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Beta Reader Terms

Last updated: [05.11.2026]

These Beta Reader Terms apply to participation in the BELOW Beta Circle and to any private draft material, chapters, excerpts, notes, bonus material, or related content shared with selected beta readers.

By submitting a Beta Reader application and, if selected, accessing private Beta Circle material, you agree to these terms.

1. Purpose of the Beta Circle

BELOW is a complete California-set speculative thriller. The manuscript is finished, and hundreds of hours have already gone into translating, revising, and shaping it in American English.

The purpose of the Beta Circle is to receive voluntary early-reader feedback before selected chapters or materials are released publicly. Feedback may relate to story clarity, pacing, emotional impact, character motivation, dialogue, American English phrasing, readability, and any passages that may feel unnatural, too translated, or unclear.

Beta reading is not a proofreading, editing, employment, or paid service relationship.

2. Voluntary Participation

Participation in the Beta Circle is voluntary.

Submitting an application does not guarantee selection. Selected beta readers may receive access to one or more private draft chapters or related materials. Access may be limited, paused, or ended at any time.

Beta readers are not required to provide professional editing, proofreading, or line-by-line correction. Feedback may be brief, selective, and based on the reader’s honest reaction.

3. No Payment, Royalties, or Ownership Rights

Beta reading is unpaid unless otherwise agreed in writing before any work begins.

By participating as a beta reader, you understand and agree that you do not receive and will not claim:

- payment,

- royalties,

- revenue share,

- copyright,

- ownership rights,

- creative rights,

- approval rights,

- co-author credit,

- editorial control,

- or any legal or financial interest in BELOW or any related work.

All rights in BELOW, including the manuscript, characters, story world, plot, title, excerpts, bonus material, revisions, derivative works, and future versions, remain with the author.

4. Use of Feedback

By submitting comments, notes, suggestions, reactions, corrections, or other feedback, you give the author permission to use, adapt, modify, develop, ignore, or incorporate that feedback in BELOW or any related work without payment, royalties, credit, approval, or further permission.

Feedback does not create co-authorship, copyright ownership, creative rights, or any claim to the work.

5. Confidentiality of Private Material

Private Beta Circle material is confidential.

You agree not to copy, repost, quote publicly, screenshot, upload, distribute, publish, sell, summarize in detail, train AI systems on, or otherwise share private draft chapters or Beta Circle material without written permission from the author.

This applies to private chapters, excerpts, documents, notes, bonus material, feedback discussions, and any non-public information shared as part of the Beta Circle.

Publicly released chapters on the official website may be read and shared by linking to the official page, but they may not be copied or reposted in full without permission.

6. No Public Spoilers or Misrepresentation

Please do not publicly share spoilers, private plot details, unpublished twists, character revelations, or private development notes from Beta Circle material.

You also agree not to present yourself as an editor, agent, publisher, rights holder, official representative, or co-creator of BELOW unless separately agreed in writing.

7. Optional Acknowledgment

If BELOW is published in the future, selected beta readers may be offered optional acknowledgment by their chosen name.

Acknowledgment is not guaranteed and does not create payment, royalties, copyright, ownership, creative rights, approval rights, or any other claim to the work.

No beta reader will be publicly named without their permission.

8. Age Requirement

The private Beta Circle is currently open only to applicants who are 18 years or older.

9. Data and Communication

Information submitted through the application form may be used to review your Beta Reader application, contact you about the Beta Circle, manage private draft access, and administer the early-reader process.

Newsletter subscription is separate and optional.

More information about how personal data is handled is available in the Privacy Policy:

[LINK TO PRIVACY POLICY]

10. Ending Participation

You may stop participating in the Beta Circle at any time by contacting the author.

The author may also remove or restrict Beta Circle access at any time, especially if these terms are violated or if the Beta Circle structure changes.

If access ends, the confidentiality obligations for private Beta Circle material continue.

11. No Guarantee of Publication

Participation in the Beta Circle does not guarantee that BELOW will be published, released, sold, submitted to agents, self-published, or made available in any specific form.

The author may revise, remove, restructure, rename, pause, or abandon any part of the work or publication plan at any time.

12. Contact

For questions about the Beta Circle, these terms, or data deletion requests, please contact:

[Dennis Fouquet]

[dion.fouquet@googlemail.com]

[dion.fouquet.com]

13. Governing Law and Jurisdiction

These Beta Reader Terms and any participation in the Beta Circle shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Federal Republic of Germany.

To the extent permitted by applicable law, the exclusive jurisdiction and venue for any disputes arising out of or in connection with these terms shall be the courts of 30159 Hannover, Germany.

14. Severability

If any provision of these Beta Reader Terms is found to be invalid, illegal, or unenforceable by a court of competent jurisdiction, such invalidity shall not affect the validity of the remaining provisions, which shall continue in full force and effect.

The invalid, illegal, or unenforceable provision shall be replaced, to the extent legally possible, by a valid and enforceable provision that comes closest to the original intent and economic purpose of the invalid provision.