Privacy Policy

Information you provide directly

Contact form. When you use the contact form, I ask for your email address and a message; your name is optional. That information is sent directly to my email inbox using an authenticated email-sending service — this website does not keep a separate database copy of it. Once your message reaches my inbox, it becomes part of my ordinary email, and I handle it the way I handle any other email I receive.

Newsletter. If you sign up for the newsletter, your email address and any first or last name you choose to provide are submitted to Mailchimp, the service I currently use to send newsletter updates. Mailchimp stores that information and handles delivery. You can unsubscribe at any time using the link included in every newsletter email — that stops future newsletter emails right away and Mailchimp records your contact as unsubscribed, but unsubscribing doesn't automatically delete your information. If you'd like your information deleted, contact me through the Contact page and I can permanently delete your information from my Mailchimp audience where appropriate. If I ever switch to a different newsletter provider, this page will be updated to reflect that.

Information collected automatically

Like any website, this site's hosting provider (Hostinger) keeps ordinary server logs when you visit — things like IP address, browser/device information, the pages requested, and the time of the request. This is standard web server activity, and I don't use those logs to identify individual visitors.

This site does not use any analytics platform, and it does not use tracking or advertising cookies of its own. If that ever changes, this page will be updated before it happens.

This site currently loads its typeface from Google Fonts. When a page loads, your browser requests those font files directly from Google's servers, which means Google receives your IP address and standard request information as part of serving them. That exchange is governed by Google's own privacy policy, not this one, and I don't receive any of that information myself.

Amazon links

This site includes Amazon affiliate links to help readers find and buy the books. When you click one of those links, Amazon may set its own cookies or use its own tracking on its own site — governed entirely by Amazon's privacy policy, not this one. Amazon may provide me with affiliate reporting such as clicks, qualifying purchases, and commissions, but I do not receive information identifying individual Amazon customers. See the separate Affiliate Disclosure page for more.

Other outbound links

This site links out to places like Goodreads, Amazon, and other retailers. Those are ordinary outbound links — clicking one takes you to a separate site with its own privacy practices, which this policy doesn't cover and I don't control.

How this information is used

I use the information above only to respond to messages sent through the contact form, send the newsletter to people who've subscribed, and keep the site running securely. I don't sell or rent your personal information. I share information only with service providers needed to operate the site or provide features you choose to use — such as Hostinger for hosting or Mailchimp for the newsletter — or when required by law.

How long information is kept

Contact form messages aren't stored in a database by this website. After they're delivered, they're handled as ordinary email in my mailbox and kept or deleted the way I'd handle other correspondence. Newsletter subscriber information is held by Mailchimp under its own account and retention practices; unsubscribing stops future emails and marks your contact as unsubscribed, but doesn't automatically delete the record — contact me through the Contact page and I can permanently delete your information from my Mailchimp audience where appropriate. Server logs are retained by Hostinger under its own standard hosting practices.

Your choices

You can leave the contact form's name field blank, unsubscribe from the newsletter at any time, or ask through the Contact page what information I hold about you and request it be deleted where that's practical. Given how little this site actually collects, most requests are simple to handle.

Children's privacy

This site is intended for a general audience and isn't directed at children. I don't knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 13. If you believe a child has submitted personal information through the contact form or newsletter signup, please let me know through the Contact page and I'll remove it.

Security

I take reasonable steps to keep information handled by this site secure, including using authenticated, encrypted email delivery for the contact form. That said, no website or email system can be guaranteed to be completely secure.

Changes to this policy

I may update this page as the site's functionality changes — for example, if I switch newsletter providers. The "last updated" date above will change whenever I do.

Contact

Questions about this policy can be sent through the Contact page.