Privacy Notice for WritersCave Newsletters

This privacy notice explains how we collect, use and protect your personal information when you subscribe to one of our authors’ newsletters, request a book, or contact us directly. We take your privacy extremely seriously — even though we are a small independent business, we follow the UK GDPR and only ever ask for the information we actually need. We never sell your details to anyone.

What personal information we collect

When you sign up for one of our newsletters (either directly or after requesting a free or paid book), the only personal information we receive is:

• Your email address

• Your name, if you provide it

• Your IP address and the date/time you signed up

• Basic interaction data, such as whether you open our emails or click on any links (this helps us understand what you find interesting)

If you email us directly, we also store your name and email address so we can reply to you.

We don’t collect or store anything else (no addresses, phone numbers, payment details, or any other personal data).

How we use your information and why

We use your information only for the purposes you would reasonably expect from a publisher. Here’s exactly what that means and the legal basis we rely on:

• Sending you the newsletter you signed up for (updates about books, new releases, writing news, and promotions) → Your consent. You can withdraw this consent at any time (see “How to unsubscribe” below).

• Tracking opens and clicks → Your consent (this is standard for email marketing so we can see what content you enjoy).

• Replying to emails you send us → Legitimate interests (it wouldn’t make sense for us to ask your permission every time you write to us).

• Managing our mailing list and keeping our records up to date → Legitimate interests (basic administration of our small business).

Third-party services we use:

• Kit: This is the platform that provides landing pages for you to download free books, stores our mailing list and sends out the newsletters. When you sign up, you consent to us transferring your email address, name if provided, IP address, and date/time you signed up to the newsletter, so they can store it in our account and send you emails. You can read Kit’s privacy policy here:  https://kit.com/privacy 

• Email providers: Any direct emails you send us or our authors are stored in the email account you sent your message to so we can reply. Your email address will also be stored as a contact in the email account you sent your message to. We allow our authors to use any reputable email provider of their choice (e.g. Gmail, Outlook).

International data transfers

Some of the services we use may be based in the United States. We ensure that we only use services which keep appropriate safeguards in place (such as the UK International Data Transfer Agreement and Standard Contractual Clauses) where any personal information leaves the UK, to keep your data protected.

How you give consent

By actively signing up to a newsletter through one of our forms or by requesting a book through a landing page, you are giving clear consent for us to:

• Transfer your contact details to Kit

• Store your details in our Kit account

• Provide Kit with the information it needs to deliver you free books, if requested

• Send you newsletters

• Track basic interactions (opens and clicks)

How to unsubscribe or change your mind

You can stop receiving our newsletters at any time — no questions asked. Every single email we send contains an “Unsubscribe” link. Click it and you’ll no longer receive any emails from that author.

Your rights under UK GDPR

You have several important rights:

• Access: You can ask us what information we hold about you (a “subject access request”).

• Correction: You can ask us to fix any incorrect details. You may also simply sign up to the newsletter again with a new or corrected email address.

• Erasure / “Right to be forgotten”: You can ask us to delete your information at any time.

• Stop processing: You can object to us using your data (for example, you can withdraw consent for marketing).

• Complaint: If you’re unhappy with how we’ve handled your information, you can complain to the UK’s data protection authority, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). You can contact them at https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint or by calling 0303 123 1113.

To exercise any of these rights, just email us at webmaster@writerscave.org. We aim to respond within 7 working days (and hopefully much sooner), though this may not always be possible (for example, during the Christmas holiday period). If you just want to stop receiving our emails, unsubscribing via the link in our emails is usually the quickest way to do that, since you won’t have to wait for a manual reply.

Requests to join or invitations

If you’ve asked to join a list or accepted a personal invitation from an author, in person or digitally, we will treat the fact that you provided your email address as consent for us to add you to that list and send you the relevant newsletter.

Minors

We do not knowingly collect or keep personal information from anyone under 18. Our website, landing pages, newsletter sign-up forms, and all our content are aimed at adults. If you are under 18, please do not sign up or send us any personal information. If we discover that we have accidentally collected data from someone under 18, we will delete it straight away.

How long we keep your information

When you unsubscribe from one of our lists, Kit will move you to an Unsubscribed list in their database to ensure you are not accidentally re-added in the future (e.g. from an old backup). This ensures you do not receive emails from the author the list belongs to again. If you would prefer to be completely erased and forgotten from the database, email us at webmaster@writerscave.org and we will delete you and submit your right-to-be-forgotten form to Kit as soon as reasonably possible.

Otherwise, we will keep your email address for as long as you remain subscribed. We may occasionally clean our lists by removing people who haven’t opened or clicked on any emails for a long time (usually 6 months or more). When possible, we will send one final email first to check whether you still want to stay on the list.

Data breaches

If anything were ever to go wrong and our accounts were compromised, we would notify you as quickly as possible, seek advice and take steps to follow it immediately.

Links to other websites

Our website, blog posts, and newsletters sometimes contain links to other sites. Once you click those links, you leave our content and we have no control over those other websites. Please check their own privacy policies before giving them any information.

Changes to this privacy notice

This privacy notice was last updated on 31st March 2026. We may update it from time to time. Any important changes will be posted on our website and/or mentioned in our newsletters so you can see them easily.

Contact us

If you have any questions about this privacy notice or how we use your information, please email us at: webmaster@writerscave.org

Thank you for trusting us with your email address — we really appreciate it and promise to treat your information with care. Happy reading!

The team at WritersCave