Terms of use

These terms are between you and CritPages, operated by Chris Dabel. They apply to the website at critpages.com and to the CritPages app. By creating an account, joining a workspace, or signing up for early access, you agree to them. If you do not agree, do not use the service.

CritPages is in beta. That word does real work in these terms: features change, things break, and we may reset or end the beta. We will tell account holders by email before any change that would affect their pages.

You must be at least 16 and able to enter into this agreement. One account per person, tied to an email address you control. You are responsible for what happens under your account, so keep your sign-in codes to yourself.

You keep every right to the writing you submit. CritPages claims no ownership and no license beyond the one needed to run the service: storing your pages and showing them, inside the app, to the readers you invite. That license ends when you delete the pages or your account.

We do not use your writing to train or improve any automated system, do not sell it, and do not show it to anyone you did not invite, except as described in the privacy policy.

Marks and comments a reviewer leaves on your pages are shared with you. The reviewer keeps the right to their own words; you may keep, use, and act on the feedback as you see fit.

When you open someone else’s pages in CritPages you are reading unpublished work in confidence. You agree not to copy, photograph, transcribe, share, publish, or otherwise reproduce any part of it, or describe it in a way that reveals its substance, without the author’s written permission. This applies whether you are a critique partner, a group member, or a beta reader, and it continues after you leave the workspace.

The app makes casual copying hard by design. It cannot make a promise on your behalf. This paragraph is that promise.

• Submit writing you do not have the right to share, or writing that is unlawful.
• Use marks or comments to harass, threaten, or demean another person. Critique the pages, not the writer.
• Invite people who have not agreed to read, or add addresses you do not have permission to use.
• Probe, scrape, or interfere with the service, or attempt to reach pages you were not invited to.
• Resell access or run a paid service on top of CritPages without our agreement.

The person who creates a group is its Lead. The Lead invites members, starts sessions, and can remove members or end the group. The author of a beta round invites readers and can remove them or end the round. Removal ends access immediately.

One-on-one workspaces and group membership are free. A Lead’s seat and beta rounds will be paid after the beta, with prices published before anything is charged. Everything that will be paid is free during the beta. We will give at least thirty days’ notice before introducing a charge, and nothing you have already submitted will be held behind a payment.

You can delete your account at any time by writing to hello@critpages.com. Deleting your account deletes your pages and the marks you left on others’ pages.

We may suspend or close an account that breaks these terms, and we will say why unless the law prevents it. If we ever wind the service down, we will give account holders at least sixty days’ notice and a way to retrieve their pages first.

CritPages is provided as it is and as available, without warranties of any kind, express or implied, including fitness for a particular purpose and uninterrupted or error-free operation. Keep your own copy of your manuscript. CritPages is a marking and feedback tool, not a backup.

To the extent the law allows, CritPages and its operator are not liable for indirect, incidental, or consequential damages, or for loss of data or writing, arising from your use of the service. Where liability cannot be excluded, it is limited to the amount you paid us in the twelve months before the claim, which during the beta is nothing.

These terms are governed by the law of the State of Texas, and any dispute will be heard in its courts. If a part of these terms is found unenforceable, the rest still applies.

We may update these terms. When we do, the date at the top changes, and for a change that affects your rights or your pages we will email account holders before it takes effect. Continuing to use CritPages after that date means you accept the new terms.