responsibility to report content errors, distribution errors, monitor retailer listings and availabilities and report any errors to Expert Subjects, LLC, in order to address these errors and correct them. we are a service company that offers book services and distribution, but it the responsibility of each participant to check for any errors and verify all distributions.  In the event Expert Subjects, LLC is found liable for any damages, Author or Author’s Representative hereby expressly agrees that, in no event will Expert Subjects, LLC liability to exceed the amounts collected by Expert Subjects for the Author's ebook in question for the twelve month period preceding the claim.

Prior to Submission you confirm and agree:

A. You must be 18 years or older to enter this binding agreement.

B. You are the sole owner of your work or you are authorized on behalf of the owner or other contributors and have full power and authority to enter this agreement.

C. You have the right to distribute your work in the territories you’ve specified and have not violated any prior agreement, which would conflict with the rights granted to us in this agreement.

D. Your work is original, free of any false claims or inaccurate information, and abides by all copyright laws and all other applicable laws and free of any infringements.

E. Your work does not contain any material that is proprietary or offensive to others, or violate any personal rights of any person or entity. 

F. Your work is free of any personal attacks or accusations that would disclose the name or identity of any person or entity.  

G. Your work is free from racism, discrimination, violent views, advocacy to violence, illegal teachings, illegal “how to” instructions or call to any action that is illegal and against state, federal and international law.

H. Your work is free from disclosing any personal information that is the property of others without permission, or violates any rights of privacy.

I. That your book is not a public domain book unless indicated with your submission.

J. That we reserve the right to revise and update this agreement at anytime.

K. By using our services you acknowledge that you have read this Agreement, understand it and will be bound by its terms and conditions.

Potential Disruption of Service

Access to this Website may from time to time be unavailable, delayed, limited or slowed due to website upgrades, server and network issues caused by network provider, hardware failure, software failure, overload of system capacity, weather related failures or any other cause whatsoever beyond our control.

Governing Law

This Agreement and any dispute of any sort that might arise between you and Expert Subjects, LLC shall be governed, construed, and enforced in accordance with the laws of the State of Florida, without regard to its conflict of laws rules.