Legal
Privacy Policy
Effective October 13, 2026
Str8 Up Publishing (“we,” “us”) runs thestr8up.com, where newspapers and other publications license syndicated columns, and where writers send us their columns. This policy explains what information we collect, why, and what we do with it. Str8 Up Publishing is a trade name of Golden Touch Publishing, LLC, an Indiana limited liability company.
If you buy from us
Here is the information buyers give us and what we do with it.
- When you buy a column you provide us: your name, email address, country, ZIP code and, if you enter it, your publication name.
- When you pay: you enter your card directly into a secure form run by our payment processor, Stripe. We never see or store your full card number. We receive a confirmation that the payment went through.
- Your account: we create an account with your first order so you can download columns again and see your order history. It holds your username, email address, a password (stored in scrambled, encrypted form) and any details you add in My Account.
- When you log in or place an order: we record your IP address to help prevent fraud and keep accounts secure.
- When you ask for a refund: you provide us, on our Refund Request form, your name, email address, order number, the column title(s), your reason and any details you add.
How we use your information: We use it to process your order and deliver your download, send receipts and account emails (such as setting or resetting your password), give you access to past purchases and downloads, handle refund requests, prevent fraud and keep the site secure, and answer your questions.
Who we share your information with: We share your information only with the service providers we need to run the site, and only for that purpose: payment processing (Stripe, see Stripe’s Privacy Policy), email and web hosting. We may also share information if the law requires it, or with a successor if we sell or transfer our business.
How long we keep your information: We keep a record of each order (what you bought, the price, the date and the order number) as long as we need it for tax and accounting. We keep your account until you ask us to close it. If you email us, we keep the message and your reply address so we can respond. We keep emails only as long as needed to help you. When we delete information, we remove it from our site and our mailboxes. Copies may remain for a time in our email and web hosting providers’ backups, which we don’t control, until those providers delete them.
We do not sell or rent your personal information, and we do not use it for targeted advertising. We will not add you to a marketing email list without your permission.
Cookies: We use only the cookies the store needs to work: log-in cookies that keep you signed in, and cart cookies that remember what you are buying. On the checkout page, Stripe sets cookies to help detect fraud. We do not use advertising, analytics or tracking cookies. Because every cookie we use is needed for the site to work, we do not show a cookie consent banner. If we ever add optional cookies, we will ask for your consent first.
Security: The site uses an encrypted (HTTPS) connection, card details are handled by Stripe, and passwords are stored encrypted. Our web host keeps standard server logs. No system is perfectly secure, but we take reasonable steps to protect your information.
Age requirement: This site is for publishers, businesses and writers and is intended for adults 18 and older. We do not knowingly collect information from anyone under 18.
Your choices: You can view and update your account details at any time in My Account. You can ask us for a copy of your information, or ask us to correct or delete it, by emailing contact@thestr8up.com. We may need to keep order records that the law requires us to keep.
Changes to this policy: If we change this policy, we will post the new version here with a new effective date.
Contact us: Questions about your privacy? Email contact@thestr8up.com.
Mailing address: [P.O. BOX, LOUISIANA]
If you’re a paid writer
Here is the information paid writers give us and what we do with it.
- When you apply you provide us: your legal name, email, categories, what you tell us about yourself, links to your published work, a writing sample and, if you give them, your website and social media. What you tell us about yourself, your writing sample, your links and your website and social media are for our review only, and we don’t publish them or use them for anything else.
- When you join us you provide us on our Writer Onboarding form: your legal name, pen name, email, phone, mailing address, business name (if we pay you through your business), payment contact (PayPal email, Zelle email or phone, or $Cashtag), bio, photo, and the website and social media you choose to show on your author page. We keep this form as the record of your Writer Agreement.
- When you submit a column you provide us: your legal name, email, byline, column, images, summary and notes to the editor and, if you choose them, the website and social media to print with that column. For a new pen name, its bio and, if you give one, its photo.
What we publish: We publish your byline, bio, photo, and chosen website and social media, on your author page and with your columns. Your legal name is published only if it’s your byline. We publish nothing else about you.
How we use your information: We use the information you provide us to review your work, publish and sell your columns, pay you, and meet our tax obligations.
Who we share your information with: We share your information only with the service providers we need to run the site, and only for that purpose: tax filing (W-9, 1099), the payment service you choose (PayPal, Zelle or Cash App), and email and web hosting. We may also share information if the law requires it, or with a successor if we sell or transfer our business.
