1. About these guidelines
1.1 Bookish Badger is a trading name. In this document “we”, “us” and “our” mean the person or business named as the seller in the Business details of our Terms of sale, Returns, Privacy notice and Contact us pages, trading as Bookish Badger. Those pages give the seller’s name, geographic address and, where they apply, company and VAT details. Every page gives our email addresses.
1.2 These guidelines form part of our Website terms of use. They apply to everyone who uses the Site’s community features: reviews, helpful votes, author replies to reviews, reader profiles (handle, display name and bio), public shelves, follows, author updates, comments, likes and reports, and the text and links on author pages and, from section 14, Services listings and Connect requests (together, the “Community Features”). Anything you post or submit through them is “User Content”.
1.3 Authors also agree to our Author publishing terms (available to authors), which set extra standards for author pages, updates and replies.
2. Who can take part
2.1 You must be 18 or over and have an account to post, comment, like, follow, shelve or report. Staff accounts do not take part as members; they moderate.
2.2 You may have only one account. You must not create an account to get around a restriction, suspension or ban.
3. Horror is welcome
3.1 This is a community for horror readers and writers. You may discuss violence, gore, death, cruelty, sexual themes, abuse and other dark subject matter as it appears in fiction. Strong opinions and negative reviews are welcome, provided they are about the work and not attacks on people.
3.2 Fiction and book context. You may discuss, depict, review and write about sexual violence, abuse, self-harm, suicide, hatred, extremism and other sensitive subjects in a fictional setting or in the context of a book, for example in reviews, discussion, writing and content notices. What is not allowed is promoting, encouraging, instructing in or glorifying them as real-world acts, or targeting real people. The rules in section 4 are read with this clause. The one exception is sexual content involving children, which is never allowed in any form, including fiction.
3.3 Content notices. If what you post discusses sexual violence, the abuse of children, suicide, self-harm or similarly distressing subjects in any detail, start it with a short content notice, such as “CN: self-harm”.
3.4 Spoilers. Say “Spoilers” at the start of anything that reveals major plot points, and never put spoilers in a review title.
4. Never allowed
4.1 The following is never allowed in User Content, read with clause 3.2. We remove it, may close the account immediately, and report it to the police or other authorities where we must or where we think it right to do so.
4.2 Child sexual abuse and exploitation: any content that sexualises children, including written, drawn or fictional content; any attempt to groom or contact children for sexual purposes; and any link to, or request for, child sexual abuse material.
4.3 Terrorism and violent extremism: content that encourages, glorifies, supports or helps real-world terrorism or a proscribed organisation. Fiction and discussion of these subjects in the context of a book are allowed.
4.4 Threats, harassment and hate: threats of violence against real people or groups; harassment, stalking, intimidation, coordinated abuse or pile-ons; content that stirs up hatred, or abuses people, because of race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability or another protected characteristic.
4.5 Suicide, self-harm and eating disorders: content that encourages, promotes, glorifies or assists these as real-world acts, or gives instructions for them. Fiction, and discussing how a book treats these subjects, with a content notice, are allowed.
4.6 Sexual content: pornographic content, sexually explicit material posted for its own sake, and any intimate image or deepfake of a real person shared without consent. Fiction, and discussing sexual themes or sexual violence in a book, are allowed.
4.7 Personal information: posting anyone’s address, phone number, email, private links or other private information, or anything that identifies a reviewer, customer or author who has not made it public. This includes any details an author sees when sending a signed copy.
4.8 Fraud and dangerous content: scams, phishing, malware, false statements intended to cause harm, and content that offers or links to illegal goods, drugs or weapons, or gives instructions for violence against real people.
4.9 Infringement: content that copies other people’s work without permission, including pirated books or links to them, and anything that infringes a trade mark. Our Copyright and legal complaints page explains how rights holders can complain.
4.10 Defamation: false statements of fact that harm a real person’s reputation.
4.11 Fake or misleading reviews and engagement (see section 6), impersonating any person or organisation (including authors and our staff), spam, advertising, and using automation or multiple accounts to manipulate likes, follows, ratings or reports.
5. Treat people properly
5.1 Criticise books, not people. Do not insult, belittle or target other members or authors, and do not continue an exchange with someone who has made clear they do not want it.
5.2 Stay on topic, do not post the same thing repeatedly, and do not promote other products or services outside your own author page.
5.3 Use the Report button honestly. Reporting content you simply disagree with, or reporting to harass someone, breaks these guidelines.
5.4 Authors replying to reviews must stay courteous, must not ask readers to change or remove reviews, and must not try to identify or contact reviewers.
5.5 Automated use. Do not use bots, scripts, scraping or automated or AI-generated posting to post, comment, review, react, follow, report or send messages on the forums or anywhere else on the Site. Using AI as a writing aid for your own words is not the issue; automated or bulk posting is. We may restrict or remove accounts that do this.
