Privacy Policy

Effective date: [1st January 2026]
Last updated: [1st January 2026]

Sizzle & Sparks respects your privacy and is committed to protecting your personal data.

This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, share, and protect personal data when you visit our website, sign up to receive updates, download free content, contact us, or otherwise interact with Sizzle & Sparks online.

Sizzle & Sparks is an independent fiction story studio and publisher based in Spain. We publish fiction across multiple genres and pen names, and we use our website to share information about our books, authors, news, reader offers, and related content.

For the purposes of the General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679 and applicable Spanish data protection law, including Organic Law 3/2018 on the Protection of Personal Data and Guarantee of Digital Rights, Sizzle & Sparks is the data controller of the personal data described in this policy.

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or how we use your personal data, you can contact us using the details at the end of this policy.

1. Who We Are

Sizzle & Sparks
Independent fiction story studio and publisher
Based in Spain

Website: www.sizzleandsparks.com
Privacy contact email: privacy@sizzleandsparks.com

In this policy, “Sizzle & Sparks”, “we”, “us”, or “our” refers to the Sizzle & Sparks publishing business.

2. Personal Data We Collect

We collect personal data only where it is necessary, lawful, and relevant to the way you interact with us.

2.1 Information You Provide to Us

You may provide personal data when you:

• sign up to our newsletter or reader club;
• download free content, such as free stories, sample chapters, bonus scenes, ebooks, or reader magnets;
• enter a competition, giveaway, survey, promotion, or reader event;
• contact us through our website, email, or social media;
• request information about our books, authors, or services;
• click on links to retailers, mailing lists, or third-party platforms.

Depending on the interaction, the personal data we collect may include:

We ask that you do not send us sensitive personal data unless it is strictly necessary for your enquiry.

3. Data Collected Automatically

When you visit our website, certain technical information may be collected automatically. This may include:

• IP address;
• browser type and version;
• device type;
• operating system;
• referring website or source;
• pages viewed;
• time and date of visit;
• approximate location, such as country or region;
• interactions with our website, emails, forms, or links.

We may collect this information through cookies, server logs, analytics tools, newsletter tools, or similar technologies.

This information helps us understand how visitors use our website, improve the reader experience, measure the performance of our content, and protect the website from misuse.

For more information, please see our Cookie Policy.

4. Cookies and Similar Technologies

Our website may use cookies and similar technologies to:

• make the website function properly;
• remember your preferences;
• understand how visitors use the website;
• measure the performance of pages, links, and campaigns;
• support email newsletter sign-ups and reader offers;
• support advertising or retargeting campaigns where permitted.

Where required by law, we will ask for your consent before placing non-essential cookies on your device.

You can usually control cookies through your browser settings or through any cookie banner or preference tool available on our website.

Please see our Cookie Policy for more information.

5. How We Use Your Personal Data

We will only use your personal data when the law allows us to.

Most commonly, we use your personal data to:

• provide access to our website and content;
• send newsletters, reader updates, book news, free stories, sample chapters, bonus content, launch announcements, cover reveals, offers, and related communications where you have signed up to receive them;
• manage reader club subscriptions and preferences;
• respond to questions, comments, and requests;
• deliver free downloads, promotional content, or reader magnets;
• administer competitions, giveaways, surveys, or promotions;
• understand which books, genres, authors, pages, or offers readers are interested in;
• improve our website, books, marketing, and reader experience;
• manage our relationship with readers, subscribers, suppliers, and business contacts;
• protect our website, systems, intellectual property, and legal rights;
• comply with legal, accounting, tax, and regulatory obligations.

We do not sell your personal data.

6. Lawful Bases for Processing

Under data protection law, we must have a lawful basis for using your personal data.

Depending on the circumstances, we may rely on one or more of the following lawful bases.

6.1 Consent

We rely on your consent when you sign up to receive marketing emails, newsletters, reader club updates, free content, or other optional communications.

You can withdraw your consent at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link in our emails or contacting us directly.

6.2 Contract

We may process your personal data where it is necessary to provide something you have requested, such as delivering a free download, managing access to content, or responding to a request connected with our services.

6.3 Legitimate Interests

We may process your personal data where we have a legitimate business interest and your rights and freedoms do not override that interest.

This may include improving our website, understanding reader interests, managing our business, protecting our systems, measuring campaign performance, and developing better books, offers, and reader experiences.

6.4 Legal Obligation

We may process your personal data where necessary to comply with legal obligations, including tax, accounting, consumer protection, data protection, or regulatory requirements.

7. Email Marketing and Reader Communications

If you sign up to our newsletter, reader club, free content, author updates, or book news, we may send you emails about:

• new releases;
• free books, samples, bonus scenes, or reader magnets;
• author and pen-name updates;
• book launches and promotions;
• cover reveals;
• reader surveys;
• competitions or giveaways;
• behind-the-scenes updates from Sizzle & Sparks;
• offers from Sizzle & Sparks or our author brands.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link in our emails.

