Story Metro

Story Metro is a digital reading and audiobook platform focused on clean, curated content for families and readers seeking high-standard stories.

This Agreement governs the distribution, monetization, analytics access, and content standards for all works submitted by the Author.

The Author retains all right, title, and interest in and to their submitted works, including but not limited to:

• manuscripts
• ebooks
• audiobooks
• cover art
• metadata
• series branding
• associated intellectual property

Nothing in this Agreement transfers ownership of the Author's copyright or intellectual property to Story Metro.

The Author grants Story Metro a non-exclusive, worldwide, revocable license to host, display, distribute, promote, stream, and make the submitted works available through the Story Metro platform for the duration of this Agreement.

The Author remains free to sell, license, publish, or distribute the work through any other platform, retailer, website, or channel.

For subscription-based reading and listening activity on the Story Metro platform, Story Metro allocates sixty percent (60%) of net subscription revenue to the reader royalty pool described in Section 4 and retains the remaining forty percent (40%). The entire pool is allocated to qualifying Authors under Section 4; there is no further division of the pool between the Author and Story Metro.

For any direct purchases that are linked out to the Author's own personal website, storefront, or approved third-party sales page:

• 100% of the purchase revenue belongs to the Author
• Story Metro does not claim commission on linked direct purchases made outside the platform unless otherwise agreed in writing

4.1 Reader royalty pool. For each subscriber in a calendar month, Story Metro allocates sixty percent (60%) of the net subscription revenue received from that subscriber to a reader royalty pool attributable to that subscriber (each subscriber carries their own pool, sometimes called their "royalty purse"). Net subscription revenue means the subscription price actually received by Story Metro, less payment processing and billing fees, refunds, chargebacks, sales, use, and value-added taxes, and any commission charged by a third-party marketplace or app store through which the subscription was sold. A subscriber's pool is allocated only among the Authors that subscriber actually read or listened to in that month. Pools are not aggregated across subscribers. Where a subscriber's engagement in a month does not meet the threshold in Section 4.2 for any Author, no royalty accrues from that subscriber's pool for that month, and the unallocated amount is retained by Story Metro.

4.2 Qualifying engagement. An Author qualifies for a share of a subscriber's pool when that subscriber accrues at least thirty (30) qualifying minutes in the calendar month engaging with that Author's content through reading, listening, or approved interactive consumption. Qualifying minutes are minutes of bona fide engagement, after any adjustment under Section 4.4. For ebooks, a minute counts only while the subscriber is actively reading; idle time is excluded. For audiobooks, a minute is one minute of real elapsed listening time, so listening at a faster playback speed does not increase qualifying minutes.

4.3 Allocation formula. Each qualifying Author receives a share of that subscriber's pool equal to the Author's qualifying minutes divided by the total qualifying minutes that subscriber spent across all qualifying Authors in that month.

4.4 Anti-fraud adjustment. Story Metro may exclude or discount engagement it reasonably determines to be fraudulent, automated, or artificially inflated. Adjustments will be applied consistently across all Authors and disclosed in the Author dashboard.

4.5 Changes to methodology. Story Metro may modify the allocation methodology described in this Section on not less than ninety (90) days' prior written notice to the Author. If the Author does not accept a modification, the Author may terminate this Agreement on written notice before the change takes effect, and all royalties accrued through the effective date will be paid under Section 5. Changes will not be applied retroactively to any closed reporting period.

4.6 Reporting. The Author dashboard will report, for each reporting period, qualifying minutes by title, the number of qualifying subscribers, the allocation applied, and the resulting royalty. Story Metro will retain supporting engagement records for not less than twenty-four (24) months.

Royalty payouts are issued monthly in arrears. Royalties earned in a calendar month will be paid within thirty (30) days following the close of that month, subject to payment processor timing, fraud review, chargeback windows, and receipt of complete tax and payment information from the Author.

Minimum payout. Where the amount due for a month is less than one hundred U.S. dollars (US$100), Story Metro may carry it forward to the following month. Carried-forward amounts will be paid in full at least once every twelve (12) months and upon termination.

Story Metro may withhold or delay a payout in cases involving:

• suspected fraud
• unusual engagement activity
• refund or chargeback review
• incomplete tax or payment information
• violation of platform policies

Where a payout is withheld or delayed under this Section, Story Metro will notify the Author and identify the reason.

Story Metro does not charge any onboarding, upload, annual, or participation fee to Authors under this Agreement.

Authors receive access to platform tools including, where available:

• reader analytics
• engagement statistics
• readership trends
• content performance dashboards
• royalty reporting

These tools are included as part of participation on the platform.

