IBPA Community Guidelines

To ensure the best possible experience for all community members, we have established some very basic guidelines for participation. This applies to all spaces within the IBPA community, including but not limited to IBPA Publishing University, the Independent Publisher Roundtables and Author Publisher Roundtables, the IBPA Slack workspace, the IBPA Member Directory, and more.

We're not trying to start a discussion about what the rules should be; we're only trying to explain what they are. If you have questions about these guidelines or the tools themselves, please contact the IBPA office at info@ibpa-online.org or 310-546-1818. We're happy to help!

Code of Ethics

A commitment to professionalism, confirming IBPA's collective belief that the production of content of lasting financial and/or cultural value is just as important as securing open markets for this content.

As part of the independent publishing community, IBPA members pledge to the following CODE OF ETHICS:

• To uphold the highest standards of our industry, to create works of lasting financial and/or cultural value, and to pursue editorial, design, and production excellence.
• To respect the rights of authors and other creators and stakeholders, to observe all copyright laws and conventions, and to never knowingly publish plagiarized work.
• To reward authors and contributors for their work, to be honest in our financial dealings, to write contracts in understandable language, to resolve all disputes promptly and fairly, and to foster equal opportunity in our workplaces.
• To not mislead readers or buyers with false promises, inflated sales data, or manipulated reviews.
• To not publish works of hate speech¹, or works that encourage discrimination, oppression, or violence.
• To recycle and reuse and to follow green practices whenever possible.
• To utilize AI tools in a manner that is transparent and provides proper credit when AI tools are used to generate content.

¹IBPA Termination of Membership Policy Related to Use of Hate Speech

IBPA Anti-Harassment Policy

The Independent Book Publishers Association is committed to ensuring a safe and welcoming environment for all participants at all IBPA activities, meetings, and networking events. We expect all participants at IBPA activities, meetings, and networking events to abide by this Anti-Harassment Policy in all venues, including ancillary events and official and unofficial social gatherings.

• Exercise consideration and respect in your speech and actions.
• Refrain from demeaning, discriminatory, harassing, or threatening behavior and speech.
• Be mindful of your surroundings and of your fellow participants.
• Alert community leaders if you notice a dangerous situation, someone in distress, or violations of the Anti-Harassment Policy, even if they seem inconsequential.

Unacceptable behaviors include:

• Intimidating, harassing, abusive, discriminatory, derogatory, or demeaning speech or actions by any participant in any IBPA meeting or networking event, at all related events, and in one-on-one communications carried out in the context of any IBPA meeting or networking event. IBPA event venues may be shared with members of the public; please be respectful to all patrons of these locations;
• Harmful or prejudicial verbal or written comments or visual images related to gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, race, religion, disability, age, appearance, or other personal characteristics;
• Inappropriate use of nudity and/or sexual images in public spaces (including presentation slides);
• Deliberate intimidation, stalking, or following;
• Harassing photography or recording;
• Sustained disruption of talks or other events;
• Unwelcome and uninvited attention or contact;
• Physical assault (including unwelcome touch or groping);
• Real or implied threat of physical harm;
• Real or implied threat of professional or financial damage or harm;
• Real or implied offer of work in exchange for sexual favors.

IF YOU ARE BEING HARASSED, NOTICE THAT SOMEONE ELSE IS BEING HARASSED, OR HAVE ANY OTHER CONCERNS, PLEASE CONTACT A MEMBER OF THE IBPA STAFF IMMEDIATELY.

Staff can be identified by name badges. All reports are confidential.

Consequences of Unacceptable Behavior
Unacceptable behavior from any participant at an IBPA meeting or networking event, including anyone within IBPA with decision-making authority, will not be tolerated.

If a participant engages in unacceptable behavior, the IBPA leadership may take any action they deem appropriate, including removal from the IBPA meeting or event (without refund) at which the harassment occurred. Egregious violations will result in more severe sanctions.

No Solicitations or Promotions

Some of our members (Publisher Partners, Hybrid Publishers, and so on) have very valuable services to offer, but these members are not permitted to use IBPA spaces to overtly sell or promote. The IBPA community is meant to be a networking space and knowledge hub, not a promotions factory. Within the IBPA community, members should not discuss, post, or hand out promotional material, special offers, job offers, product announcements, or solicitation for services. IBPA reserves the right to remove such messages and potentially ban sources of those solicitations. IBPA members are not permitted to use the IBPA Member Directory to email, call, or contact in any way other members to solicit their services.

IBPA has created excellent and effective opportunities to market to the IBPA membership, which are listed on this page. Our members may offer IBPA's marketing programs to their clients, but they MUST charge the exact rate that IBPA charges for the program. For example, if IBPA charges $299 for a 3-month NetGalley listing, then the IBPA member can only charge their client $299 for a 3-month NetGalley listing. A violation of this policy can result in removal from membership.

As for other member benefits, such as IngramSpark, Bowker, etc., IBPA does not want our members sharing our promo codes, members-only hyperlinks, etc. with non-members. These member benefits are intended solely for the purpose of members. If the clients of Publisher Partners are in need of access to IngramSpark, Bowker, etc., then we prefer that they suggest their clients sign up for membership themselves. A violation of these policies can result in removal from membership.

Transparency is very important in gaining trust in professional relationships, therefore be clear who you are and who you work for when you're attending an IBPA event or participating on an IBPA platform. This means including your real name on your profile along with disclosing your employer and using a profile picture of your likeness and not your company’s logo.

We ask that members keep their IBPA profile up to date so others can put their words in context. And, of course, members can link to their website and services in their profile if they'd like. Members profiles can be accessed by signing into the IBPA website and going to 'My Profile' at the top of the screen (located next to 'My Feed' and 'Directory').

We hope members find the IBPA Community to be useful. However, we also need to call attention to the following disclaimer.

Disclaimer

IBPA community spaces and the other content on the IBPA website include advice, information, and opinions contributed by third parties. As with any such content, it does not take the place of consultation with appropriate professional advisers, and we recommend that members make sure any content they find at the IBPA website fits their specific business, financial, and legal needs. The information, advice, and opinions expressed by contributors and correspondents are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of IBPA. IBPA is not affiliated with third-party contributors and correspondents and does not endorse or guarantee their advice and information and/or their products and services. The content and functionality of the IBPA website is made available without any guarantees or warranties of any kind, and IBPA shall not be liable for damage and/or loss of any kind whatsoever resulting from a members' decision to use this website and/or any of its contents and/or functionality. By entering and using the IBPA website, members agree to be bound by this disclaimer.

Read IBPA's Bylaws on Termination of Membership.