Disclosure — how we make money
In plain language: how the site earns, and the revenue it refuses.
The conflict we avoid
Publishing-advice sites overwhelmingly earn through affiliate arrangements with the exact services they assess — vanity presses, editing marketplaces, formatting tools. That conflict is precisely why honest cost information is scarce. A site that assesses editors while earning commission from editors has nothing useful to say about what an editor should cost.
Blue Flame takes no affiliate revenue, referral fee or commission from any publishing service it assesses. Not from vanity or “hybrid” presses, editing marketplaces, formatting tools, or cover-design services. This is the reason the reference tables are believable, and it is not negotiable.
What we do take
- Display advertising, with a blocklist: no vanity presses, “get published” services, contest mills or writing-course funnels.
- Affiliate links on books and general tools only — craft books, reference works, general software. Never on publishing services.
- Newsletter sponsorship — a single, clearly labelled, non-conflicting slot.
- Paid resources we make ourselves — for example a contract-review checklist — sold directly, with no third-party conflict.
This earns less than the affiliate route would. That is the trade, and the independence is the product.