BLACK OPAL BOOKS has been serving both new and established authors since October 2010. We are a boutique small press, dedicated to producing quality books for readers and helping both experienced and debut authors find a home for those stories that just have to be told. We are committed to producing well-written, properly-edited books and to providing both experienced and debut authors an outlet for their works they might not otherwise have. We do not do vanity publishing.
We publish in both eBook and paperback formats and are committed to returning more of the profits to our authors. Currently, we handle all genres of romance, as well as women’s fiction, chick lit, historicals, mysteries, thrillers, YA, and limited non-fiction.
Based in the Pacific Northwest, BLACK OPAL BOOKS was founded by people who thought the publishing industry could do more for both readers and authors. So they formed BLACK OPAL BOOKS and gave it a two-fold mission: produce high-quality, well-edited books for readers, while helping authors achieve their dreams, as well as a higher percentage of royalties.
For Readers: Since we’re readers, too, we know how frustrating and disappointing badly-written and poorly edited books can be. We understand that when you pay good money for a book, you expect to get value for your dollar. So at BLACK OPAL BOOKS, all our books are carefully chosen for quality and thoroughly edited before a single copy goes out.
For Authors: Since we’re authors as well as business people, we know how much hard work goes into writing a book—endless hours spent staring at a page while searching for words, struggling to finish the first draft, revising, editing, more revising, and still more revising. We also understand how disheartening it is, when you finally write the dreaded query letter and send it out to publishers, only to have your book rejected based solely on your query letter by someone who hasn’t read a single word of your book. Or even worse, to not get a response at all. And if you’re lucky enough to get accepted and published, to receive royalties of such a small per cent. So at BLACK OPAL BOOKS, we let you send your completed manuscript along with your query letter. For all properly submitted queries, we read at least one chapter of the manuscript before deciding whether to accept or reject it. We also respond to all properly submitted queries. For those of you we do accept, our royalties start at 45%, for both eBook and print, and go as high as 70%.
Our goal is to provide a rewarding and satisfying publishing experience for both readers and authors.
Member of the Independent Book Publishers Association
An Approved Publisher with International Thriller Writers.
An Approved Publisher with Mystery Writers of America.
TO READ THE BIOS OF BLACK OPAL BOOKS’ BOARD OF DIRECTORS CLICK ON THE BOARD MEMBER’S NAME BELOW.
PLEASE READ THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF USE CAREFULLY BEFORE USING THIS SITE. Your use of the website constitutes your agreement with the terms below!
Access and use of BlackOpalBooks.com are subject to the BlackOpalBooks.com Privacy Policy, the terms and conditions set out below (together, the “Terms and Conditions”). If you do not agree to these Terms and Conditions, please do not access or use BlackOpalBooks.com. We reserve the right to change these Terms and Conditions from time to time by updating this posting. Please check these Terms and Conditions periodically for changes. Your continued use of BlackOpalBooks.com following the posting of changes to these Terms and Conditions will mean you accept those changes.
- Restrictions on Use of Materials
- BlackOpalBooks.com and its contents are the property of Black Opal Books, Inc., (“Black Opal”) or its licensors and are protected, without limitation, pursuant to United States copyright and trademark laws. Reproduction, duplication, or distribution of BlackOpalBooks.com and/or all or any part of its contents for anything other than your personal, noncommercial use is a violation not only of these Terms and Conditions but also of copyright and trademark laws (unless you have written permission from Black Opal).
- Jurisdictional Issues
- This site is controlled and operated by Black Opal. These Terms and Conditions shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the United States, without giving effect to any principles of conflicts of law. You agree that any action at law or in equity arising out of or relating to these Terms and Conditions or BlackOpalBooks.com shall be filed only in the state or federal courts located in the United States, and you hereby submit to the nonexclusive jurisdiction of such courts. If any provision of these Terms and Conditions shall be void or unenforceable, then that provision shall be deemed severable from these Terms and Conditions and shall not affect the validity or enforceability of any remaining provisions. This is the entire agreement between us relating to the subject matter hereof.
