Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy

Type of website: Ecommerce
Effective date: 1st day of June, 2023

www.alknorrbooks.com (the "Site") is owned and operated by A.L. Knorr. A.L. Knorr is the data controller and can be contacted at:

abby(at)alknorrbooks.com
________________________________________

This privacy policy sets out how A.L. Knorr uses and protects any information that you give when you use this website. A.L. Knorr is committed to ensuring that your privacy is protected. Should we ask you to provide certain information by which you can be identified when using this website, then you can be assured that it will only be used in accordance with this privacy statement.

We may change this policy from time to time by updating this page. You should check this page from time to time to ensure that you are happy with any changes. This policy is effective from June 1, 2023.

Purpose
The purpose of this privacy policy (this "Privacy Policy") is to inform users of our Site of the following:

The personal data we will collect; email address, physical address, and contact details.Use of collected data;Who has access to the data collected;The rights of Site users; andThe Site's cookie policy.

This Privacy Policy applies in addition to the terms and conditions of our Site.

GDPR
For users in the European Union, we adhere to the Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016, known as the General Data Protection Regulation (the "GDPR"). For users in the United Kingdom, we adhere to the GDPR as enshrined in the Data Protection Act 2018.

We have not appointed a Data Protection Officer as we do not fall within the categories of controllers and processors required to appoint a Data Protection Officer under Article 37 of the GDPR.

Consent
By using our Site users agree that they consent to:

The conditions set out in this Privacy Policy.

When the legal basis for us processing your personal data is that you have provided your consent to that processing, you may withdraw your consent at any time. If you withdraw your consent, it will not make processing which we completed before you withdrew your consent unlawful.

You can withdraw your consent by: By unsubscribing or via contact form.

Legal Basis for Processing
We collect and process personal data about users in the EU only when we have a legal basis for doing so under Article 6 of the GDPR.

We rely on the following legal basis to collect and process the personal data of users in the EU:

Users have provided their consent to the processing of their data for one or more specific purposes.

Personal Data We Collect
We only collect data that helps us achieve the purpose set out in this Privacy Policy. We will not collect any additional data beyond the data listed below without notifying you first.

We require this information to understand your needs and provide you with a better service, and in particular for the following reasons:
We periodically send promotional emails and SMS about new products, special offers or other information which we think you may find interesting using the email address and/or phone number which you have provided to us.

Data Collected Automatically
When you visit and use our Site, we may automatically collect and store the following information:

Location; Clicked links; Visited pages; Abandoned carts; Abandoned checkouts

How We Use Personal Data
Data collected on our Site will only be used for the purposes specified in this Privacy Policy or indicated on the relevant pages of our Site. We will not use your data beyond what we disclose in this Privacy Policy.

The data we collect automatically is used for the following purposes:

Statistics.

Who We Share Personal Data With
Employees
We may disclose user data to any member of our organisation who reasonably needs access to user data to achieve the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy.

Other Disclosures
We will not sell or share your data with other third parties, except in the following cases:

If the law requires it;If it is required for any legal proceeding;To prove or protect our legal rights; andTo buyers or potential buyers of this company in the event that we seek to sell the company.

If you follow hyperlinks from our Site to another Site, please note that we are not responsible for and have no control over their privacy policies and practices.

Links to other websites

Our website may contain links to other websites of interest. However, once you have used these links to leave our site, you should note that we do not have any control over that other website. Therefore, we cannot be responsible for the protection and privacy of any information which you provide whilst visiting such sites and such sites are not governed by this privacy statement. You should exercise caution and look at the privacy statement applicable to the website in question.

Controlling your personal information

We collect emails and phone numbers only for the purposes of sending new release and book information, not names or any other personal information apart from addresses.

You may choose to restrict the collection or use of your personal information in the following ways:

We will not sell, distribute or lease your personal information to third parties unless we have your permission or are required by law to do so.If you believe that any information we are holding on you is incorrect or incomplete, please email us as soon as possible at the above address. We will promptly correct any information found to be incorrect.

