Plain answers, in the order you’ll need them.

A quiet room, a laptop or a phone, and about an hour at a time. A cup of tea helps. There is no homework, no notes to prepare, and nothing to type. Henry asks, they talk, he listens.

Entirely at their pace, and the talking itself is only a few hours all up. The welcome email arrives within minutes of paying. Taken a conversation a day, the interviews are done inside a week or two; the chapters are ready to read within a day of the last conversation, and the reviewing takes as long as they want it to.

Once they approve the finished book, the printed edition is posted about two weeks later, and the audiobook is ready within days. There are no deadlines and no countdowns.

The honest answer: the conversations can't be rushed, because the pace belongs to the storyteller. If they take to it, everything digital is done inside about two weeks: the interviews and their approval are what take the time, and the finished memoir, the Living Memoir, and the audiobook follow straight away. The printed book is what takes longest: allow five or six weeks from purchase to holding it. Neither is a promise, because their pace isn't ours to promise.

For a birthday or Christmas, the gift certificate is the answer. Buy the gift, print the certificate, and hand it over on the day; you can even choose to hold their welcome email so it arrives that very morning. The gift is given on the date. The story takes the time it takes.

Each storyteller records their own memoir, because each voice deserves its own book. Couples usually do one each: the shared years get told twice, once from each side, and families consistently tell us that reading the two accounts side by side is the treasure, not a repeat.

Each of you will naturally appear all through the other's book: in their chapters, their photographs, and their letters. If you're thinking of buying two, write to us first and we'll look after you on the price.

The moment you pay, a quiet email goes to their inbox with everything they need to begin, including their personal link. You'll get your own confirmation with a link to your order page.

If their invitation doesn't arrive, have them check spam first. Then, from your order page, you can correct their email address and resend the invitation yourself, any time before the interviews begin.

Almost everyone thinks that, and it's almost never true. The best memoirs aren't records of adventure; they're records of a life as it was actually lived: the street they grew up on, the first job, the kitchen at six o'clock. Ordinary is exactly what a family wants to keep.

Henry is at his best with people who arrive saying they have nothing to say. He never asks anyone to be interesting. He asks about Tuesday nights and first pay packets, and the story arrives on its own.

They won't be left staring at a blank page, because there is no page. Henry always has the next question, and it's his job, not theirs, to know where the story goes next. A short answer is fine. “I don't remember” is fine. He moves gently on.

And a conversation doesn't have to be an hour. Twenty minutes is plenty. They can pause any time and pick up days later exactly where they left off, and plenty of people do the whole thing in short sittings.

If they can open an email and tap a link, they can do this. Everything happens in the browser. There is nothing to install and no account they need to create to start talking.

Some people need a week or two to warm up to the idea, and that's fine. Nothing expires, nobody chases them, and they begin in their own time.

If they'd rather not continue at all, tell us. You can cancel any time before the interviews begin for a full refund. And if it stalls somewhere in the middle, write to us and we'll be fair; we'd rather refund a story than force one.

Before the first conversation: a full refund, any time, no questions asked.

After the interviews have begun but before the book is made: we refund what's fair, and we lean generous. We would rather refund a story than force one.

Once the book has been approved and made, the money has mostly been spent on making it, so we don't refund it; the hosting and everything already promised continue in full. If the situation is hard, write to us. A person reads every message and has the authority to be kind.

Yes. They can pause any session and come back later, even days later. Henry keeps his place and picks up right where they left off, with a gentle reminder of where they were.

Nothing they've said is lost. Their portal will offer to resume the conversation. If anything looks off when they return, email us and we'll put it right.

First a Life Map: their whole life in broad strokes. Then five or six deeper conversations on the people, places, and years that matter most, shaped around what they shared. Then one closing conversation to draw it together.

Nothing about an order expires. If the storyteller stops partway, their link keeps working, their story keeps everything they've already told, and they can pick up the next conversation months later exactly where they left off.

We send a few gentle reminders, spaced well apart, and then we go quiet; one tap stops even those. Nothing is ever deleted without warning, and you can write to us at any point to ask how it's going or what to do next.

The story stays open while they review it. They can chat with Henry about any chapter, and he can set up a short follow-up recording just for the piece that's missing. Nothing is locked until they say it's finished.

The story belongs to the person who told it. You fund the telling; they own the book, and they choose when to share it, with you and with everyone else. There's a one-tap way for them to do exactly that at the end. It's the same reason we don't let anyone else edit their words: the memoir is theirs.

Someone who shaped your life has been telling their life story with Revere, and near the end of it they chose a small number of people to receive a letter. Every line was drawn from their own telling; they reviewed it word by word, and it was held for two days after their approval before anything was posted. Sending it to you was a decision they made twice.

About you, we hold only your name and postal address, given to us by the sender, and the address was used once, to post the letter. You're not on a list, nothing will be marketed to you, and you can ask us to delete what little we hold at any time. The longer answer lives at getrevere.com.au/letter.

Forty-eight hours after the subject approves them, in case they change their mind. Inside that window they can pause the letters any time from their review page, and nothing will be sent until they resume.

Five years, on every edition, with a simple renewal offered at the end. The family link keeps working for the whole term, and the printed book and every downloaded file are theirs forever regardless.

And the online version is never captive to us: at any time, from the Living Memoir itself, the family can download the whole thing as a single file, words, photographs and their voice included, that opens in any browser without the internet. Keep copies wherever the family keeps precious things.

It ends gently or not at all. Well before the term is up we write to whoever holds the story, offer a simple renewal, and deliver a complete copy of everything either way: the book files, the photographs, the recordings, the audiobook. Nothing is ever switched off without warning, and nothing is ever deleted with nowhere to go.

It stays exactly where it is. The hosting term keeps running for the family, the links keep working, and the printed book and files are already theirs. When the family is ready, they can write to us about who should look after the story from there; we take our lead from them.

On the page that says we couldn't find it, enter the email address the link was sent to and we'll send a fresh one straight away. Signing in with that same email from the home page also works.

On the audiobook page there's an option to record a short fresh sample in their own voice; we then remake every chapter with it. If it still isn't right, email us and we'll listen together.