At a glance
- Manuscript upload
- Required
- Cloud storage
- Yes
- Account required
- Yes
- AI features
- Not determined
- AI training on your work
- Terms are silent or ambiguous
- Content licence
- Perpetual
- Deletion
- Available
- Export / portability
- Weak
- Policy transparency
- Mixed
“Not determined” means the documents were read and did not settle it. “Not assessed” means it has not been researched. Neither means “no”.
What this means for authors
Editorial interpretation — Mixed
Some terms protect the author and others do not, or an important question is left unanswered.
Distribution is non-exclusive and the author keeps the copyright, but the grant goes further than selling. Ebooks are licensed irrevocably to B&N and its partners, and print runs under a separate set of terms that takes a perpetual, transferable licence, sub-licensable through multiple tiers, including derivative works. Beyond sale, B&N can lend the book without an opt-out, show all of it in its stores, give part of it away as a sample and keep copies after you leave. Both contracts date from April 2021 and say nothing about AI. B&N can change them at any time and end the account without notice. Liability is capped at twelve months of royalties, and disputes go to individual arbitration unless you opt out by post within thirty days.
Content licence
Two licences cover the same book depending on format. Ebooks (Membership Agreement §7): non-exclusive, worldwide and irrevocable, granted to B&N and its distributors, licensees and partners, for sale and promotion in any electronic format now existing or later developed, including letting customers copy, paste, print, email, annotate and share. Print and the website (Website Terms of Use §C): worldwide, non-exclusive, transferable, royalty-free, perpetual and irrevocable, sub-licensable through multiple tiers, covering derivative works, limited to providing the service. Beyond sale, §4 lets B&N give away the front matter and up to 5% as a sample, include the book in customer lending without an opt-out, show all of it to anyone on in-store wifi, use the cover in any marketing without payment, and modify the cover, metadata and description. The author keeps the copyright (§12).
AI and model training
Silence rather than an exclusion. Neither the Author Membership Agreement nor the Website Terms of Use, both dated April 2021, nor the January 2025 privacy policy mentions artificial intelligence, machine learning or training. The ebook grant lets B&N and its distributors, licensees and partners convert the book into any format “now existing or hereafter created” and “index and catalogue” it; the print terms add a perpetual right to create derivative works in connection with the service. Nothing in that wording contemplates model training, and nothing rules it out.
Tracking and telemetry
Aimed at customers more than authors. The Barnes & Noble privacy policy describes third-party analytics (it names Adobe Analytics, Google Analytics and Localytics), targeted advertising, and transfers that count as a “sale” or “sharing” under state law, with an opt-out. For B&N Press it mentions only bank details collected for payments. NOOK reading activity such as page turns and annotations is collected from readers of published books, and B&N owns all customer data from sales of your title (Membership Agreement §4K).
Deletion
A title can be withdrawn and stops selling within ten business days (§4D), and the account can be closed (§2). Neither removes the book. B&N keeps “digital copies” after termination to support past buyers (§2), customers keep it in their Digital Locker regardless (§4H), and files you deliver “will not be returned to you” (§4B). The print terms say uploaded content is kept “generally not longer than 30 days”, but they sit alongside a perpetual, irrevocable licence to it.
Export and lock-in
No route back out is described. The Membership Agreement says delivered files will not be returned and advises keeping your own backups, including of anything written in B&N’s formatting tools (§4A, §4B). Sales data leaves only as the online royalty report.
Sources
Every factual claim above is drawn from these documents.
Official terms
Barnes & Noble Press Author Membership AgreementBarnes & Noble Booksellers, Inc.
Accessed 26 October 2026 · Effective 30 April 2021
Shown as “Last Modified: April 30, 2021”. Source for the non-exclusive grant of rights (section 7), retained copyright (section 12), withdrawal and termination within ten business days (sections 2 and 4D), the 14-day lending programme, the 5% free sample, the $10 threshold in section 6B, and the absence of any AI clause.
Official terms
Barnes & Noble Press Royalty and Payment TermsBarnes & Noble Press
Accessed 21 October 2026
No date shown. Source for the 70% ebook and 55%-less-print-cost print royalties, the price-parity rule, the $14.99 print minimum, the $25 threshold and the 30-day schedule. Changes take effect 30 days after posting.
Official terms
Barnes & Noble Press Website Terms of UseBarnes & Noble Press
Accessed 26 October 2026 · Effective 30 April 2021
Governs the website and print-on-demand (Membership Agreement §4L). Section C takes a perpetual, irrevocable, multi-tier sublicensable licence to user content, including derivative works, and says content is kept generally no longer than 30 days.
Official policy
Content PolicyBarnes & Noble Press
Accessed 26 October 2026
Read for AI language; there is none.
Official privacy policy
Barnes & Noble Privacy PolicyBarnes & Noble
Accessed 26 October 2026 · Effective 10 January 2025
Incorporated by the Membership Agreement. Third-party analytics, targeted advertising and a Do Not Sell or Share opt-out; for B&N Press it mentions only bank details. No AI or training language.
Official help centre
Barnes & Noble Press Payment CurrencyB&N Press Help Center
Accessed 21 October 2026 · Effective 2 March 2026
Source for international authors being paid in US dollars from 2 March 2026.
Official help centre
Getting Paid for SalesB&N Press Help Center
Accessed 21 October 2026
Updated 17 August 2026. Source for the $0.99 floor on the 70% ebook rate, the $25 threshold, payment on the last Wednesday of the following month, and no royalty on the author’s own orders.
Official help centre
Getting Started with B&N PressB&N Press Help Center
Accessed 21 October 2026
Updated 17 June 2026. Source for non-exclusivity, where books are sold (bn.com, the app and NOOK, not in stores), the free platform, formats, and the eligible author countries.
Official help centre
ISBN FAQsB&N Press Help Center
Accessed 21 October 2026
Updated 17 September 2026. Source for the free print ISBN and its limits, the never-submitted-elsewhere rule for owned ISBNs, and ebooks needing no ISBN.
Official help centre
Print Book Pricing and Printing CostsB&N Press Help Center
Accessed 21 October 2026 · Effective 22 April 2026
Source for the $14.99 print minimum from 22 April 2026 and removal of cheaper listings from 14 May 2026.
Related
Publishing Database
Author Answer
Caveats
This is an informational reading of published documents, not legal advice, and it describes what Barnes & Noble Press’s terms permit and require rather than what the company does in practice. Terms change without announcement. How this is assessed.