6. Reviews
6.1 A review must reflect your own genuine experience of the Book. You must not review a Book you wrote or co-wrote, or one written by someone you are closely connected with, such as a family member, close friend or business partner. Our system prevents authors from reviewing their own Books.
6.2 You must not post a review, rating or helpful vote in return for payment, a free copy or any other incentive unless you say so clearly in the review, and you must never post or commission a fake review. Authors must not offer incentives for reviews or for changing them.
6.3 How we handle reviews. A person checks every review before it is published. We publish positive and negative reviews on the same basis. We do not edit reviews; if a review breaks these guidelines we reject or remove it. We do not pay or reward anyone for reviews. A review marked “Verified purchase” was written from an account whose email address matches a paid order for that Book on the Site. A Book’s rating is the average of its published reviews.
6.4 Any member can mark a review as helpful or report it. Reports from members can lead us to hide a review, automatically or by hand, until a person has looked at it again. An author may post one public reply to each review of their Book. You can delete your own review at any time.
7. Your content and the licence you give us
7.1 You keep ownership of your User Content. You confirm that you have all the rights needed to post it, and that it complies with these guidelines.
7.2 You grant us a worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive, transferable and sublicensable licence to host, store, copy, reproduce, adapt, modify, format, translate, display, distribute and otherwise use your User Content on and in connection with the Site and our services, including in emails and other communications about the Site, and to quote published reviews, with the reviewer’s display name, on Book pages and in promoting the Site and the Books. This includes using it to enhance and improve the experience, for example through formatting, moderation, search and new features. We may store it for as long as we need to. We may shorten or reformat User Content for display, but we will not change its meaning.
7.3 The licence lasts for as long as your User Content is on the Site and, for content we keep after your account is deleted (section 11), for as long as we keep it. Copies may remain in backups for a limited period after removal.
7.4 We are not obliged to display, keep or publish any User Content. The licence does not affect your rights over your personal data, which our Privacy notice explains.
7.5 So that we can show content without your name after you leave, and hide or remove content under these guidelines, you agree not to assert any moral right to be identified as the author of your User Content or to object to its treatment in those ways, to the extent the law allows.
8. How we moderate
8.1 We do not check all User Content before it appears, except reviews and changes to author pages, which a person approves first. Author updates, comments and public reader profiles appear straight away and are reviewed when reported or when we otherwise become aware of a problem.
8.2 Our system removes formatting and hidden characters from text, limits how often accounts can post, follow and report, and may hide content automatically when members report it (section 9). We do not use automated tools to read, classify or judge the meaning of User Content. Every decision to remove content or restrict an account is made by a person.
8.3 When we decide what to do, we take into account freedom of expression and privacy, as well as the safety of members and others. We may: leave content up; hide or remove it; reject a review; remove a reader profile from public view or change a handle; turn off comments on an update; restrict features; suspend or close an account; and report content or conduct to the police or other authorities.
9. Reporting content
9.1 Signed-in members can use the Report button on reviews, author updates, comments and public reader profiles, giving a short reason. You cannot report your own content, and each member’s report on an item counts once. We do not tell the member you reported who made the report.
9.2 Reports from members can lead us to review content. Content may be hidden automatically or by hand while a person reviews it. Hiding is temporary and is not a finding that the content broke these guidelines.
9.3 Anyone, including people without an account and people affected by content, can report content by emailing our support address in the Business details with the subject “Content report”, the link to the content and why it should be removed. We prioritise reports of illegal content, and content that risks harm to someone.
9.4 If someone is in immediate danger, contact your local emergency services (for example 999 in the UK, 112 across the EU and many other countries, 911 in the United States and Canada, 000 in Australia and 110 in Japan). For emotional support, findahelpline.com lists helplines in your country. If you see child sexual abuse material anywhere online, report it to the Internet Watch Foundation (UK) or to your national hotline through INHOPE.
10. If we act on your content or account, and appeals
10.1 We may remove or hide any content, and restrict, suspend or close any account, at any time, at our discretion and without notice. We will usually explain what we did and why where we can, but we do not promise to.
10.2 If you think we got it wrong, you can email our support address with the subject “Appeal”, saying what was affected and why you think the decision was wrong. We may look at the decision again and reply. An appeal is a courtesy, not a right, and we are not obliged to change a decision.
10.3 The same route is open to anyone who wants to complain about content on the Site, about a decision on a report, or about how we meet our legal duties for online safety. Our Complaints policy explains timescales.