- Links to Third-Party Sites
- Users may, through hypertext or other computer links, gain access to other sites on the Internet which are not part of BlackOpalBooks.com and which are not controlled by Black Opal. Black Opal is providing these links to you only as a convenience, and the inclusion of any link does not imply endorsement by Black Opal of the site. BLACK OPAL ASSUMES NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY MATERIAL OUTSIDE OF BLACKOPALBOOKS.COM WHICH MAY BE ACCESSED THROUGH ANY SUCH LINK. Unless otherwise indicated at BlackOpalBooks.com, BlackOpalBooks.com is not sponsored by or affiliated with the linked sites, and trademarks used in connection with linked sites are not trademarks of Black Opal.
- User Rights & Responsibilities
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Black Opal Books expects all users to conduct themselves in a responsible manner, to respect the rights and privacy of others, and act in accordance with all applicable laws respectful to their location. Users are presumed to be responsible for any activity carried out under their Black Opal Books login. Users are also expected to only use their own personal login information and not share their username password with anyone. Users are limited to a single (1) login account.
- Individuals shall not:
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- Attempt to compromise or tamper with user passwords. This includes, but is not limited to, cracking, decoding, copying password files, “sniffing” packets to search for passwords, or otherwise attempt to discover passwords belonging to other individuals.
- Attempt to intercept any network communication for purposes including, but not limited to, reading message/file content, rerouting packets, or packet “sniffing.”
- Attempt to or obtain unauthorized access to the secure areas of the Black Opal Books Website.
- Attempt to or access the Black Opal Books database directly through attacks known as SQL Injection, JavaScript, or any other method intended to bypass the website.
- Perform or assist in the performance of any act that will interfere with the normal operation of computers, terminals, peripherals, networks, or in any activity that interferes with the ability of others to access the website.
- Illegally solicit or distribute copyrighted material found on the Black Opal Books website.
Users who violate the Terms and Conditions, outlined in this document, may find their IP address banned from accessing the website. In addition, they can and will be held financially and legally responsible for any damages either directly or indirectly caused by their actions. This includes, but is not limited to, the costs to repair and recover lost data, loss of revenue due to down time, loss of revenue as a result of illegally distributed copies of Black Opal Books’ published material, and recovery of all legal costs, whether or not Black Opal Book chooses to press criminal charges against the offender.
- User Materials and License Granted
- Materials entered by users on any part of BlackOpalBooks.com (“Postings”) are the responsibility of the user entering the Postings. BLACK OPAL HAS NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR POSTINGS. However, Black Opal retains the right, which it may or may not exercise, in its sole discretion, to review, edit, or delete any postings which Black Opal deems to be illegal, offensive, or otherwise inappropriate. *You hereby represent and warrant that you have all necessary rights in and to all Postings you provide and that such Postings shall not infringe any proprietary or other rights of third parties or contain any libelous, tortious, or otherwise unlawful information. YOU AGREE TO INDEMNIFY BLACK OPAL FROM ANY DAMAGES, LOSSES, COSTS, OR EXPENSES WHICH BLACK OPAL, ITS AFFILIATES, THEIR RESPECTIVE EMPLOYEES, AND AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVES MAY INCUR AS A RESULT OF POSTINGS.
By contributing Postings to BlackOpalBooks.com, you give (or warrant that the owner of such rights has expressly given) to Black Opal and its affiliates a worldwide, royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable and nonexclusive right and license to use, reproduce, modify, edit, adapt, publish, translate, broadcast, create derivative works from, distribute, perform, display and publicize such content anywhere, for any purpose and in any form, media or technology now known or later developed, without any compensation to you. In addition, you acknowledge and agree that you have waived any moral rights in your Postings. You further agree that Black Opal is free to use any ideas, concepts, know-how, or techniques contained in any of the Postings for any purpose whatsoever including, but not limited to, developing, manufacturing and marketing products using such information, without compensation to you.
