Terms of Service

About These Terms

Gray Matter Edits is an independent editorial and creative writing business operated by Jodie Gray, based in Sauvo, Finland, and serving clients internationally.

These terms govern the use of this website, the purchase of digital products where available, and the provision of services by Gray Matter Edits.

Agreement and precedence

A project may also be governed by an accepted quotation, statement of work, written service agreement, or agreement made through a third-party freelance platform.

Where project-specific terms have been expressly agreed in writing, they take precedence over these general terms for that project. Mandatory legal rights always take precedence over contractual terms.

Consumers and professional clients

Some provisions distinguish between consumers purchasing outside their trade or profession and clients purchasing services for business or professional purposes.

Consumer protections apply where the client qualifies as a consumer under the relevant law. These rights cannot be waived merely by accepting these Terms of Service.

Our Services

Gray Matter Edits provides editorial, manuscript-development, writing, and related creative services.

Academic editorial services

These may include:

• Academic copyediting and proofreading
• Thesis and dissertation editing
• Reference and citation checking
• Document formatting
• Combined academic editorial packages

Fiction editorial services

These may include:

• Manuscript evaluation
• Beta reading
• Developmental editing
• Line editing and copyediting
• Proofreading
• Typesetting and book formatting
• Combined manuscript refinement packages

Fiction development and writing

These may include:

• Worldbuilding and lore construction
• Character creation and arc development
• Plot and narrative architecture
• Full story development
• Fiction ghostwriting
• Autobiographical ghostwriting
• Fictionalised life stories and love stories

Service scope

The precise work, deliverables, revision arrangements, price, and schedule for each commission will be established in the written quotation or project agreement.

Services or deliverables not expressly included in that agreement are not automatically included in the fee.

Gray Matter Edits may decline a project where the requirements are unsuitable, fall outside available expertise, raise ethical or legal concerns, or cannot reasonably be accommodated.

Quotes, Bookings and Agreements

Requesting a quotation

Initial enquiries and quotation requests are free of charge unless a separately priced consultation or assessment has been expressly agreed.

Quotations are based on the information available at the time, including manuscript length, complexity, required services, project scope, and deadlines.

Accepting a project

For individually commissioned work, a project becomes binding when an offer is accepted in writing or through the agreed contracting platform, subject to any conditions clearly specified in that offer.

Submitting an enquiry does not, by itself, constitute a paid order or guarantee availability.

Changes to the agreed scope

Material changes to manuscript length, content, complexity, deliverables, or deadlines may require a revised quotation.

Additional charges will be explained and agreed before chargeable additional work begins.

Reserved project dates

Project dates are confirmed in writing. A provisional enquiry does not guarantee that a particular date will remain available.

Any advance-payment or reservation requirements will be stated before the booking becomes binding.

Pricing and Payment

Pricing

Prices may be calculated per word, per page, per reference, per hour, per milestone, or as an agreed fixed project fee.

Quotations specify the applicable pricing method, currency, included services, and any compulsory taxes or additional charges. Consumer prices include applicable taxes as required by law.

Unless otherwise agreed, direct quotations are issued in euros (EUR). Freelance-platform projects may use the currency supported by the relevant platform.

Payment arrangements

Payment may be required before commencement, upon completion, or in agreed instalments or milestones, depending on the project.

The payment schedule and accepted payment method will be established before the contract is concluded.

Invoices must be paid by the stated due date. Any interest or recovery costs for overdue payment will be limited to those permitted by applicable law.

For professional or business clients, work may be paused for overdue undisputed payments following reasonable notice. Statutory consumer rights remain unaffected.

Third-party platforms

Where a project is contracted through Upwork or another freelance platform, that platform's applicable payment, escrow, invoicing, and dispute procedures may also apply.

Any platform fees payable by the client are governed by that platform and will be disclosed where applicable.

Returning-manuscript discount

Where advertised, returning manuscripts qualify for a 10% discount on subsequent eligible editorial services for the same manuscript.

This discount does not automatically extend to unrelated manuscripts, new creative-development projects, ghostwriting, or digital products. Eligibility will be confirmed in the quotation.

Client Responsibilities and Deadlines

Providing project materials

Clients are responsible for supplying:

• The agreed manuscript or source materials in a usable format
• Relevant instructions, style guides, reference materials, and project briefs
• Accurate information concerning deadlines and special requirements
• Clarifications and feedback reasonably necessary to complete the work

Project schedules

The agreed working period assumes that necessary materials, instructions, approvals, and payments are provided on time.

Delays in supplying these may require a revised delivery schedule, which will be discussed with the client.

