Effective Date: 14 July 2026
This Privacy Policy explains how My Literary Lounge, O'Couture Designs, and Quill & Pixel ("we," "our," or "us") collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your personal information when you visit or use any of the following websites:
By accessing or using any of our websites, products, or services, you agree to the practices described in this Privacy Policy.
These websites are operated by the same owner and may share administrative systems, customer support, marketing tools, and secure data storage.
Our businesses include:
My Literary Lounge – self-publishing support, editorial services, book formatting, publishing guidance, author education, coaching, marketing assistance, and digital products.
O'Couture Designs – website design, branding, graphic design, digital marketing, content creation, print design, social media services, and related creative services.
Quill & Pixel – author websites, blog management, newsletter services, website hosting assistance, digital publishing support, and related online services.
Depending on how you interact with our websites, we may collect the following information.
This may include:
Full name
Email address
Telephone number
Company or business name
Billing information
Physical address
Country
VAT number (where applicable)
Information you provide through contact forms
Information submitted through quotation requests
Information submitted when purchasing products or services
If you create an account, we may collect:
Username
Password (encrypted)
Purchase history
Download history
Customer preferences
If you use our publishing or design services, you may voluntarily provide:
Manuscripts
Book covers
Images
Logos
Branding material
Marketing content
Business information
Documents for editing or formatting
Ownership of your intellectual property remains yours.
We may automatically collect:
IP address
Browser type
Device information
Operating system
Screen resolution
Time zone
Language settings
Website usage statistics
Pages visited
Time spent on pages
Referring websites
Our websites may use cookies and similar technologies to:
remember user preferences
improve website performance
analyse website traffic
enhance user experience
measure marketing effectiveness
You may disable cookies through your browser settings.
Please note that certain website features may not function correctly if cookies are disabled.
We use your information to:
provide our services
process purchases
respond to enquiries
prepare quotations
manage customer accounts
deliver digital products
provide customer support
improve our websites
personalise user experiences
monitor website performance
detect fraud
maintain website security
send newsletters (only where consent has been provided)
notify customers of important service updates
comply with legal obligations
If you subscribe to our mailing list, we may send:
newsletters
publishing tips
design updates
promotional offers
new product announcements
educational content
blog updates
You may unsubscribe at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link included in our emails.
Where applicable, we process personal information on one or more of the following legal grounds:
your consent
performance of a contract
compliance with legal obligations
legitimate business interests
protection of legal rights
Our websites are intended for individuals aged 18 years and older.
We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under the age of 13 (or the applicable age in your jurisdiction).
If we become aware that such information has been collected, it will be deleted promptly.
We do not sell personal information.
We may share information with trusted third parties only where necessary to operate our businesses, including:
payment processors
website hosting providers
cloud storage providers
email marketing platforms
analytics providers
domain registrars
software providers
printing partners
courier companies
legal advisors
accountants
government authorities where legally required
These providers may process information only for the purposes instructed by us.
Some of our service providers may store or process information outside South Africa.
Where information is transferred internationally, we take reasonable steps to ensure appropriate safeguards are in place in accordance with applicable privacy laws.
We implement reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect personal information, including:
SSL encryption
secure hosting
password protection
limited staff access
encrypted backups where applicable
firewall protection
malware monitoring
software updates
secure payment gateways
While we strive to protect your information, no internet transmission can be guaranteed to be completely secure.
We retain information only for as long as reasonably necessary to:
provide services
comply with legal obligations
resolve disputes
enforce agreements
maintain business records
When information is no longer required, it is securely deleted or anonymised where reasonably practicable.
Depending on your jurisdiction, you may have the right to:
request access to your personal information
request correction of inaccurate information
request deletion of your information
object to certain processing
withdraw consent
restrict processing
request data portability where applicable
lodge a complaint with the relevant supervisory authority
To exercise your rights, please contact us using the details provided below.
As a South African business, we comply with the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA).
You have the right to:
know what personal information we hold
request corrections
request deletion where legally permitted
object to certain processing
submit complaints to the Information Regulator (South Africa)
Our websites may contain links to third-party websites including:
Amazon
IngramSpark
Draft2Digital
Kobo
Apple Books
YouTube
TikTok
PayFast
PayPal
Stripe
other external services
We are not responsible for the privacy practices of third-party websites.
We encourage users to review their privacy policies before providing personal information.
Articles or pages on our websites may include embedded content such as:
YouTube videos
social media posts
maps
forms
external widgets
Embedded content behaves in the same manner as if you visited the originating website.
We may use analytics tools such as:
Google Analytics
Google Search Console
Microsoft Clarity
Meta Pixel
other website analytics tools
These tools help us understand website usage and improve our services.
Payments may be processed by secure third-party payment providers.
We do not store complete credit card information on our servers.
Payment providers are responsible for safeguarding payment information in accordance with applicable security standards.
When providing publishing, editing, formatting, website design, branding, or creative services:
you retain ownership of your original intellectual property;
you grant us a limited licence to use the materials solely for the purpose of providing the requested services; and
unless you have provided written consent, we will not publicly display your unpublished manuscript, confidential business information, or proprietary content.
With your permission, we may showcase completed work in our portfolio, case studies, marketing materials, or social media.
Some of our services may utilise artificial intelligence tools to assist with editing, proofreading, design concepts, formatting, content refinement, research assistance, or workflow automation.
AI-assisted outputs are always reviewed by a human before final delivery where appropriate.
Clients remain responsible for reviewing all deliverables before publication.
If our businesses are sold, merged, reorganised, or transferred, customer information may form part of the transferred business assets, subject to applicable privacy laws.
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time.
The revised version will be published on this page together with the updated Effective Date.
Continued use of our websites constitutes acceptance of the revised Privacy Policy.
If you have any questions regarding this Privacy Policy or your personal information, please contact:
Privacy Officer
My Literary Lounge
O'Couture Designs
Quill & Pixel
Email: [Insert your preferred contact email]
Website:
If you believe that your personal information has not been processed in accordance with the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA), you may lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator (South Africa).
Website: https://www.justice.gov.za/inforeg/
Last Updated: 14 July 2026