11. Repeated or serious breaches
11.1 Depending on how serious a breach is, we may warn you, remove content, restrict features for a period, or suspend or close your account. As clause 10.1 says, we may do any of these at any time and without warning, including for a serious breach such as anything in section 4. We will close the accounts of members who repeatedly post content that infringes other people’s rights, and any account created to get around a restriction.
12. When you close your account
12.1 When an account is deleted, its follows, shelves, likes and reader profile are deleted, and its handle is released. Reviews, helpful votes, comments, reports, author updates and replies to reviews are kept so that conversations and ratings still make sense, but your name is removed and they are shown as by “Former reader” or “Former author”. Our Privacy notice explains this in full.
12.2 If you want particular content removed rather than kept without your name, delete it yourself before you close your account (you can delete your own reviews, comments and updates), or ask us.
13. Responsibility for User Content
13.1 User Content is the responsibility of the member who posts it. We act on reports and remove unlawful content when we become aware of it, but we are not responsible for User Content posted by others. Nothing in these guidelines limits liability that cannot be limited by law.
13.2 We may change these guidelines. If a change significantly affects members, we will give notice as described in our Website terms of use.
14. Services in the Burrow
14.1 Services is an area of the Burrow where members can list book-related services they offer (“Offering”) or want (“Wanted”), such as editing, proofreading, cover design, formatting, illustration, narration and promotion, and can ask to get in touch with the member who posted a listing (“Connect”, section 18). A listing, a Connect request and anything else a member puts into Services is “Services Content”, and is User Content.
14.2 Everything else in these guidelines applies to Services Content, including section 4 (never allowed), section 8 (how we moderate), section 9 (reporting), section 10 (appeals) and section 11 (repeated or serious breaches). Sections 14 to 18 add to them. A listing that follows these rules is not spam or advertising for the purposes of clauses 4.11 and 5.2.
14.3 Services is for adults. You must be 18 or over to use it. Before you post a listing or send a Connect request, you must accept sections 14 to 18 (the “Services rules”) and confirm that you are 18 or over. We record the version you accepted and when. If we change the Services rules in a way that matters, we will ask you to accept them again before you next use Services. That does not affect your use of the rest of the Site. You must also have a verified email address, and staff accounts do not post listings.
14.4 You are responsible for your listings and for any agreement you make with another member. Keep your listings accurate and up to date, and take them down when you can no longer do the work or the job is filled. We may check a listing at any time, and we may ask you to change it or take it down.
15. Bookish Badger is not a party to any agreement
15.1 We provide a place where members can find each other. We are not a party to any agreement between members. We do not employ, engage, supervise, recommend or vouch for any member who lists a service, and we do not check their skills, credits, qualifications, samples, prices, availability or the work they do. Credits and past work shown on a listing are written by the member and are not checked by us. A mark on a profile or listing, such as one showing that a member is an author, means only what it says and is not a recommendation of their services.
15.2 We do not arbitrate, mediate or decide disputes between members about quality, delivery, deadlines, fees, refunds, rights, credit or anything else. We can remove Services Content and restrict accounts under these guidelines, but we cannot make anyone finish or redo work, return money, or honour an agreement.
15.3 We do not take, hold, pass on or guarantee payment for any service, we charge no fee for Services and we take no commission. Any price shown on a listing is the price the member who posted it has chosen to show. It is not an offer by us, and it does not bind either member. Members agree money, and pay and are paid, between themselves outside the Site. Nothing on the Site, including any wording on a button or page, means that a payment or a job is protected by us.
15.4 If you offer services, you are responsible for your own tax, insurance and any legal duties that apply to you, including information you must give your customers. If you use a service, whether you have consumer rights depends on who you deal with and how, so it is worth checking before you agree.
15.5 Nothing in this section limits liability that cannot be limited by law.
16. What you may not list, ask for or send in Services
16.1 In Services you must not offer, ask for, arrange or send any of the following. We remove Services Content that breaks this section, and may restrict or close the account. Horror, gore and dark themes in fiction remain welcome: a cover artist offering horror covers, or an editor who works on graphic fiction, is welcome here.
16.2 Anything illegal. Anything unlawful in the United Kingdom or where the member lives; services to commit fraud, harassment, stalking or intimate-image abuse; services that expose someone’s private information; and the sale or arranging of weapons, drugs or stolen goods.
16.3 Children. Any sexual content involving a child, in any form, including fiction, drawings and AI-generated images; any listing or request aimed at people under 18; and any question about someone’s age to groom them. We report these to the authorities.
16.4 Sexual content. Pornographic or sexually explicit commissions in any medium, and escort, webcam or similar services.
16.5 Deceptive money practices. Misstating a price or what the buyer will get; asking for payment by gift card, or into an account in someone else’s name; “overpayment” and “refund the difference” tricks; advance-fee “publishing opportunities”; and vanity or paid publishing packages that do not make clear they are paid.