Working days generally exclude weekends and Finnish public holidays unless otherwise agreed.

Changes to submitted manuscripts

Once editorial work has commenced, clients should not replace or substantially modify the working manuscript without prior agreement.

Incorporating new material or reconciling multiple document versions may require additional work and charges.

Communication

Project communication is conducted primarily in writing, usually by email or through the agreed freelance platform.

Written communication enables instructions, decisions, feedback, and agreed changes to be documented clearly.

Delivery, Feedback and Revisions

Delivery of completed work

Deliverables will be supplied electronically in the formats specified in the project agreement. These may include edited Word documents, tracked changes, clean copies, editorial reports, style sheets, planning documents, or formatted files.

Clients are responsible for maintaining their own copies and backups of delivered files. Gray Matter Edits does not provide indefinite document-storage services.

Feedback and revisions

The number and extent of any included revisions will be confirmed in the project agreement.

Where a revision period has been agreed, clients should provide feedback within that period. A missed feedback deadline may require rescheduling, but does not remove any statutory rights relating to defective work.

Revisions are intended to address the agreed deliverables and scope. Substantial rewrites, changes of creative direction, or new material may require a separate agreement.

Errors and quality concerns

If a client identifies an error or believes the delivered service does not meet the agreement, they should contact Gray Matter Edits with details of the concern.

Valid defects will be addressed in accordance with applicable law, including any rights to correction, price reduction, or other appropriate remedies.

Cancellation, Withdrawal and Refunds

Cancellation arrangements depend on the type of contract, whether work has begun, what has already been delivered, and whether statutory consumer withdrawal rights apply.

7.1 Consumer right of withdrawal

Where a consumer enters into an eligible service contract at a distance, including by email or online, they generally have 14 days from the conclusion of the contract to withdraw without giving a reason.

A consumer may exercise this right by sending a clear withdrawal notice to jodie@graymatteredits.com before the applicable period expires.

7.2 Work requested during the withdrawal period

A consumer may expressly request that an editorial, writing, or development service begins before the end of the 14-day withdrawal period.

If the consumer then withdraws before the service is completed, they may be required to pay a proportionate amount for work performed up to the time of withdrawal, provided the applicable legal requirements have been met.

If the service is fully performed during the withdrawal period following the consumer's express prior request and acknowledgement of the resulting loss of withdrawal rights, the statutory withdrawal right may cease upon completion.

These provisions do not remove the consumer's legal remedies for defective or improperly delivered services.

7.3 Downloadable digital content

Separate withdrawal rules apply to qualifying digital content supplied electronically, such as downloadable templates, workbooks, or recorded educational resources.

The statutory withdrawal right for paid digital content may be lost when delivery begins during the withdrawal period only if the required express prior consent, acknowledgement, and contractual confirmation have been obtained.

Bespoke editorial and ghostwriting services are not automatically treated as downloadable digital-content purchases merely because their deliverables are supplied electronically.

7.4 Cancellation outside statutory withdrawal

Clients may request cancellation of an ongoing commission in writing.

Where legally permitted, Gray Matter Edits may charge for work already performed, project-specific non-recoverable costs, and reasonable cancellation losses, including lost income where recoverable under applicable law.

Any agreed booking or cancellation charge must be reasonable, proportionate, and disclosed before the contract is concluded.

Advance payments are not automatically forfeited merely because a client cancels. Any amount due or refundable will be calculated in accordance with the agreement and applicable law.

7.5 Rescheduling

Requests to postpone a project will be considered in light of existing bookings, progress already made, and availability.

Rescheduling is not guaranteed. Any additional charges must be agreed where required, and statutory cancellation rights remain unaffected.

7.6 Cancellation by Gray Matter Edits

If Gray Matter Edits cannot complete an accepted project, the client will be informed as soon as reasonably possible.

Any refund for undelivered work, and any additional remedies, will be determined by the contract and applicable law.

Gray Matter Edits may also suspend or terminate work where there is a serious contractual breach, unlawful instruction, or other lawful reason, subject to the client's applicable rights.

7.7 Refund processing

Refunds due under statutory consumer withdrawal rules will be made without undue delay and no later than 14 days after receipt of a valid withdrawal notice, subject to deductions legally permitted for services already provided.

Refunds will normally be returned by the original payment method unless otherwise expressly agreed and permitted by law.

Refunds for transactions handled through freelance platforms or payment providers may also be subject to their applicable processing procedures.

Digital Products and Educational Resources

Where offered, digital products may include downloadable writing templates, planning documents, workbooks, courses, and other educational resources.

