Privacy Policy

This policy explains what information charlesmartinbooks.com (“the site”) collects, how it is used, and the choices you have. “We” and “us” mean Charles Martin and the small team that runs the site for him.

Your name and email address

When you sign up for Letters from Charles, we collect the email address you enter, and your name if you give it, so letters can greet you properly. You are not subscribed until you click the link in the confirmation email we send you.

They are used only to send you Charles’s newsletter: news of his books, film news and the stories behind the stories. We do not sell, rent, trade or share them with anyone, and we do not use them for anyone else’s marketing.

The list is kept with MailerLite, the email service that delivers the newsletter. MailerLite stores and sends the email on our behalf and may record whether a letter was opened or a link in it was clicked, so we can tell what readers find useful. Every letter has an unsubscribe link; once you unsubscribe, you will not receive further letters.

How visitors use the site

Like most websites, the site counts visits so we can see which pages and books readers find, and what is not working. To do that it uses analytics services that may set cookies or similar technology in your browser and may record, for example:

• the pages you visit, how long you stay and how you arrived (a search engine, a link, an email);
• clicks on buttons such as the store links, videos and downloads;
• your browser, device type and general location (country or city, worked out from your IP address).

The services we use are PostHog, Google (through Google Tag Manager), Microsoft Clarity and Ahrefs. Microsoft Clarity and PostHog may record how a page is scrolled and clicked, so we can find pages that are hard to use; by default they do not capture what you type into forms. This information is not used to identify you, and it is not combined with your newsletter sign-up.

The site does not show advertising, and it does not have accounts or logins.

Things kept in your browser

The site stores two small notes in your own browser: one that remembers you closed the newsletter invitation, and one that remembers you signed up, so you are not asked again. They never leave your device, and clearing your browser’s site data removes them.

Other companies’ sites and players

• Stores. Buy buttons take you to booksellers such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Audible. The site is an Amazon Associate, so Amazon may set a cookie that tells it a purchase came from this site, and may pay a small commission. It costs you nothing.
• Videos. Book videos are hosted by Vimeo and Wistia. When their video player loads, those companies may collect information under their own policies.
• Signed copies and social media. Signed-book orders are handled by the bookstore, and links to Facebook, Instagram and X open those services.

Once you leave the site, the other company’s privacy policy applies, not this one.

Your choices

• Unsubscribe from the newsletter at any time with the link at the bottom of any letter.
• Ask us to tell you what we hold about you, to correct it, or to delete your name and email address entirely. Write to us at the address below.
• Block or delete cookies in your browser settings. The site still works without them.

Depending on where you live (for example, in California or the European Union), the law may give you further rights over your information. We will honor them.

Keeping it safe

The site is served over an encrypted connection, and we use established services that are responsible for protecting what they hold. No system is perfectly secure, but we keep only what we need: a name and email address for the newsletter, and anonymous counts of how the site is used.

Children

The site is meant for adult readers. We do not knowingly collect information from children under 13.

Changes

If this policy changes, the new version will be posted here with a new date at the top.

Contact

Questions about this page, or a request about your information, can go to news [at] charlesmartinbooks.com.

See also the Terms of Use.