How Long We Store Personal Data
User data will be stored until the purpose the data was collected for has been achieved.

You will be notified if your data is kept for longer than this period.

How We Protect Your Personal Data
We are committed to ensuring that your information is secure. In order to prevent unauthorised access or disclosure, we have put in place suitable physical, electronic, and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information we collect online.

While we take all reasonable precautions to ensure that user data is secure and that users are protected, there always remains the risk of harm. The Internet as a whole can be insecure at times and therefore we are unable to guarantee the security of user data beyond what is reasonably practical.

Your Rights as a User
Under the GDPR, you have the following rights:

Right to be informed;Right of access;Right to rectification;Right to erasure;Right to restrict processing;Right to data portability; andRight to object.

Children
We do not knowingly collect or use personal data from children under 16 years of age. If we learn that we have collected personal data from a child under 16 years of age, the personal data will be deleted as soon as possible. If a child under 16 years of age has provided us with personal data their parent or guardian may contact our privacy officer.

How to Access, Modify, Delete, or Challenge the Data Collected
If you would like to know if we have collected your personal data, how we have used your personal data, if we have disclosed your personal data and to who we disclosed your personal data, if you would like your data to be deleted or modified in any way, or if you would like to exercise any of your other rights under the GDPR, please contact abby@alknorrbooks.com  

Do Not Track Notice
Do Not Track ("DNT") is a privacy preference that you can set in certain web browsers. We do not track the users of our Site over time and across third party websites and therefore do not respond to browser-initiated DNT signals.

How to Opt-Out of Data Collection, Use or Disclosure
In addition to the method(s) described in the How to Access, Modify, Delete, or Challenge the Data Collected section, we provide the following specific opt-out methods for the forms of collection, use, or disclosure of your personal data specified below:

You can opt-out of the use of your personal data for marketing emails. You can opt-out by clicking "unsubscribe" on the bottom of any marketing email or updating your email preferences under "Your Account"

Cookie Policy
A cookie is a small file, stored on a user's hard drive by a website. Its purpose is to collect data relating to the user's browsing habits. You can choose to be notified each time a cookie is transmitted. You can also choose to disable cookies entirely in your internet browser, but this may decrease the quality of your user experience.

We use the following types of cookies on our Site:

Analytical cookiesAnalytical cookies allow us to improve the design and functionality of our Site by collecting data on how you access our Site, for example data on the content you access, how long you stay on our Site, etc; and Third-Party Cookies Third-party cookies are created by a website other than ours.You can read about Shopify's Cookie Policy here. 

How we use cookies

A cookie is a small file which asks permission to be placed on your computer’s hard drive. Once you agree, the file is added, and the cookie helps analyse web traffic or lets you know when you visit a particular site. Cookies allow web applications to respond to you as an individual. The web application can tailor its operations to your needs, likes, and dislikes by gathering and remembering information about your preferences.

We use traffic log cookies to identify which pages are being used. This helps us analyse data about webpage traffic and improve our website in order to tailor it to customer needs. We only use this information for statistical analysis purposes and then the data is removed from the system.

Overall, cookies help us provide you with a better website by enabling us to monitor which pages you find useful and which you do not. A cookie in no way gives us access to your computer or any information about you, other than the data you choose to share with us.

You can choose to accept or decline cookies. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually modify your browser setting to decline cookies if you prefer. This may prevent you from taking full advantage of the website.

Modifications
This Privacy Policy may be amended from time to time in order to maintain compliance with the law and to reflect any changes to our data collection process. When we amend this Privacy Policy we will update the "Effective Date" at the top of this Privacy Policy. We recommend that our users periodically review our Privacy Policy to ensure that they are notified of any updates. If necessary, we may notify users by email of changes to this Privacy Policy.

Complaints
If you have any complaints about how we process your personal data, please contact us through the contact methods listed in the Contact Information section so that we can, where possible, resolve the issue. If you feel we have not addressed your concern in a satisfactory manner you may contact a supervisory authority. You also have the right to directly make a complaint to a supervisory authority. You can lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority by contacting abby(at)alknorrbooks.com ________________________________________________________________________

Contact Information
If you have any questions, concerns or complaints, you can contact abby@alknorrbooks.com 

Frequently Asked Questions

What are you working on right now?

