Terms and Conditions

This page provides details of how I work and reassurance of my professionalism. I’ve tried to keep it as cosy and readable as possible, so please do review it before agreeing to work with me. I hope it addresses all your expectations. If not, please get in touch with any questions.

Published 23 February 2026

Contents

Section 1: Introduction

Section 2: The Work

Section 3: The Money

Section 4: The What-Ifs

Section 5: The Protection

Section 6: The Tech (including AI)

Section 7: The Disclaimers

Section 1: Introduction

  1. These terms and conditions apply to any work done by me, Catriona Turner (trading as The Word Bothy), for you, the client.
  2. My pronouns are she/her. I provide expertise with language, writing, and publishing, but you are the expert of your own story and lived experience. I strive for inclusivity in my work and language use. I recognise that learning about language assumptions and my unconscious bias is an ongoing process.
  3. I am an entry-level member of the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading and bound by its membership codes.
  4. I am a self-employed sole trader, responsible for my own income tax and National Insurance contributions.
  5. My business is not VAT-registered.
  6. You are under no obligation to engage my services, and I’m not obliged to accept work you offer me.
  7. I will provide editorial services as agreed by you and me via email. I alone will carry out the work.
  8. By entering into an agreement with me via email to pay for my editorial services, you agree to these terms and conditions.

Section 2: The Work

  1. The work I do for you may include line editing, copyediting, proofreading, formatting, tutoring, or publishing support, according to our email agreement.
  2. We will agree by email a start date and the timescale in which I will complete the work.
  3. You will send me your documents on or before the agreed start date.
  4. You will send me your manuscript as a Word document unless otherwise agreed by email.
  5. I will work on your manuscript or document using Microsoft Word, unless otherwise agreed by email.
  6. All material edits I make to the content and style of your work will be tracked and visible, ready for you to accept or reject.
  7. I may make some technical corrections to the document (e.g. removing extra spaces) or corrections for consistency (e.g. standardising spelling) invisibly, unless otherwise agreed by email.
  8. I will return your edited documents on or before the end of the agreed timescale, along with other relevant documents (e.g. a style sheet).
  9. You own the copyright of the work you deliver to me. Any input from me as part of the editing process becomes part of the creative copyright you own following full payment of my invoice.
  10. You are under no obligation to transform your copyrighted work to conform to my edits or suggestions.
  11. Upon publication, you are not required to give me any creative credit as editor of your creative work. My name should not appear on your copyright page.
  12. You might choose to acknowledge my input on an acknowledgement page of your published manuscript. You are not required to do so. However, if you choose to reject the majority of my input, I request that you do not include my name in your acknowledgements.
  13. After publication, you grant me permission to use your author name, the title, and the cover of your published book on my website and promotional material.

Section 3: The Money

  1. The fees noted on my website are indicative only.
  2. For full manuscripts, I will email you a quote following a sample edit. My quote will then take into account my expectation of the time required to complete the work and will be a fixed fee.
  3. For shorter documents, my quote will be based on an hourly rate.
  4. Currency: my quotes and invoices will be in GBP. I will accept payment in GBP or USD.
  5. Payment methods: I accept payment via bank transfer or PayPal.
  6. First-time clients will be required to pay a deposit of 40% of the quoted fee.
  7. I may require returning clients to pay a deposit in certain circumstances (for example, periods of high demand).
  8. Any deposit required will be due no later than two weeks before the agreed start date, after which it will be non-refundable.
  9. Any deposit paid will be deducted from the final invoice.
  10. The final invoice will be issued on completion of the work. Payment will be due on receipt.

