Terms of Service

Last updated: 09/09/2025

Welcome to Rate My Reads! These Terms of Service ("Terms") explain the rules for using our website and services. By creating an account or using our site, you agree to follow these terms.

1. About Our Service

Rate My Reads is a community platform where readers can:

  • Rate books on content categories (violence, language, etc.)
  • Share comments and reviews
  • Discover books that match their preferences
  • Participate in community discussions

We're committed to providing a helpful, respectful environment for book discovery.

2. Who Can Use Rate My Reads

  • You must be at least 13 years old to create an account
  • If you're under 18, you need parental or guardian permission
  • You must provide accurate information when signing up
  • You're responsible for keeping your account secure

3. Your Content and Our Rights

What You Own:

  • You keep ownership of all content you post (votes, comments, reviews)
  • Your contributions remain yours

What You Grant Us: By posting content on Rate My Reads, you give us permission to:

  • Display your content publicly on our site
  • Include your votes in aggregate ratings
  • Use your content to operate and improve our services
  • Store and back up your content for site functionality

This license continues even if you delete your account (though you can request content removal).

Your Responsibilities:

  • Don't post content that violates others' rights
  • Keep your contributions honest and helpful
  • Respect other community members

4. Community Guidelines

To keep Rate My Reads welcoming for everyone, please don't:

  • Post spam, fake reviews, or misleading information
  • Harass, threaten, or attack other users
  • Share inappropriate, offensive, or illegal content
  • Try to manipulate ratings or game the system
  • Use automated tools to create fake accounts or votes

We reserve the right to remove content or suspend accounts that violate these guidelines.

5. How Our Service Works

Content Ratings:

  • All ratings represent community opinions, not professional advice
  • We aggregate user votes to show general community consensus
  • Individual experiences with books may vary

Service Changes:

  • We may add, modify, or remove features
  • We may temporarily suspend service for maintenance
  • We'll do our best to notify users of significant changes

Paid Features:

  • Our service is currently free
  • We may introduce optional paid features in the future
  • Any paid features will be clearly marked

6. Affiliate Links and Support

Rate My Reads participates in affiliate programs (like Amazon Associates) to support site operations. When you purchase through our links, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. These partnerships don't influence our community ratings or recommendations.

7. Intellectual Property

Our Content:

  • The Rate My Reads website, design, and features are our property
  • You may not copy, redistribute, or create derivative works without permission

Copyright Issues: If you believe content on our site infringes your copyright, please contact us at [email protected] with:

  • Description of the copyrighted work
  • Location of the alleged infringement on our site
  • Your contact information and a good faith statement

8. Disclaimers and Liability

"As Is" Service:

  • We provide Rate My Reads "as is" without warranties
  • We don't guarantee the service will always be available or error-free
  • Book ratings reflect user opinions and may not match your experience

Limitation of Liability:

  • Our liability is limited to the amount you've paid us (currently $0)
  • We're not responsible for indirect damages or loss of data
  • You use our service at your own risk

Third-Party Links:

  • We link to external sites (like Amazon) but aren't responsible for their content
  • External sites have their own terms and privacy policies

9. Account Termination

Your Rights:

  • You can delete your account anytime
  • You can request removal of your personal content

Our Rights:

  • We may suspend or terminate accounts that violate these terms
  • We may discontinue the service with reasonable notice
  • We'll try to provide 30 days notice for service changes when possible

10. Dispute Resolution

If you have concerns about our service:

  1. Contact Us First: Email [email protected] - we'll work to resolve issues quickly
  2. Informal Resolution: We prefer to handle disputes through friendly communication
  3. Legal Action: If needed, disputes will be resolved in small claims court in the United States
  4. Governing Law: These terms are governed by United States law

11. Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms occasionally. When we make significant changes:

  • We'll post the new terms on this page
  • We'll notify active users when possible
  • Continued use of our service means you accept the updated terms

Major changes get 30 days notice when feasible.

12. Privacy

Your privacy matters to us. Please review our Privacy Policy to understand how we handle your information.

13. Contact Information

Questions about these terms? We're here to help:

14. Miscellaneous

  • If any part of these terms is unenforceable, the rest remains in effect
  • These terms constitute the entire agreement between us
  • We may not always enforce every violation, but we reserve the right to do so

Thank you for being part of the Rate My Reads community! We're excited to help you discover books that match your preferences while respecting your boundaries.

By using our service, you agree to these Terms of Service and our Privacy Policy.