Twist of the Fates

We believe in rewarding the creators who bring life to the Weave. These terms outline the agreement regarding your contributions to our platform.

Program Eligibility

Participation in the Scribe program is currently in beta and is strictly limited to legal residents of the United States. By participating in the Scribe program, you represent and warrant that you are a legal resident of the United States and possess a valid United States Taxpayer Identification Number. Twist of the Fates reserves the right to terminate the account of any Scribe who does not meet these residency requirements. These Scribe Program Terms and Conditions are a supplement to the Twist of the Fates General Terms and Conditions. By participating, you agree that you are also bound by the General Terms, including the sections on Governing Law, Jurisdiction, and Dispute Resolution.

Attribution and Credit

Twist of the Fates values your creativity. We will provide attribution for your work on the Scribe Desk and in any official supplements. However, Twist of the Fates maintains final editorial discretion regarding the style, font, placement, and wording of all author credits. Scribes are responsible for providing the preferred name or pseudonym for attribution at the time of submission. Changes to attribution after a supplement has moved into production are at the sole discretion of Twist of the Fates.

Content Submission, Formatting, and Edits

By submitting to the Scribe Desk, you represent and warrant that you have the full right, power, and authority to enter into this agreement and to grant the licenses described herein. You grant Twist of the Fates a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to host, promote, and distribute your work on twistofthefates.com and associated channels, including social media and email newsletters. This includes the right to create derivative promotional materials, such as social media graphics or snippets.

• Reformatting Rights: We reserve the right to reformat chapters for visual consistency and professional appearance. This includes the right to correct typographical, grammatical, or technical formatting errors. While we will not modify the title of your story as it appears on the page, we reserve the right to modify metadata fields, such as SEO titles, descriptions, and permalinks, for search engine optimization purposes. These changes are not considered modifications to narrative content.

• Content Integrity: We will never change substantive narrative content or plot points without your explicit approval.

• Editorial Review: We may ask for specific edits or revisions before approval.

• Revocation: This license is revocable with thirty days written notice sent to info@twistofthefates.com. Once the commissioning process for a conclusion has officially begun for a Discontinued story, the right to revoke the license for existing chapters of that specific story is suspended to ensure the narrative integrity of the saga. Upon the receipt of a revocation notice, the work shall continue to accrue performance stipends for fourteen days, after which accrual will cease. Upon the effective date of revocation, Twist of the Fates will remove the work from the website, with the exception of any chapters that have qualified for or received a performance stipend payout, which remain subject to the perpetual, irrevocable license described in the Rights and Intellectual Property section.

• Narrative Content: Chapters may not be modified by the author after approval and publication without re-submitting the chapter for a new editorial review. Twist of the Fates reserves the right to remove any content that is modified post-approval to include prohibited links or content that violates our community guidelines.

Performance Stipends and Anti-Fraud

• Stipend Rate: You earn 5.00 dollars (USD) for every 1000 unique views each individual chapter receives. Performance stipends are paid exclusively for original narrative content. Text that is in the public domain or licensed via Creative Commons does not qualify toward stipend eligibility or word count requirements, even if its inclusion is legally permitted.

• Thresholds: A chapter must reach the 5.00 dollar (USD) threshold individually to qualify for payout. Earnings from separate chapters are not combined to reach this threshold.

• Minimum Standards: Each chapter must be at least 1,500 words and meet the editorial quality standards of Twist of the Fates to qualify for performance stipends. Twist of the Fates maintains sole and final discretion to determine if a chapter meets these standards. Content deemed to be excessively padded with repetitive text, irrelevant filler, or low-value narrative intended solely to inflate word count may be disqualified from stipend eligibility.

• Payout Cap: The maximum lifetime total payout per individual chapter is 50.00 dollars (USD). Once a chapter has reached this cumulative total in performance stipends, it shall no longer accrue new stipend earnings.

• Metric Finality: Payouts are calculated solely via internal Scribe Desk metrics, which serve as the final authority on view counts. Performance is measured by unique views occurring on twistofthefates.com, defined as lifetime unique readers as tracked and determined by our internal systems and technology. Twist of the Fates reserves the right to withhold payment for views deemed to be invalid traffic, including but not limited to botting, coordinated click groups, self-refreshing scripts, or any other manual or automated method intended to artificially inflate view counts. Twist of the Fates is not responsible for the loss of performance data due to technical failures or server outages. Twist of the Fates reserves the right, but not the obligation, to estimate missing performance data based on historical averages in the event of a verified technical failure. To the maximum extent permitted by law, the total liability of Twist of the Fates for any claim related to the Scribe program shall not exceed the amount of earned but unpaid stipends owed to the Scribe at the time of the claim.

• Rectification: Twist of the Fates reserves the right to correct any clerical or technical errors in payment at any time.

