Refund Policy

Try it before you pay

There are two ways to see the work before you pay anything, and neither asks for a card.

A finished sample novel sits on your shelf from the moment you register — a complete public-domain manuscript with the whole analysis already done and open: the Developmental Report, every diagnostic, the readers' verdicts and the exports. Nothing in it is held back, nothing is spent by reading it, and it does not touch the free reading of your own book. It is there so you can see exactly what a paid reading produces, in full, on a novel you already know.

Then there is your own book. Your first reading is free: Novel Maestro reads the whole manuscript and gives you Maestro's First Take on it — the editor's letter, the one thing it thinks is holding the book back, and your cast and your story as it read them. The Developmental Report, the diagnostics and the readers' verdicts are what the payment adds, which is the division the sample novel exists to make honest: you can judge those on someone else's book, and the reading of your own words on yours, before deciding anything. The craft library is free on every plan.

Our 14-day refund

If the reading or the reports are wrong about your manuscript, or if something didn't work, write to support@novelmaestro.com within 14 days of your purchase and we will arrange a refund through Paddle. Tell us in a line what was wrong. We take that at face value and will not ask you to argue for it.

This is a goodwill policy that we offer on top of your legal rights, not instead of them. It applies whether or not you have already run a read.

Your statutory rights

Novel Maestro provides immediate access to a digital service. Where permitted by law, by choosing to begin using Novel Maestro immediately after purchase, you consent to the service beginning during any applicable withdrawal period and acknowledge that your statutory right to withdraw may be lost once you begin using the service.

This does not affect your statutory rights if the service is faulty, materially not as described, or where applicable law otherwise entitles you to a refund. Nothing on this page limits those rights.

Who processes the refund

Payments are processed by Paddle, which acts as the authorised reseller and merchant of record for purchases of Novel Maestro. Your purchase is therefore made with Paddle, and Paddle's own buyer terms and refund policy apply to the transaction alongside our Terms of Service.

In practice this means we agree the refund and Paddle issues it. Paddle reviews some refunds before releasing them, so it can take a few days for one to be approved. Once it is, Paddle emails you a credit note, which also appears beside your invoice under Billing in your account.

The money is returned to the payment method you used, and the time it takes to reach you depends on your bank or card issuer rather than on us.

Readings that don't complete

If a reading fails part-way through for technical reasons, it is returned to your allowance automatically and you are emailed about it. The same happens if Novel Maestro reads a manuscript and then declines to give editorial notes on it: you are not charged a reading for an answer that is not an edit. That is a credit rather than a refund, and it does not use up the 14-day window above or affect your right to ask for your money back.

Gift purchases

A gift that has not yet been claimed can be refunded on the same terms, to the person who bought it. Once a code has been claimed, the access belongs to the recipient and is the same non-expiring access an ordinary purchase buys — so ask us and we will look at it on the facts rather than refuse on principle.

How to ask

Write to support@novelmaestro.com from the email address you bought with, or tell us which address you used. You do not need an order number, though it helps if you have the Paddle receipt to hand. We aim to answer within two working days.

Who you are dealing with

Novel Maestro is a service of Large & Stoker Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales under company number 17448669, whose registered office is at 71-75 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London, WC2H 9JQ, United Kingdom.