Section 4: The What-Ifs

  1. The quoted fee will remain unchanged unless
    • you send a manuscript with a significantly higher word count than was quoted for.
    • you request a change to the timescale.
    • I find that the input required significantly exceeds what was expected based on the sample edit.
    • the surface fluency of the text hides underlying incoherence due to AI-generated input.
  2. In the event of any of the circumstances listed in 4.1, I will contact you to renegotiate our agreed fee and/or timescale, or I may decline to continue with the project.
  3. If, following a renegotiation as detailed in 4.2, you or I choose not to continue with our agreement, I will return your manuscript and send you a prorated invoice for any work completed. Any deposit paid will be non-refundable.
  4. If you change your mind about our agreement and decide to cancel, you will inform me at the first opportunity. Deposits are non-refundable within two weeks of the agreed start date.
  5. If illness or other emergency circumstances prevent you from sending me your manuscript at the agreed time, you will contact me at the first opportunity to discuss renegotiation or cancellation. I aim to be as fair and compassionate as my circumstances allow.
  6. If illness or other emergency circumstances prevent me from completing the agreed work at the agreed time, I will contact you at the first opportunity to renegotiate or cancel our agreement. In the event of cancellation by me, I will refund any deposit paid and, where possible, offer to help you find alternative editing services.

Section 5: The Protection

  1. I will maintain your confidentiality and will not disclose any details of the nature and content of the work to any third party without prior written permission.
  2. I will not upload your files to any external platform or organisation unless you specifically authorise me to in writing. However, please note that I use Microsoft OneDrive cloud storage services for file backup.
  3. Under the terms of the Data Protection Act 2018, you and I may keep records of necessary information, including contact details and work completed. Either may view the other’s records to check they are relevant, correct, and up to date.
  4. This agreement is subject to Scots Law, and you and I agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the Scottish courts.

Section 6: The Tech

  1. I use the following digital tools habitually in my editing process.
    • Microsoft Word: used for text editing. The version of Microsoft 365 I subscribe to does not use Copilot AI.
    • PerfectIt: consistency-checking software that is an add-in to Word. Runs offline and does not transmit data. Does not use AI.
    • Word macros: code used in Word for text analysis. Hosted locally and run offline.
    • Microsoft OneDrive: cloud-based storage for file backup.
    • Google search: used for fact-checking, and for accessing online versions of dictionaries and style guides. Uses AI as part of its standard searching.
    • Gmail: cloud-based communication. ‘Smart’ features, which include Gemini AI, are turned off.
  2. By agreeing to these terms, you acknowledge and consent to my use of the digital tools detailed in 6.1.
  3. I do not use any generative AI tools or open AI systems in conjunction with your text at any time. This ensures your work is not accessed for large language model training, and your data and privacy are protected.
  4. You will disclose to me the extent to which AI-generated text comprises the partial creative output of your manuscript, where relevant. (This requirement does not refer to the use of AI tools in research, outlining, or self-editing.) This requirement enables me to edit your work to the best of my ability, with full awareness of its nature.
  5. I believe that generative AI is a powerful tool to be used with care and caution. However, I believe that the writing and reading of narrative prose is most valuable as an expression of the human experience. I consider that the truest value of my editing work is in deepening the connection between writer and reader. Therefore, I may decline to edit your manuscript if it is fully AI-generated, as I may not consider it possible to add that value.

Section 7: The Disclaimers

  1. I will work thoroughly, attentively, and carefully according to the scope of our agreement, and bringing all my experience, training, and knowledge to the work. However, I cannot guarantee 100% error-free work, and many editing decisions are subjective. You may not agree with every edit or suggestion I make.
  2. I am not responsible for the content of your files following my editing work. All decisions to accept or reject edits are your responsibility. I bear no liability for any breaches of copyright, inaccuracies, omissions, harm, libel, or any other damages arising from the publication of your work.
  3. I am not responsible for how you use the files I have edited, or for any changes you make after I have returned them to you.
  4. I cannot offer any guarantee of success with agent or publisher querying following my editing work.
  5. I cannot offer any guarantee of income from published works following my editing work.
  6. I am not responsible for any plagiarism in your texts.
  7. I am not responsible for any loss, damage, or corruption of your files by your system or any third-party platforms you upload them to, or ask me to upload them to.
  8. I am not responsible for any deadlines you miss following my editing work.
  9. I cannot guarantee compatibility of your files with every software platform you may wish to use.
  10. I am not responsible for changes made to your files by third parties following my editing work.
  11. I am not responsible for delays caused by force majeure (e.g. internet outages or other emergencies).