Privacy policy.
What I collect, why, and what you can ask me to do with it, under the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA).
Last updated 28 October 2026.
Who is responsible
Bluesky Distribution CC, trading as WritersTrek, Frere Street Studios, 12 Frere Street, Woodstock, Cape Town, 7915, is the responsible party. The information officer is Grant A. Poulton, reachable at hello@writerstrek.com.
What I collect
- What you type into a form: your name, email, phone number, book title, the kind of book, its word count, the services you chose and your message.
- Your quiz answers, if you take the quiz and ask for your result.
- Your intake answers, if you fill in the form before a Readiness Call: the kind of book, its language, rights and permissions, who’s paying, your plans for marketing it, and whether you used AI to draft it.
- A sample of your writing, if you send one with your intake form. I use it only to judge what your book needs and to quote for it. It is stored where the public can’t reach it, seen by me and, if I need a second opinion, one editor under a confidentiality agreement. If we don’t go on to work together, I delete it 90 days after you send it.
- Your IP address and the page you came from, kept with each form to stop spam.
- The campaign tags in the link that brought you here, for example which advert you clicked, so I know which adverts work.
- Your manuscript and files, if you become a client.
Why I use it
- To send you the quote, result, roadmap or reply you asked for, and to follow up about your book.
- To decide whether I’m the right fit for your book. I read your answers myself before I say yes or no. No decision about you is made by a computer alone.
- To deliver the work you buy, invoice you and keep records the law requires.
- To send you publishing tips, only if you ticked the box for them. Every email has an unsubscribe link.
Who else sees it
- The editors and designers working on your book, under confidentiality agreements.
- My web host, xneelo, which stores this site, its form records and writing samples on servers in South Africa.
- WhatsApp (Meta), if you choose to message me there. That conversation is handled under WhatsApp’s own privacy policy.
- Nobody else. I don’t sell or rent personal information.
How long I keep it
- Writing samples sent with an intake: deleted 90 days after you send them, if we don’t work together.
- Enquiries, quiz results and intakes that don’t lead to work: deleted after 24 months.
- Client records: kept for five years, for tax purposes.
- Working copies of manuscripts: deleted six months after your project ends.
Your rights
You can ask what I hold about you, ask me to correct or delete it, and object to direct marketing at any time. Email hello@writerstrek.com. I answer within 30 days. If you’re not satisfied with my answer, you can complain to the Information Regulator at inforegulator.org.za.
Cookies
This site sets one cookie to protect forms from misuse and remember which advert, if any, brought you here. It doesn’t use advertising or tracking cookies. Fonts are loaded from Google Fonts, which sees your IP address.
Changes
- 28 October 2026: added the intake form and writing samples, how I use them to decide whether I’m the right fit for your book, how long samples are kept, the name of my web host, and how quickly I answer requests.