At the time each book, audiobook, or work is uploaded, the Author must affirmatively certify that the submitted work complies with the Story Metro Clean Reads Rubric. This certification is made by checking the required acceptance box during upload.

The Author represents and warrants that each submitted work complies with Story Metro's content standards, including restrictions relating to:

• explicit sexual content
• graphic violence
• excessive profanity
• otherwise prohibited material under the rubric

Upload does not constitute publication. Following upload, the work is assessed under the Clean Reads Rubric as described in Section 7B. The work becomes visible to readers only when the Author publishes it from the Author dashboard.

Story Metro reserves the right to review, flag, remove, suspend, or reject any content that does not meet platform standards, whether before or after publication. Repeated violations may result in account suspension or termination.

The Author represents and warrants that:

• they own or control all rights necessary to distribute the submitted work
• the work does not infringe any copyright, trademark, privacy, publicity, or other legal right
• the work is accurate as described
• all uploaded content complies with applicable law
• if the Author's rights in a work expire, revert, or are disputed, or if the work becomes subject to an exclusivity commitment that conflicts with this Agreement (such as Kindle Unlimited / KDP Select enrollment or an exclusive audio distribution arrangement), the Author will unpublish the work before the change takes effect, or within five (5) business days of learning of a dispute

The Author is solely responsible for all submitted materials.

Competing claims. If a publisher distributing a work on Story Metro under a separate publisher agreement and the Author both claim the same work, the work will be distributed and royalties paid under only one agreement, and Story Metro will not pay royalties on that work to both parties. Story Metro may unpublish the work until the parties resolve the claim in writing.

The Author agrees to indemnify and hold harmless Story Metro, its officers, members, employees, and affiliates from any claim, liability, damage, loss, cost, or expense arising from:

• copyright infringement claims
• content disputes
• defamation claims
• clean-read misrepresentation
• unauthorized uploads
• legal violations by submitted content

This includes reasonable attorneys' fees.

Story Metro may update this Agreement from time to time. Material changes will be communicated to the Author by email and through the Author dashboard. The Author will be asked to review and accept the updated terms on the Author's next login, and dashboard functions are unavailable until acceptance is given. Titles already published remain available to readers and continue to accrue royalties during that period.

An Author who does not accept a material change may terminate under Section 10.1 or unpublish under Section 10.5 without penalty. Changes to Section 3 (Revenue Share) or Section 4 (Reader Royalty Pool Allocation) take effect not less than ninety (90) days after notice, and the Author may terminate before the change takes effect.

Neither party will be liable to the other for indirect, incidental, consequential, special, or punitive damages, or for lost profits, arising out of or relating to this Agreement, regardless of the theory of liability and even if advised of the possibility of such damages.

Except for the Author's indemnification obligations under Section 9, each party's total aggregate liability under this Agreement will not exceed the total royalties paid or payable to the Author in the twelve (12) months preceding the event giving rise to the claim.

This Agreement may be executed either (a) by the Author checking the acceptance box during account creation, book upload, or content submission, which constitutes a legally binding electronic signature, or (b) by signature of an authorized representative of each party below. Either method forms an enforceable contract.

14.1 Governing law. This Agreement is governed by the laws of the State of Utah, without regard to its conflict-of-laws principles.

14.2 Venue. The parties submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the state courts located in Utah County, Utah, and the federal courts serving the District of Utah. Before commencing proceedings, the parties will attempt in good faith to resolve the dispute through negotiation and, if that fails, mediation. Nothing in this Section prevents either party from seeking injunctive relief for misuse of intellectual property.

14.3 Notices. Notices under this Agreement must be in writing and sent to the email address associated with the Author's account and, for Story Metro, to support@storymetro.com. Notice is deemed received on the next business day after sending, absent a delivery failure.

14.4 Assignment. Neither party may assign this Agreement without the other's written consent, except that either party may assign to a successor in connection with a merger, reorganization, or sale of substantially all of its assets.

14.5 Force majeure. Neither party is liable for a delay or failure to perform caused by events outside its reasonable control. This does not excuse payment obligations.

14.6 Severability. If a provision is held unenforceable, it is modified to the minimum extent necessary to be enforceable, or severed. The remainder of the Agreement continues in effect.

14.7 Entire agreement. This Agreement, together with any addendum and schedule signed by both parties, is the entire understanding between the parties and supersedes prior discussions. Where a signed addendum conflicts with this Agreement, the addendum controls.

14.8 Counterparts. This Agreement may be executed in counterparts and by electronic signature, each of which is an original.

14.9 Survival. Sections 2, 8, 9, 12, and 14 survive termination.