Product descriptions

Each product listing will identify the principal contents, price, delivery or access method, and relevant file formats or technical requirements.

Permitted use

Unless expressly stated otherwise, purchased templates and educational materials are licensed for the buyer's individual use in their own writing or creative projects.

Buyers may complete, adapt, and use their own copies for their intended personal creative work.

They may not resell, redistribute, sublicense, or publish the original templates or course materials as standalone products without written permission.

Defects and access problems

If a digital product cannot be accessed, is defective, or materially differs from its description, the buyer should contact Gray Matter Edits.

Applicable consumer rights concerning conformity, delivery, correction, refunds, and other remedies remain fully effective.

Educational outcomes

Writing resources and courses provide techniques, guidance, and creative development tools. They do not guarantee publication, commercial success, or any particular creative result.

Intellectual Property and Ownership

Client manuscripts and source material

Clients retain ownership of the copyright and other intellectual property rights they hold in their original manuscripts, research, documents, stories, and supplied creative materials.

Providing these materials to Gray Matter Edits grants only the permissions reasonably necessary to perform the agreed services.

Editing and proofreading

Editorial assistance does not transfer ownership of the client's underlying manuscript to Gray Matter Edits.

Clients remain free to accept, reject, or adapt editorial suggestions, subject to any third-party rights and the applicable project agreement.

Commissioned original creative work

For bespoke ghostwriting and original story-development commissions, the ownership and permitted uses of original creative deliverables will be confirmed in the written agreement.

Unless otherwise agreed, once the agreed fee has been paid in full, Gray Matter Edits transfers to the client the transferable economic copyright it owns in the final original bespoke creative work commissioned and delivered under that agreement, to the extent permitted by applicable law.

Any non-transferable moral rights, third-party rights, and separately identified pre-existing materials remain subject to applicable law.

Professional tools and templates

Gray Matter Edits retains ownership of its pre-existing methods, frameworks, generic templates, editorial systems, and business materials.

Where these are incorporated into a bespoke deliverable, the client receives the permissions reasonably necessary to use that deliverable for its agreed purpose.

Portfolio use

Client manuscripts, private story details, and unpublished work will not be publicly reproduced as portfolio samples without appropriate permission.

Testimonials, identifiable case studies, and project excerpts may be published only with the relevant permission or another valid legal basis.

Confidentiality, Privacy and AI

Confidential project materials

Gray Matter Edits treats manuscripts, research, unpublished ideas, personal narratives, and other non-public project materials as confidential.

Confidential information will not knowingly be disclosed to unrelated third parties without authorisation, except where reasonably necessary to provide the service, required by law, or otherwise permitted by the agreement.

Project-specific non-disclosure agreements may be agreed where appropriate.

Personal data

Personal information is processed in accordance with applicable data protection legislation, including the GDPR where relevant.

Further information about the collection, use, retention, security, and disclosure of personal data is provided in the separate Privacy Policy.

Artificial intelligence

The use of generative AI to create substantive original content for a client's commissioned project, or to process confidential client material, will be subject to the agreed project requirements and any applicable confidentiality and data-protection arrangements.

Clients may communicate specific restrictions on AI-assisted processes before entering into an agreement. Agreed restrictions will be documented in writing.

Professional editorial judgement, originality, confidentiality, and compliance with the agreed scope remain central to the service.

Academic Integrity and Research Responsibility

Academic editing is intended to improve clarity, consistency, language, and presentation while preserving the author's intellectual contribution.

Author responsibilities

Academic clients remain responsible for the accuracy of their research, arguments, data, findings, citations, and original scholarly contributions.

Clients must ensure that external editorial assistance complies with their institution's, publisher's, funder's, or journal's requirements.

Limits of editorial verification

Unless expressly included in the agreed scope, academic editorial work does not constitute:

• Independent research verification
• Statistical or methodological peer review
• Authentication of research data
• Plagiarism certification
• Guarantees of publication or acceptance

Reference and citation checking is performed to the level expressly agreed. A standard reference check does not necessarily include reading every cited source or independently verifying every factual claim.

Certificates of language editing

Where provided, a language-editing certificate accurately describes the work actually performed.

Certificates will not be issued for material that has not received the stated service.

Creative Work and Professional Limitations

Creative collaboration

Fiction editing, story development, and ghostwriting involve professional judgement and creative interpretation.

Suggestions are offered to strengthen a work's structure, characterisation, clarity, consistency, and intended reader experience.

Editorial advice does not guarantee that publishers, literary agents, reviewers, or readers will respond favourably to a finished work.