16.6 Fake or paid-for reviews. Offering or asking for paid-for or swapped positive reviews or ratings, “five-star” packages, fake advance-copy reviews, or review farms. Paying a reader for their time to read and give an honest opinion is fine. Paying for a positive opinion is not.
16.7 Misrepresentation and copying. Passing off stock, copied or someone else’s work as your own; reselling another person’s art or writing; “rewriting” another author’s book to avoid copyright; and pretending to be another person, a studio, our staff or a Bookish Badger partner.
16.8 Undisclosed AI. Every listing must say clearly if the service uses generative AI to make or change any part of the work, such as writing, editing, translation, illustration, design, narration or voice, and how. You must not sell AI-made or AI-assisted work as human-made, use an AI copy of a real person’s voice or likeness without their written consent, or put a client’s manuscript or files into an AI tool or use them to train one without the client’s clear agreement.
16.9 Academic cheating. Essays, dissertations or exams for someone to hand in as their own work. Ghostwriting books is allowed.
16.10 Unrelated promotion and harassment. Using Services to pester people, to recruit for schemes, multi-level marketing or crypto, or to advertise products that have nothing to do with books and writing.
16.11 Contact details and private information. Do not put contact details for anyone, including yourself, or payment links into the text of a listing. People reach you through Connect (section 18). Do not post someone else’s private information.
17. Working safely
17.1 We cannot check the people who use Services, so take care. This section is general information to help you, not advice about your particular situation.
17.2 Do not pay the whole price up front to someone you do not know. Where you can, pay in stages as the work is delivered. Use a payment method that offers protection if something goes wrong, and keep away from gift cards, crypto-only deals and payments to someone else’s account. Be wary of anyone who rushes you, asks you to “overpay” and send the difference back, or wants you to move to another app straight away.
17.3 Look at samples and past work yourself, and ask for references. Credits on a listing are written by the member and are not checked by us.
17.4 Agree the details in writing before work starts: what will be delivered, how many revisions, the deadline, the fee and when it is paid, who owns the finished work and the right to use it, whether AI may be used, and confidentiality. Who owns commissioned work depends on what you agree and on the law, so settle it in writing.
17.5 Keep your own records of the agreement, messages, invoices and proof of payment. We cannot recover them for you, and we delete Connect requests after a limited period (clause 18.8).
17.6 Think before you share your manuscript or personal details with someone you do not know yet.
17.7 If you see something that breaks these rules, or you think you are being scammed, use the Report button on the listing. If someone is in immediate danger, contact your local emergency services (clause 9.4). You can report fraud to the police in your country. In the United Kingdom, you can also use the national fraud reporting service for your part of the UK (in Scotland, Police Scotland on 101).
18. Connect requests and what we can see
18.1 Connect is a way for a signed-in member who has accepted the Services rules to send a short message (a “note”) to the member who posted a listing, to say why they would like to get in touch. We may change how Connect works, including its limits, format and features, at any time. Do not put payment requests or other people’s contact details in a note. We are not a party to any arrangement made through Connect (section 15).
18.2 The member who posted the listing sees your note and the name and handle your account shows to other members. They can respond or not, and do not have to give a reason. A member who has blocked you cannot be sent a request.
18.3 If the member who posted the listing agrees to be contacted, the contact routes they chose to share for that listing, for example an email address or a link, are shown to the member whose request they agreed to. They are not shown to anyone else. From then on you deal with each other outside the Site. Once contact details have been shown, we cannot take them back, so share only what you are happy for that person to have. Use them only to deal with the request, and do not pass them on or use them for anything else.
18.4 We limit how many requests an account can send, to stop spam. Sending the same request to many listings, or using Connect for anything other than getting in touch about a listing, breaks these guidelines.
18.5 What we can see. People who run the Site can see listings, as any visitor can, and content that has been reported. We do not read Connect notes as a matter of routine. We can read a note only if it has been reported, or where the law requires us to disclose it, as our Privacy notice explains. If you report a note, you agree that we can read it and keep a copy with the report. We cannot see what happens once members have moved off the Site.
18.6 Reports and takedowns. Section 9 applies to listings and notes, and a report of illegal content or a risk to a child alerts us at once. We can remove a listing, restrict a member from Services, or both, as section 10 says.
18.7 If someone breaks the Services rules, we may remove their listings, delete or hide their Connect requests, and restrict or close their account. Closed or removed listings are kept for a limited period for appeals and evidence and are then deleted.
18.8 We keep Connect notes for a limited period after they were last updated and then delete them. A copy of a reported note is kept with the report for a limited period after we decide the report. When an account is closed, its listings and its Connect requests are deleted, not kept as described in clause 12.1. Our Privacy notice gives the detail.