A new way of publishing · Last updated 2026-05-21

Privacy

Curated Word is an indie publisher. We collect only the data we need to run the shop and tell you about new books, and we do not sell, share, or use your data for advertising. This page explains what we collect, why, and the choices you have.

What we collect

• Buyer details — the email you use at checkout, the books you bought, and your download history. Used to send your download links and to re-deliver them from the Library page.
• Newsletter subscribers — the email you give us, plus the time you confirmed (a GDPR-style "double opt-in"). Used only to send the newsletter you signed up for. You can unsubscribe any time from any newsletter email, or by writing to hello@curatedword.com.
• Manuscript submissions — your name, email, manuscript file, and the moral-clause agreement you accepted. Used by our editorial team to review and respond. We do not use submitted manuscripts to train AI.
• Account holders (admins for now) — email, display name, and sign-in credentials (passwords are never used; we use magic-link OTPs and optional passkeys / TOTP).
• Essential cookies — a signed session token for admin sign-in, a cart session token for the shopping cart, and a cookie-consent record. No third-party tracking, advertising, or analytics cookies in Phase 1.

Payment data

Payments are processed by Stripe. We never see, store, or transmit card details — Stripe handles the card form directly inside the checkout page. We receive the buyer's email, the items purchased, and a Stripe order/payment identifier so we can reconcile orders and issue refunds.

Event bookings and tickets

When you book a place at an event, we collect your email address (and your name, if the event asks for one) so we can issue your ticket and contact you about that event.

We do not hand your details to event organisers. An organiser — an author, a specialist, or Curated Word itself — sees how many people have booked and an anonymous reference for each booking, not who you are. If they need to tell attendees something, such as a change of venue, they write the message and we send it on; they never receive your address.

There are two exceptions, and in both cases you are told before you book:

• The organiser has said they need attendee contact details. The booking form states this plainly, naming the organiser, above the button you press to book. If you go ahead, your name and email are passed to them for that event. Changing this setting only affects bookings made afterwards — if you booked while it was off, you stay anonymous, because that is what you were told at the time.
• A book-club event booked while signed in by an active member of that club. The club already knows its own members. Guests and non-members booking the same event stay anonymous.

For events run by Curated Word itself, our staff can see attendee details — we are the organiser, the ticket seller and the data controller for those events.

What we hold, and why an organiser can still reach you

Curated Word holds your details for every booking, whether or not the organiser can see them. We use them to issue and re-send your ticket, to email you about the event you booked, for our own accounting records, and — as set out under What we collect — to understand which kinds of events our readers are interested in.

That is what allows an organiser to write to their attendees without knowing who they are. They compose the message, we send it, and they are told only how many people it reached. Those messages should concern the event you booked; every one carries a note explaining why you received it and how to report it if it doesn't, and we keep a copy of what was sent. We do not offer an unsubscribe from them, because they are how you would learn that a venue changed or an event was cancelled — if you no longer want them, cancel your booking from your ticket.

Your ticket link is unguessable and is the only way to reach the ticket, including any online joining link. Please treat it as private.

AI processing of submissions

When you submit a manuscript, we send the file to Anthropic's Claude model to produce a short summary that helps our editors triage. Anthropic processes the file as a data processor on our behalf and does not use it to train its models. The summary is for internal editorial use; only Curated Word staff see it.

How long we keep things

• Buyer + order records: kept as long as the buyer wants their downloads.
• Newsletter subscribers: kept until you unsubscribe; unsubscribed entries are retained only so we don't accidentally re-add you.
• Manuscript submissions: kept for as long as the submission is open. Rejected submissions are retained for up to 12 months unless you ask us to delete sooner.

Your rights

Wherever you are, you can ask us:

• What we hold about you (right of access)
• To correct anything that's wrong (right of rectification)
• To delete your personal data (right to be forgotten)
• For a copy of your data in a portable format

The fastest way is the data-request form. We acknowledge requests within a few working days and complete them within 30 days.

Sub-processors

• Microsoft Azure — hosts the storefront, API, and database.
• Stripe — payments.
• Mailgun — transactional and newsletter emails.
• Anthropic — manuscript-summary AI processing.

Contact

hello@curatedword.com · or the data-request form.