Personal and autobiographical projects

Clients commissioning autobiographical writing or fictionalised versions of real-life events are responsible for supplying accurate source information where factual accuracy is required.

Clients must identify any third-party privacy, confidentiality, copyright, or consent concerns relating to material they supply.

Fictionalisation does not automatically eliminate legal concerns involving identifiable real people.

Publication decisions

Clients are responsible for their final publishing, submission, distribution, and commercial decisions.

Where appropriate, independent legal or specialist advice should be obtained before publishing sensitive or potentially disputed material.

Liability and Unforeseen Circumstances

Professional care

Gray Matter Edits undertakes to perform agreed services with reasonable professional skill and care.

Nothing in these terms limits liability that cannot lawfully be limited, including applicable consumer remedies or liability arising from intentional misconduct or other conduct for which exclusion is prohibited.

Third-party decisions

Gray Matter Edits does not control decisions made by universities, examination boards, publishers, literary agents, retailers, freelance platforms, or other independent third parties.

No guarantee is made regarding acceptance, publication, grades, commercial performance, or other outcomes outside the agreed service.

Business-to-business liability

For contracts concluded by clients acting in a business or professional capacity, and to the extent permitted by applicable law, liability for ordinary contractual loss is limited to reasonably foreseeable direct loss arising from the relevant project.

Any additional liability limit expressly agreed for a business commission will apply only to the extent legally enforceable.

Events beyond reasonable control

Events such as serious illness, infrastructure failures, natural disasters, or other circumstances beyond reasonable control may affect project delivery.

Where such circumstances arise, Gray Matter Edits will communicate material disruptions and seek a reasonable solution.

Any rights to cancellation, repayment, or other remedies remain governed by applicable law.

Website Use and Content

The website's text, branding, graphics, original service descriptions, and other proprietary materials are protected by applicable intellectual property laws.

Visitors may access the website for lawful personal or business information purposes.

Reproduction, redistribution, or commercial exploitation of proprietary website materials requires permission unless otherwise authorised by law.

External links

This website may contain links to external websites and services. Gray Matter Edits is not responsible for their independently controlled content, terms, availability, or privacy practices.

Website information

Reasonable efforts are made to keep information accurate and up to date. Service descriptions, pricing, and availability may change over time.

Changes to general website information do not retrospectively alter an existing accepted agreement without a valid contractual or legal basis.

Complaints and Dispute Resolution

Contact Gray Matter Edits first

Clients who are dissatisfied with a service, product, invoice, or other contractual matter are encouraged to raise the concern in writing.

Please contact jodie@graymatteredits.com with the project reference, relevant details, and the resolution being requested.

Complaints will be considered fairly and in good faith, with the aim of reaching an appropriate resolution.

Finnish Consumer Advisory Services

Where eligible consumer disputes cannot be resolved directly, consumers may seek guidance from the Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority's Consumer Advisory Services.

Information is available at www.kkv.fi .

Consumer Disputes Board

Eligible disputes may be referred to Finland's independent Consumer Disputes Board.

The Board provides non-binding recommendations for resolving consumer disputes. Its procedure is free of charge and ordinarily conducted in Finnish or Swedish.

Further information is available at www.kuluttajariita.fi .

International consumer disputes

Consumers residing in other countries may have access to additional consumer advice, cross-border assistance, or alternative dispute-resolution procedures where applicable.

These terms do not prevent consumers from exercising mandatory rights or accessing competent courts and dispute-resolution bodies.

Professional-client disputes

Disputes involving business or professional clients will first be addressed through good-faith written negotiation.

Where an agreed platform, contract, or applicable law provides a particular dispute process, that process will be followed.

Governing Law and Changes to These Terms

Applicable law

These Terms of Service are governed by Finnish law, subject to any mandatory consumer protections and jurisdictional rights that apply to clients residing in other countries.

Nothing in these terms deprives consumers of protections they cannot legally waive under the law applicable to their circumstances.

Changes to these terms

Gray Matter Edits may revise these Terms of Service to reflect changes in services, business practices, or applicable legal requirements.

Updated terms will be published on this page with a revised date.

Changes will not automatically alter contracts already concluded. Existing agreements remain subject to their applicable agreed terms unless lawfully amended.

Severability

If any provision is found to be invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions continue to apply to the extent legally possible.

Contact Information and Withdrawal Form

How to exercise a right of withdrawal

If you are entitled to withdraw from a contract, you may notify Gray Matter Edits by email at jodie@graymatteredits.com .

A clear statement that you wish to withdraw is sufficient. You may also use the optional model notice below.

You do not have to use this model to exercise a valid statutory withdrawal right.