Fair Royalties Policy

UnboundQuests is committed to transparent, auditable, and fair economic participation for authors, co-authors, narrators, translators, editors, and other contributors. This Fair Royalties Policy explains exactly how earnings are calculated, attributed, held, and paid on the platform.

This policy applies to all creators and contributors whose work is monetised through UnboundQuests, including authors, co-authors, narrators, translators, editors, and service providers linked to royalty contracts or contributor records.

Earnings are recorded in RevenueShare (monthly) and RevenueRecord (per-transaction) entries.

Every sale, unlock, subscription payout, or sponsorship generates a RevenueRecord linked to an immutable RoyaltyContract snapshot created at publication.

Authors see three distinct figures at all times: Pending (eligible but not yet paid), Held (blocked), and Paid (already transferred).

Earnings become eligible for payout 30 days after the underlying transaction date (eligible_from).

Payouts are processed automatically once per month on the 15th for all eligible earnings that meet the author’s threshold.

Authors may set a custom_threshold_usd (minimum payout amount) in their payout method settings. This cannot be lower than the platform minimum for their chosen method.

Earnings may be placed in HELD status for any of the following reasons: incomplete KYC verification, incomplete tax information, no verified payout method configured, or other compliance/review requirements.

Authors are shown the exact hold reason and the action needed to release the funds.

Book purchases use dynamic regional pricing (affordability bands). A sale in a lower-band region (e.g. AF-4) generates less revenue than the same book sold in a GLOBAL band.

Authors can see the breakdown of sales by affordability band in their earnings summary so they understand exactly why different sales produced different royalty amounts.

Royalty splits are defined in immutable RoyaltyContract records created at publication. The contract snapshot cannot be changed retroactively.

RevenueRecord entries provide a full per-source audit trail (full book purchase, pay-per-read unlock, subscription pool share, sponsorship, tip, etc.).

Platform share is defined in the royalty contract (platform_rate) and is deducted before author attribution.

Refunds, chargebacks, or fraud reversals may result in corresponding reductions to pending or paid royalties.

If an author has received an advance, recoupment is automatically applied through the credit_line mechanism before net payout.

Payouts require verified tax information and KYC where required by law or platform policy.

UnboundQuests may withhold, defer, or adjust amounts to meet tax, regulatory, or compliance obligations.

The platform does not guarantee any minimum sales volume, earnings, or audience reach. Earnings depend entirely on actual reader activity and the pricing bands in effect.

Authors can view: pending vs held vs paid amounts, per-book breakdowns, source breakdowns (purchase / unlock / subscription / tip), affordability-band sales counts, and full payout history with references.

All changes to royalty logic or payout rules will be communicated clearly before they take effect.

This policy may be updated as the platform evolves. Material changes will be announced via the platform and will not apply retroactively to already-settled earnings unless required by law.