Aquamarine, Pretty Little Mermaids, book 1.

Will you write more for Akiko & Petra?

Yes, I plan to. The stories for these characters are both in the early plotting stage, but they are never far from my mind. I'm sorry I can't commit to an exact timeline just yet.

Why can't I buy "specific title in a specific format" here?

I built my career as an author by putting my books exclusively into the Kindle Unlimited program. That program has become less and less worth it over the years, so I plan to take my full catalog wide and sell it here, in my store, but it will be a slowish transition.

Will you read my manuscript?

I only wish I could read every manuscript I'm asked to read. On top of having a TBR a mile high, I have a full schedule producing content and running this store. I don't have enough hours in my day where I'm not staring at a screen. I'm so sorry, but please don't sent me your manuscript. I do congratulate you on finishing it, though!

What is your policy on AI?

There's three parts to address on this topic: digital narration, digital art and digital writing.

Digital narration: while I believe that no one can narrate a story better than a human (I adore my narrators; Marni Penning, Manon Kahle, Gabra Zackman, and Mikael Naramore) there are challenges to using human narration. Good quality narration starts at around $300 per finished hour. For a full length novel of 10 hours, you can do the math. Also, human narration takes a long time. Sometimes VERY long. Just ask the listeners who have been waiting for A Memory of Nightshade for over a year now. So, while human narration is always my first choice, it is dependant both on time and on funding. Since I'm spending more than $30k in 2023 into French translations, I don't have the budgets I would normally have for audio. Digital narration is a good solution to offer readers until I'm able to hire my favorite humans.

I have readers who are visually impaired who use Alexa to read books aloud to them because they can't afford to buy all the human narrated audiobooks they would like to consume. I feel that providing a digitally narrated file is a step above Alexa, and a service they appreciate.

Regarding digital art: all of my covers and banners are made by human artists, and they always will be. Many professional artists are now utilizing digital art to help them create their masterpieces. If they do, then that is their choice.

I have and do use digital art to produce character images which helps both my human artists and my readers understand my vision. For example I developed many images to illustrate the cast from The Scented Court. To have hired a human to produce these images would have taken months and cost thousands. I wouldn't have been able to afford that, but with Artbreeder, I was able to produce them in a few hours. So while human artists will always be my go to, I will use digital art when it makes sense from a budget and time perspective.

I have paid human artists somewhere in the region of $100k over the course of my career as an author, maybe even more, I haven't calculated the exact number. I don't plan to withdraw that support, ever. If you weren't aware, AI artwork cannot by copyrighted, this is an important factor that keeps the power in the hands of human artists.

Digital writing: I'll never use AI to write my stories. I might use it to help me work through a complex plot problem, or to perfect a blurb, but it will never write chapters for me. Full stop.

Final thoughts: I am not fully comfortable with any kind of AI because no one knows where it's going to go, but I don't buy into the hysteria that its going to put artists out of business any more than escalators made staircases obsolete. I think it far more likely that artists will use AI as a tool to help them (they are already doing this), just as writers are already using AI to help them fix plot holes, and the visually impaired are using AI to be read to.

As I type this, Amazon is being flooded with AI written books. Are they hurting the sales of human authors? No, not the good ones who focus on producing the best quality story that they can. AI books get bad reviews and subsequently sink to the bottom of their categories where they languish like a pile of rotting leaves. AI will improve at storytelling over time, yes, but I'm not a catastrophizer and I don't believe in living in fear or hysteria about what might happen. I have to live in the moment, keep creating, and fearlessly live day by day.

AI can't be stopped by campaigning against it, although I sympathize with those who are trying. We will just have to wait and see how the landscape forms itself over time.

For the record, I do wish engineers would focus on making robots that can take over mundane jobs so that humans can be free'd up to create. I believe to be human is to be creative, and inventions should support that, not usurp it.