We may use email service providers to manage our mailing lists, send emails, record consent, track email opens and clicks, and manage unsubscribe requests.

8. Reader Preferences and Profiling

We may use information about your reading preferences, sign-up choices, downloads, email interactions, or website activity to understand which genres, books, authors, or offers may be most relevant to you.

For example, if you sign up for romance updates, we may send you romance-related emails rather than thriller-related emails.

This helps us avoid sending irrelevant messages and improve the reader experience.

We do not use this information to make decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects about you.

9. Sharing Your Personal Data

We take your privacy seriously and only share personal data where necessary and lawful.

We may share personal data with trusted third-party service providers who help us operate our business, website, publishing activity, and reader communications.

These may include:

• website hosting providers;
• email newsletter and marketing platforms;
• analytics providers;
• form and survey tools;
• ecommerce or payment providers, where relevant;
• book delivery platforms, such as services used to deliver free ebooks or reader magnets;
• advertising platforms, such as Meta/Facebook, Instagram, Google, TikTok, Amazon, or similar platforms, where permitted;
• professional advisers, such as accountants, lawyers, tax advisers, or compliance consultants;
• IT, security, backup, and administrative service providers;
• government authorities, regulators, courts, or law enforcement where required by law.

Where we use third-party processors, we take reasonable steps to ensure appropriate data protection safeguards are in place.

10. Retailer and Third-Party Links

Our website may include links to third-party websites and retailers, such as:

• Amazon;
• Apple Books;
• Kobo;
• Google Play;
• BookFunnel;
• StoryOrigin;
• social media platforms;
• other book-related services.

If you click a third-party link, you will leave our website. Those third parties are responsible for their own privacy practices, cookies, terms, and policies.

We encourage you to read their privacy policies before providing personal data to them.

11. International Transfers

Some of the service providers we use may process personal data outside Spain, the European Economic Area, or the United Kingdom.

Where personal data is transferred internationally, we will take reasonable steps to ensure appropriate safeguards are in place.

These may include:

• adequacy decisions;
• standard contractual clauses;
• data processing agreements;
• other lawful transfer mechanisms under applicable data protection law.

12. How We Keep Your Personal Data Secure

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against accidental loss, misuse, unauthorised access, disclosure, alteration, or destruction.

These measures may include:

• access controls;
• password protection;
• secure service providers;
• encryption where appropriate;
• website security tools;
• backups;
• internal procedures for handling personal data.

However, no website, email system, or online service can be guaranteed to be completely secure.

13. How Long We Keep Your Personal Data

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes described in this policy.

In general:

• newsletter and reader club data is kept until you unsubscribe or request deletion;
• contact form and enquiry data is kept for as long as necessary to respond and manage the relationship;
• competition or giveaway data is kept for as long as necessary to administer the promotion and comply with legal obligations;
• analytics data is kept according to the retention settings of the relevant analytics tools;
• legal, accounting, tax, and business records may be kept for longer where required by law.

When personal data is no longer needed, we will delete it, anonymise it, or securely archive it where appropriate.

14. Children

Our website, books, newsletters, and services are intended for adults or for users old enough to lawfully consent to the processing of their personal data.

We do not knowingly collect personal data from children under the age of 14.

In Spain, children aged 14 or over may generally provide valid consent for the processing of their personal data under Spanish data protection law, although some services may have different age requirements.

If you believe that a child has provided us with personal data without appropriate consent, please contact us and we will take appropriate steps to delete it.

15. Your Data Protection Rights

Under applicable data protection law, you may have the right to:

• access the personal data we hold about you;
• request correction of inaccurate or incomplete personal data;
• request deletion of your personal data;
• object to certain processing;
• request restriction of processing;
• request portability of your personal data;
• withdraw consent where processing is based on consent;
• object to direct marketing;
• lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority.

To exercise your rights, please contact us using the details below.

We may need to verify your identity before responding to your request.

16. Complaints

If you have concerns about how we handle your personal data, please contact us first so we can try to resolve the matter.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Spanish data protection authority:

Agencia Española de Protección de Datos — AEPD
Website: https://www.aepd.es

The AEPD is the Spanish supervisory authority responsible for data protection matters in Spain.

17. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time.

When we make changes, we will update the “Last updated” date at the top of this page. If the changes are significant, we may provide a more prominent notice where appropriate.

Please check this page periodically to ensure you understand how we handle your personal data.

18. Contact Us

For questions about this Privacy Policy or how we handle your personal data, please contact:

Sizzle & Sparks
Independent fiction story studio and publisher
Based in Spain

Email for privacy questions: privacy@sizzleandsparks.com
Website: www.sizzleandsparks.com