How long we keep your information: If we decline a column, we don’t publish it or use it for anything else. If our Writer Agreement ends, we take down your author page and columns. We keep payment and tax records as long as the law requires. If you email us, we keep the message and your reply address so we can respond. We keep emails only as long as needed to help you. When we delete information, we remove it from our site and our mailboxes. Copies may remain for a time in our email and web hosting providers’ backups, which we don’t control, until those providers delete them.
We do not sell or rent your personal information, and we do not use it for targeted advertising. We will not add you to a marketing email list without your permission.
Cookies: We use only the cookies the store needs to work: log-in cookies that keep you signed in, and cart cookies that remember what you are buying. On the checkout page, Stripe sets cookies to help detect fraud. We do not use advertising, analytics or tracking cookies. Because every cookie we use is needed for the site to work, we do not show a cookie consent banner. If we ever add optional cookies, we will ask for your consent first.
Security: The site uses an encrypted (HTTPS) connection, so what you enter on our forms is encrypted on its way to us. Our web host keeps standard server logs. No system is perfectly secure, but we take reasonable steps to protect your information.
Age requirement: This site is for publishers, businesses and writers and is intended for adults 18 and older. We do not knowingly collect information from anyone under 18.
We never ask for your Social Security number, tax ID or bank account numbers on our site or by email.
To update or correct your information, email editor@thestr8up.com.
Changes to this policy: If we change this policy, we will post the new version here with a new effective date.
Contact us: Questions about your privacy? Email contact@thestr8up.com.
Mailing address: [P.O. BOX, LOUISIANA]
If you donate a column
Here is the information donors give us and what we do with it.
- When you apply to donate you provide us on our Donor Application: what you tell us about yourself and, if you give them, your website and social media. Unless you choose to show them on your author page, these are for our review only, and we don’t publish them or use them for anything else.
- Also on our Donor Application you provide us: your legal name, email, phone (if you give it), your byline (your legal name, a pen name, or Guest Columnist) and, if you have a byline, your bio, your photo (if you give one), and the website and social media you choose to show on your author page. We keep this part of the form as the record of your Donor Agreement.
- When you donate a column you provide us: your legal name, email, byline, column, images, summary and notes to the editor and, if you have a byline and choose them, the website and social media to print with that column. For a new pen name, its bio and, if you give one, its photo.
What we publish: If you have a byline, we publish your byline, bio, photo, and chosen website and social media, on your author page and with your columns. Your legal name is published only if it’s your byline. If you donate as Guest Columnist, your columns run under “Guest Columnist,” we publish no bio, photo, website or social media with them, and you have no author page. We publish nothing else about you.
How we use your information: We use the information you provide us to review your columns, publish them, and offer them free to publications.
Who we share your information with: We share your information only with the service providers we need to run the site, and only for that purpose: email and web hosting. We may also share information if the law requires it, or with a successor if we sell or transfer our business.
How long we keep your information: If we decline a column, we don’t publish it or use it for anything else. If you ask us to take a column down, we remove it from our site. If you email us, we keep the message and your reply address so we can respond. We keep emails only as long as needed to help you. When we delete information, we remove it from our site and our mailboxes. Copies may remain for a time in our email and web hosting providers’ backups, which we don’t control, until those providers delete them.
We do not sell or rent your personal information, and we do not use it for targeted advertising. We will not add you to a marketing email list without your permission.
Cookies: We use only the cookies the store needs to work: log-in cookies that keep you signed in, and cart cookies that remember what you are buying. On the checkout page, Stripe sets cookies to help detect fraud. We do not use advertising, analytics or tracking cookies. Because every cookie we use is needed for the site to work, we do not show a cookie consent banner. If we ever add optional cookies, we will ask for your consent first.
Security: The site uses an encrypted (HTTPS) connection, so what you enter on our forms is encrypted on its way to us. Our web host keeps standard server logs. No system is perfectly secure, but we take reasonable steps to protect your information.
Age requirement: This site is for publishers, businesses and writers and is intended for adults 18 and older. We do not knowingly collect information from anyone under 18.
We never ask for your Social Security number, tax ID or bank account numbers on our site or by email.
To update or correct your information, email guest@thestr8up.com.
Changes to this policy: If we change this policy, we will post the new version here with a new effective date.
Contact us: Questions about your privacy? Email contact@thestr8up.com.
Mailing address: [P.O. BOX, LOUISIANA]