LIMITATION OF LIABILITY:
TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, BLACK OPAL IS PROVIDING BLACKOPALBOOKS.COM “AS IS” AND MAKES NO WARRANTIES OR REPRESENTATIONS, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, IN ANY CONNECTION WITH BLACKOPALBOOKS.COM, ITS CONTENTS, OR ANY WEB SITE OR CONTENTS WITH WHICH IT IS LINKED. BLACK OPAL DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE FUNCTION OF BLACKOPALBOOKS.COM OR ITS CONTENTS WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR FREE, THAT DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED, OR THAT BLACKOPALBOOKS.COM OR THE SERVER THAT MAKES IT AVAILABLE ARE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, NEGLIGENCE, SHALL BLACK OPAL BE LIABLE FOR ANY LOSS OF USE, LOSS OF DATA, LOSS OF INCOME OR PROFIT, LOSS OF OR DAMAGE TO PROPERTY, OR FOR ANY DAMAGES OF ANY KIND OR CHARACTER (INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION ANY COMPENSATORY, INCIDENTAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, SPECIAL, PUNITIVE, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES), EVEN IF BLACK OPAL HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES OR LOSSES, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OF BLACKOPALBOOKS.COM, ITS CONTENTS, OR ANY WEB SITE OR CONTENTS WITH WHICH IT IS LINKED. IN NO EVENT SHALL BLACK OPAL’S TOTAL LIABILITY FOR ALL DAMAGES, LOSSES, AND CAUSES OF ACTION, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, TORT (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, NEGLIGENCE), OR OTHERWISE, EXCEED THE AMOUNT PAID BY YOU FOR ACCESSING THIS SITE. PRICE AND AVAILABILITY INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE. ALL PRICES, UNLESS OTHERWISE INDICATED, ARE IN U.S. DOLLARS. ALL ORDERS ARE SUBJECT TO APPROVAL.
- What information do we collect?
- Black Opal Books collects a variety of information from our users in order to provide you service. This information includes but is not limited to your name, e-mail address, mailing address, phone number. This information is required for certain sections of our site; and is only provided to us by input from the user. You will be asked to provide this information when you register on our site, place an order, subscribe to our newsletter, respond to a survey, fill out a form or enter a contest. We do not employ any snooping software to obtain this information surreptitiously.
- We also collect statistical information that is provided by your browser and your internet provider. This may include such things as your IP address, the browser and version you are using, the version of your operating system, and the date and time of your visit. If you would like to prevent your browser and OS information from being provided, please contact your computer support for help in turning this off. NOTE: We reserve the right to block all visits from so-called “anonymous surfing” or proxy websites due to security concerns. We also reserve the right to block web or email access from any IP address that has been identified to be a spammer or a security risk.
- What do we use your information for?
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The information we collect from you may be used, including but not limited to, one the following ways:
- To personalize your experience
(your information helps us to better respond to your individual needs) - To improve our website
(we continually strive to improve our website offerings based on the information and feedback we receive from you) - To improve customer service
(your information helps us to more effectively respond to your customer service requests and support needs) - To process transactions
Your information, whether public or private, will not be sold, exchanged, transferred, or given to any other company for any reason whatsoever, without your consent, other than for the express purpose of delivering the purchased product or service requested - To administer a contest, promotion, survey or other site feature
Including, reporting royalties, winnings, etc to the IRS when required by law. - To send periodic emails
The email address you provide for order processing, may be used to send you information and updates pertaining to your order, in addition to receiving occasional company news, updates, related product or service information, etc.
- To personalize your experience
- How do we protect your information?
- We implement a variety of security measures to maintain the safety of your personal information when you place an order or enter, submit, or access your personal information. We offer the use of a secure server. All supplied sensitive/credit information is transmitted via Secure Socket Layer (SSL) technology and then encrypted into our Payment gateway providers database only to be accessible by those authorized with special access rights to such systems, and are required to keep the information confidential. Black Opal Books uses PayPal for all credit card transaction and never has access to your credit card information. PayPal transaction ID’s will be kept for for up to 1 year and then purged, unless otherwise notified. Any other private information (credit cards, social security numbers, financials, etc.) will not be kept on file for more than 60 days, unless otherwise specified..