• Payment Information: Scribes must provide and maintain a valid PayPal email address to receive stipends, or such other payment processor as Twist of the Fates may designate with thirty days notice. The name associated with the payment account must match the legal name provided on the Scribe W-9 form. PayPal is currently the exclusive method of payment for the Scribe program. Twist of the Fates is not liable for stipends sent to incorrect accounts due to Scribe error. Any earned stipends that remain unpaid for a period of twelve consecutive months due to Scribe account restrictions, freezes, or failure to maintain a valid payment address shall be deemed abandoned and forfeited to Twist of the Fates.

• Payout Schedule: Payouts are made on the 1st of every month. If the 1st falls on a weekend or a recognized United States holiday, the payout will be processed on the next business day. View counts for each payout are tallied at 11:59 PM CST on the last day of the preceding month. An individual chapter becomes eligible for payout only once it has reached the minimum performance threshold of 5.00 dollars (USD). Earnings from separate chapters are not combined to reach this threshold. All payouts are gross amounts; any fees charged by third-party payment processors, including standard PayPal transaction fees, are the sole responsibility of the recipient. Twist of the Fates is not obligated to process a payout if the total earned amount is less than the third-party processing fee; in such cases, the balance will roll over to the next eligible payout cycle.

• W-9 Requirement: A completed W-9 is required before the first payout.

Concurrent Stipends and Royalties

Performance stipends and supplement royalties are independent forms of compensation. The selection and release of a story as an official supplement does not terminate that story’s eligibility for performance stipends. Scribes will continue to accrue unique view stipends until the 50.00 dollar (USD) cap per chapter is reached. Royalties for the sales of official supplements are paid in addition to, and concurrently with, any earned performance stipends. There is currently no cap for royalties.

Force Majeure

Twist of the Fates shall not be held liable for any delay or failure in performance, including the processing of stipends or royalties, resulting from causes beyond our reasonable control. This includes but is not limited to natural disasters, server outages, internet failures, or technical glitches with third-party payment processors.

Rights and Intellectual Property

• Story Ownership: You retain 100 percent of the rights to your original stories and characters. However, once a chapter has qualified for and received a performance stipend payout, you grant Twist of the Fates a perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive license to continue hosting that specific chapter on the website to maintain narrative continuity for our readers.

• Lore Usage: You do not gain rights to pre-existing Twist of the Fates lore used in your story. Exclusive lore cannot be used in outside publications without written permission. Scribes may grant other Scribes permission to reference their original world-building elements, but such agreements are strictly between the authors and do not grant Twist of the Fates any additional rights.

• Confidentiality: As a Scribe, you may have access to unreleased world lore, campaign notes, or site mechanics. You agree to keep all non public information confidential and will not share, leak, or publish such information without written consent from Twist of the Fates.

Official Supplement Adaptations

• Royalties: Selected stories earn 10 percent of Net Revenue from the resulting supplement. Twist of the Fates maintains sole and final discretion over the retail price of the supplement, its inclusion in bundles or sales, and the calculation of Net Revenue. Net Revenue is defined as gross sales minus marketplace fees, payment processing fees, returns, refunds, chargebacks, and direct production and marketing costs (including but not limited to art, layout, advertising, and distribution expenses specifically for the supplement). Royalties are calculated and paid on a quarterly basis, within thirty days of the close of each calendar quarter, to allow for the processing of third party marketplace reporting.

• Ownership: Upon the selection of a story for an official supplement, Twist of the Fates acquires exclusive ownership of all game mechanics, stat blocks, and magic item properties introduced within that narrative. Additionally, any new world-building elements integrated into our setting from that story become part of the shared lore pool and may be referenced, adapted, or modified by the site in perpetuity to maintain world consistency. Twist of the Fates retains ownership of all maps and supplemental art commissioned for the project.

• Distribution Exclusivity: Only Twist of the Fates maintains the right to sell or distribute official supplements. This right is perpetual, irrevocable, and survives the revocation of any other license granted herein. You may not sell or license the official supplement to any third party.

• Right of First Option: You grant a twelve month exclusive window from publication to negotiate an adaptation. For multi-chapter sagas, this window resets upon the publication of the most recent chapter. During this window, you agree not to license, sell, or distribute the game supplement rights to any third party.

• Character Licensing: You retain ownership of your original characters. However, if a character is included in an official supplement published by Twist of the Fates, you grant Twist of the Fates a perpetual, non-exclusive, worldwide license to use that character specifically within the context of that supplement, its reprints, and its promotional materials. This license ensures the supplement can remain in distribution regardless of future outside licensing of the character.

Conduct, Indemnification, and Survival

• All submissions must be your original work and free of copyright infringement. You are solely responsible for obtaining all necessary permissions or licenses for any third party assets, including but not limited to artwork or maps, included in your submission.

• AI Prohibition: AI generation is strictly prohibited. AI determination is at the sole discretion of our editorial team.

• Conduct: Violations of general community guidelines, site wide harassment, or the submission of illegal or infringing content are grounds for immediate removal. Scribes agree to follow the rules and guidelines of third party platforms when promoting their work and shall not engage in spamming or predatory marketing tactics that could bring disrepute to Twist of the Fates. In the event of a permanent ban for any violation of these terms, the Scribe forfeits all rights to any earned but unpaid performance stipends or royalties.

