Story Submission Terms
Effective date: October 27, 2026 · Version 1.0
These terms cover the Words Were Chosen website at www.wordswerechosen.com (the "Site") and any story you send through it. The Site is run by Anorak Group, LLC, a Texas limited liability company that publishes the Words Were Chosen books ("Anorak Group," "we" or "us").
The short version. You must be 18 or older. Send only your own story, and leave out names and anything that could identify a real person or place. You keep owning your story, but you let us edit it and use it in our books, on this Site and in our videos, for free and for good. We don't promise to use it, credit you or pay you. The full terms below control if anything in this summary conflicts with them.
1. Agreeing to these terms
By checking the box on the submission form and sending a story, you agree to these terms and to our Privacy Policy. If you don't agree, don't submit. Sections 11 through 18 also apply to anyone who uses the Site.
2. Who can submit
You must be at least 18 years old to submit. By submitting, you confirm that you are.
3. What to send
A "Submission" is anything you send through the Site, including your story, its title and any comments. Send only a situation you experienced or witnessed yourself, described in your own words, that you have the right to share. Don't copy text from anywhere else, including other websites, social media posts, books or someone else's story.
4. What to leave out
Your Submission must not include:
- the name of any real person, business, school, hospital, clinic, agency, military unit or small town;
- any detail that would let someone identify a real person or workplace, such as a job title only one person holds, an unusual event, a date or a quote someone would recognize;
- information you have a legal or professional duty to keep confidential, including patient health information, client or case information, student records, attorney-client communications, employer trade secrets, and classified or controlled military information;
- anything that identifies a minor;
- anything false and damaging about a real person, or anything threatening, harassing, hateful, sexually explicit or illegal; or
- anyone's personal information, such as phone numbers, addresses or account numbers.
We delete Submissions that break these rules, and we change details in every story we use. You are still responsible for what you send.
5. You keep ownership; you give us permission
You keep the copyright in your Submission. By submitting, you grant Anorak Group a free, worldwide, perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive license to use your Submission, in whole or in part, in any media now known or later developed. That includes the right to edit, shorten, rewrite, adapt, translate, combine it with other material, create new works based on it, and publish, display, perform and distribute it in printed books, ebooks, audiobooks, on this Site, on social media, in advertising, and in animated or AI-generated videos. We may extend this license to our printers, distributors and publishing partners, and to anyone who acquires the Words Were Chosen series. Because the license is non-exclusive, you remain free to share your story anywhere else.
6. No payment, no credit, no obligation
You won't be paid for a Submission. Entries appear without the submitter's name, and to the extent the law allows, you waive any right to be identified as the author or to object to how we edit your Submission. We don't have to use any Submission, tell you whether we used it, or send you a copy.
7. Withdrawing a story
If you change your mind, email permissions@wordswerechosen.com. We'll delete your Submission if we haven't started using it. We can't recall books, videos or posts already in production or published.
8. Similar stories
We hear from many people in the same jobs, and we write our own material. Our books may include situations similar to yours that were not based on your Submission. You agree that a similarity alone doesn't entitle you to payment or credit, and that you won't bring a claim based on it.
9. Your promises
By submitting, you promise that:
- you are 18 or older;
- the Submission is your own original work and describes your own experience;
- you have every right needed to grant the license in section 5;
- the Submission follows section 4; and
- our use of it as these terms allow won't violate anyone's rights, including privacy, publicity, copyright, trademark and confidentiality rights, or any law or professional rule you're bound by.
10. Release and responsibility
You release Anorak Group, its owner and its licensees from any claim arising from our use of your Submission as these terms allow. If someone brings a claim against us because you broke a promise in section 9, you agree to cover our reasonable costs of that claim, including attorney's fees, to the extent the law allows.
11. Using the Site
Don't use the Site to break the law, send spam, malware or automated submissions, try to break into, overload or interfere with the Site, copy its content in bulk, or pretend to be someone else. We may block access or delete Submissions at any time.
12. Our content and trademarks
The Site and the Words Were Chosen books, including their text, designs and logos, belong to Anorak Group or its licensors. You may share links and short quotes, but don't copy or sell our content without written permission. "Words Were Chosen" and our logos are trademarks of Anorak Group.
Other names that appear on the Site belong to their owners and are used only to describe the jobs the books are about. The books and the Site aren't affiliated with, sponsored by or endorsed by any employer, professional association, government agency, airline or other organization named here. REALTOR® is a registered collective membership mark of the National Association of REALTORS®, which is not affiliated with and has not endorsed the Words Were Chosen books.
13. Copyright complaints
We don't post submitted stories on the Site as they were sent. If you still believe something on the Site infringes your copyright, email permissions@wordswerechosen.com with:
- your name and contact information;
- the work you believe is infringed;
- where the material appears on the Site;
- a statement that you believe in good faith the use isn't authorized by the owner, its agent or the law;
- a statement, under penalty of perjury, that your notice is accurate and that you are the owner or are authorized to act for the owner; and
- your physical or electronic signature.
14. Disclaimers and limits on liability
THE SITE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE," WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NON-INFRINGEMENT, TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, ANORAK GROUP WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, AND ITS TOTAL LIABILITY FOR ANY CLAIM RELATED TO THE SITE OR THESE TERMS WILL NOT EXCEED $100. Some jurisdictions don't allow these limits, so they may not fully apply to you.
15. Changes to these terms
We may update these terms. The version in effect when you submit a story applies to that Submission. Changes to how the Site may be used apply from the date they're posted. The effective date and version number at the top show the current version.
16. Governing law and disputes
Texas law governs these terms, without regard to its conflict-of-law rules. Any dispute will be resolved in the state or federal courts located in Texas, and you consent to their jurisdiction. Either of us may instead bring a claim in small-claims court if it qualifies. If the law where you live gives you the right to bring a claim in your home courts, nothing here takes that right away.
17. General
These terms and the Privacy Policy are the whole agreement between you and us about the Site and your Submissions. If any part is found unenforceable, the rest still applies. Not enforcing a term isn't a waiver of it. We may transfer these terms, including the license in section 5, to anyone who acquires the Words Were Chosen series or Anorak Group's publishing business; you may not transfer them. Sections 5 through 10, 14 and 16 continue to apply after you stop using the Site.
18. Contact
Anorak Group, LLC
Texas, USA