- Do we use cookies?
- No (Please see the following section). Cookies are small files that a site or its service provider transfers to your computers hard drive through your Web browser (if you allow) that enables the sites or service providers systems to recognize your browser and capture and remember certain information Black Opal Book’s does not typically use cookies to help us remember your visit. However, certain portions of the website, such as the bookstore may use cookies if needed to remember and process the items in your shopping cart. The forums may use cookies to save your preferences for future visits.
- User Activity Tracking?
- Black Opal Books does not use cookies to track where our customers go on the web or to determine other pages that they may visit. We, do however collect statistical data used to monitor how users use the website. This may include what pages a visitor visits, how they got to specific page, such as what menu item they selected, and in what order the user visits those pages. This data is strictly used to monitor for bottle necks broken links is typically purged every 3 to 4 weeks However, certain records may be maintained for longer periods of time, if necessitated by an investigation of a security breach, or fraud.
- Any posts in the forums, reviews posted in the bookstore, blog postings, feedback placed via the contact forms, etc will be tagged with identifying information such as username, email address, internet (IP) address etc. This is considered non-statistical information. Hence it is will be maintained in perpetuity, in order to comply with state, federal, and international laws. This information is maintained, even if you cancel your account.
- If you came to the Black Opal Books website, from a link on a 3rd party website, that information will show in our logs. While Black Opal Books, does not purposefully use cookies to “watch” where our users go on the web, information that identifies the website that refereed you to Black Opal Books, may be collected. Black Opal Books, maintains statistics on where our visitors are coming from, but specific information on what users came from what sites is considered statistical and purged every 4 weeks.
- Do we disclose any information to outside parties?
- We do not sell, trade, or otherwise transfer to outside parties your personally identifiable information. This does not include trusted third parties who assist us in operating our website, conducting our business, or servicing you, so long as those parties agree to keep this information confidential. (For example, you and you’re information will be transferred to PayPal to complete a transaction through the bookstore). We may also release your information when we believe release is appropriate to comply with the law, enforce our site policies, or protect ours or others rights, property, or safety. However, non-personally identifiable visitor information may be provided to other parties for marketing, advertising, or other uses.
- Third party links
- Occasionally, at our discretion, we may include or offer third party products or services on our website. These third party sites have separate and independent privacy policies. We therefore have no responsibility or liability for the content and activities of these linked sites. Nonetheless, we seek to protect the integrity of our site and welcome any feedback about these sites.
- California Online Privacy Protection Act Compliance
- Because we value your privacy we have taken the necessary precautions to be in compliance with the California Online Privacy Protection Act. We therefore will not distribute your personal information to outside parties without your consent. As part of the California Online Privacy Protection Act, all users of our site may make any changes to their information at anytime by logging into their control panel and going to the ‘Edit Profile’ page.
- Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act Compliance
- We are in compliance with the requirements of COPPA (Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act), we do not collect any information from anyone under 13 years of age. Our website, products and services are all directed to people who are at least 13 years old or older.
- Online Privacy Policy Only
- This online privacy policy applies only to information collected through our website and not to information collected offline.
- Terms and Conditions
- Please also visit our Terms and Conditions section establishing the use, disclaimers, and limitations of liability governing the use of our website at http://www.blackopalbooks.com/who-we-are/acceptable-use-policy
- Your Consent
- Your continued use of the Black Opal Books domain, the websites www.blackopalbooks.com, and bookstore.blackopalbooks.com imply your agreement, and consent to our terms and conditions and privacy policy. If you do not agree to these conditions, please close your browser window now.
- Changes to our Privacy Policy
- If we decide to change our privacy policy, we will post those changes on this page. If there are any questions regarding this privacy policy, you may contact us using the information below.
- Black Opal Books
- 170 W ELLENDALE STE 103-144
- DALLAS, Oregon 97338 USA