• Indemnification: You agree to indemnify and hold harmless Twist of the Fates from any claims, damages, or legal fees (including attorney fees) arising from a breach of these terms, including instances of plagiarism, AI use, or intellectual property infringement.

• Survival: Clauses regarding Lore Usage, Confidentiality, Indemnification, Official Supplement Adaptations (including character licensing), the Right of First Option, and hosting rights for stipend paid chapters survive the termination of this agreement.

Appeal Process for AI and Conduct Determinations

To ensure fairness and protect Scribes from potential false positives in automated detection, Twist of the Fates provides a formal appeal process for any disqualification or account termination based on AI use or conduct violations.

• Notification and Suspense: If a submission is flagged or a violation is suspected, the Scribe will receive a written notice via the email address associated with their Scribe Desk account. This notice will outline the nature of the concern and the specific content affected. During the review period, the content in question may be temporarily hidden from public view and its stipend accrual will be paused.
• Evidence Submission: The Scribe has seven business days from the receipt of notice to submit a formal appeal. Supporting evidence is highly encouraged and may include the following items:

• • Early drafts or timestamped outlines of the story.

  • Version history from word processing software.

  • Personal notes or research materials used during the writing process.

  • A written explanation addressing the specific concerns raised by the editorial team.

• Manual Review and Finality: Upon receiving a formal appeal, a member of the editorial team will conduct a manual review of the submission and the provided evidence. Twist of the Fates will issue a final decision within fourteen business days. If the appeal is granted, the content will be restored and any paused stipend accrual will be credited. If the determination is upheld, the initial penalties stand. This secondary decision is final and binding.

Abandoned Content

If a story remains inactive for more than six months, Twist of the Fates may mark the content as Discontinued. To reset this six month inactivity period, an update must consist of a narrative chapter that moves the story forward and is approved through our editorial review. Placeholder updates, non-narrative posts, or rejected chapters do not qualify as activity.

If essential to world lore, we reserve the right to commission a conclusion once a story is Discontinued. This right includes a limited, non-exclusive license for the commissioned writer to use existing chapters, characters, and setting elements to complete the narrative. The commissioning process is considered begun upon the date a formal writing agreement is sent to a commissioned writer or the date a conclusion is officially announced on twistofthefates.com. Once this process begins, the Discontinued status is final and irreversible. The original author may not resume the narrative, has no approval or veto rights regarding the narrative content added by a commissioned writer, and waives any claim of ownership over the new material added to complete the saga. Twist of the Fates retains exclusive ownership of any commissioned concluding material.

In the event an abandoned story is completed by a commissioned writer and subsequently selected for an official supplement, the original author remains eligible for royalties. However, the royalty rate for the original author shall be reduced to 5 percent of Net Revenue to account for the additional production and writing costs incurred by Twist of the Fates to complete the narrative. This reduced royalty runs concurrent with any eligible performance stipends for chapters personally authored by the original Scribe.

The original author remains eligible for view stipends only for the chapters they personally authored. No stipends will be paid to the original author for any chapters or concluding material added by a commissioned writer. Furthermore, any content commissioned by Twist of the Fates is not eligible for per view performance stipends.

Program Modification and Termination

Twist of the Fates reserves the right to modify, suspend, or terminate the Scribe program at any time. In the event of program termination, Scribes will be notified via the Scribe Desk or email, and any eligible unpaid stipends meeting the payout threshold will be processed. Twist of the Fates further reserves the right to terminate an individual Scribe’s participation in the program for any reason, with or without cause, upon thirty days written notice. However, in cases of Conduct violations as outlined in these terms, termination and removal of content may be immediate.

Since the Scribe Program is a beta program, the stipend rates and thresholds are subject to change with thirty days notice to active Scribes.

Taxes and Data Privacy

• Independent Contractor: Scribes are independent contractors, not employees. Twist of the Fates makes no guarantees regarding specific income levels, traffic, or the commercial success of any submitted content. You acknowledge and agree that you are not entitled to, and Twist of the Fates is not obligated to provide, any employee benefits, including but not limited to health insurance, paid time off, retirement benefits, or workers compensation coverage.

• 1099 Reporting: We issue Form 1099-NEC for payments totaling 600.00 dollars or more per year.

• W-9 Requirement: A completed W-9 is required before the first payout.

• Identity Verification: Twist of the Fates reserves the right to request identity verification, including government-issued identification, before processing payouts to ensure compliance with tax and anti-fraud regulations. Failure to provide requested identification within fourteen days of a request may result in the suspension of the Scribe account and the forfeiture of pending stipends.

• Data Security: Your Taxpayer Identification Number is stored using high-level encryption and accessed only for legal tax compliance.

Scribe Account Responsibility

You are solely responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your Scribe Desk login credentials. Any content submitted or actions taken through your account are deemed to be your own actions. Twist of the Fates is not liable for any unauthorized access to your account or any resulting changes to payment information or content. You agree to notify us immediately at info@twistofthefates.com if you suspect your account has been compromised.