Frequently Asked Questions about Memory Books

Sepia Books saves every email, photo, PDF, and file you send in — and, if you want, shares them with family and friends. Your account and Archive are free; whenever you're ready, order the keepsake you want: the Hardcover Memory Book (from $29.99) printed and shipped to your door, or the Digital Memory Book (from $14.99) as a personalized PDF — 60% off when ordered with any printed book.

Any time — the earlier the better. Set up early and every email is captured from day one — signing up before the first email is sent is the sweet spot: everything's in place, without the last-minute scramble.

Your account is free — saving emails, photos, and PDFs costs nothing, with no subscription and no time limit. You pay only when you order a book. Every book includes its first 24 pages, then adds a per-page price that drops as the book grows: pages 25–100, then 101–300, then 301 and up each cost less. Hardcover Memory Books start at $29.99, Hardcover Photo Books at $36.99, and Digital editions at $14.99 — the exact price for your book is always shown before you pay. US shipping from $8.99.

Both draw on the same Archive — forward your emails in, and upload photos and PDFs from anywhere — and both end in a personalized Memory Book. The difference is the keepsake: Digital (from $14.99) is a downloadable PDF, and Hardcover (from $29.99) is a printed hardcover shipped to you. Order either whenever you're ready — and adding the Digital edition to a printed order is 60% off.

Whenever you're ready, everything in your Archive — emails, photos, PDFs, social posts, and broadcasts — is bundled into a beautifully formatted keepsake with a personalized cover and message page. Digital (from $14.99) delivers a PDF; Hardcover (from $29.99) delivers a printed hardcover shipped to you. Either way, it's the whole story in one place, ready to keep forever.

Yes. The Hardcover Memory Book gathers every email, photo, PDF, and file you've saved into a professionally printed hardcover with a personalized cover. Pick your size — the classic 6 × 9 or the larger 7.44 × 9.68 — and your paper: Standard (from $29.99) prints great text on everyday uncoated paper, while Premium (from $44.99) upgrades to heavier coated paper for sharp, vivid photos — and at 6 × 9 wraps the book in real linen with a gold-foil spine and printed dust jacket. Every book includes 24 pages; beyond that each page costs less the longer your book runs — a 300-page Standard book is $91.23. Long collections split into up to 3 volumes, priced as one book. Most books arrive in under 2 weeks. Learn more about Hardcover Books →

Yes. The Photo Book is a separate keepsake built around the photos you've saved — every image in a beautifully formatted hardcover album at our larger 7 × 10 Executive size, where photos render bigger. Choose Standard (from $36.99) or Premium (from $54.99), which prints on heavier coated paper for the richest color. Both include 24 pages, then price per page at the same declining rates as every book. Prefer it digital? A photos-only Digital Photo Book is available too (from $14.99 — 60% off with any printed order). Most books arrive in under 2 weeks. Learn more about Photo Books →

Yes — once your printed order is paid, the Digital edition is 60% off its normal price. For example, a digital book that would be $33.99 on its own is $13.60 alongside your printed order. The discount applies automatically; the digital-first direction doesn't earn a retroactive rebate, so order print first if you want both.

If you bought both Memory Books, your Book section shows a hardcover book and a digital book, each with its own cover and settings to customize. They're two formats of the same story: everything in your Archive flows into both. Anything you haven't purchased simply shows its price; you're never charged until you order.

Yes. Every book purchase carries its own 30-day money-back guarantee — refund one order and your other purchases stand, and your free account and Archive keep working regardless. Support reviews each request (usually within one business day) and the refund goes back to your original card.

A refund returns exactly what you paid — a discounted digital book refunds its discounted price. Refunding the printed order later doesn't claw back a digital discount that was already applied. The refund screen shows the exact amount before you send the request.

There's nothing to trial — accounts are free, so you can start collecting today and decide about books later. Book purchases carry a 30-day money-back guarantee: change your mind within 30 days and request a refund, as long as you haven't generated your Digital book or placed a paid print order yet (the free print proof doesn't count).

None. Accounts are free and don't expire — no monthly fees, no storage fees, no per-member fees. The only charges are the books (and shipping) you choose to order, each one-time and shown before you pay.

About a minute — and it's free. Sign up with just your name and email, and you're done — your archive addresses are ready immediately. Best done before the first email goes out, so nothing is missed.

Almost nothing. They write their email as usual and CC (or BCC) your Forward-to-Archive address, so every one lands in your archive automatically. Same email they were already going to write — no app, no account. Most are up and running after one send.

No — your account is active the moment you sign up, so nothing your sender writes is missed.

Yes. At the bottom of our home page, enter your email in the newsletter signup and confirm the link we send you. We'll occasionally share discounts and new products, and you can unsubscribe anytime. It's separate from your sender's updates — it won't add you to anyone's list.

Every product includes a Forward-to-Archive address (prefix forward-) for forwarding emails in and a Direct-Archive address (prefix direct-) for CC-ing on emails you're writing. You, your sender, or any approved sender can use either — entries land at their original send date, alongside your broadcasts. Great for:

• Past updates your sender sent — anything from before the list existed.
• Meaningful emails they received — from colleagues, friends, or family.
• Anything else worth keeping in one place.

Archived emails only go to your archive, never to list members.

Yes — with every product. From the Approved Senders page, approve up to three trusted people beyond you and your sender. Anything they forward to your Forward-to-Archive address lands in your archive, attributed to the original sender — with no access to your account.

Yes. If your sender received a meaningful email — from a colleague, a friend, a relative — you, your sender, or any approved sender can forward it to your Forward-to-Archive address. The archive shows the original sender, with a small "Forwarded by…" line noting who added it. Perfect for correspondence they received but didn't write.

Just re-forward the email with the attachments included — the archive keeps only the most recent forward, so it replaces the earlier one. Heads-up: many email clients drop attachments when you hit Forward, so double-check before sending.

Yes — just forward an improved version. Open the original email, click Forward, edit the message content, and send it to your Forward-to-Archive address. The archive keeps only the most recent version — whether the entry started as a forward, a CC to your Direct-Archive address, or a broadcast — so your corrected copy replaces the earlier one. One tip: leave the forwarded header lines (From, Date, Subject) as they are — that's how we match the entry being replaced.

We read the original sender from the forwarded message-history block. Email clients format forwards differently, so if ours can't parse yours, we still archive the email — just attributed to you — and send a heads-up. Reply to it or contact support if a forward wasn't parsed right; it helps us improve.

At its original send date, not the day you forwarded it — so a 2024 email forwarded today lands among your other 2024 entries, newest first. If we couldn't read the original date, the row drops to the bottom.

Yes — a non-forwarded email to either address is saved as your own update, with you as the sender. Direct-Archive is built for this; Forward-to-Archive accepts it too. Empty-body emails bounce, so resend with content.

Yes — every product includes this. Just add your Direct-Archive address (the direct- one) to the recipients — To, CC, or BCC — when you send. Your update reaches everyone exactly as written, and a copy lands in your archive automatically, visible only inside Sepia Books. No separate forwarding step.

Yes — with every product. Use the Upload Photos page (linked from your Archive) to add photos from friends, family, and other senders — anywhere they arrive outside email. Pick a date for each batch so they land in the right spot on the timeline. Rotate and reorder them anytime, and they're included in your Memory Book.

Yes — with every product. Use the Upload Files page (linked from your Archive) for newsletters, notices, certificates — any PDF worth keeping alongside the emails. Each one is spliced right into your Memory Book.

Yes — with every product. Scan the letter (or snap a clear photo) and add it from your Archive: upload a multi-page letter as a single PDF on the Upload Files page, or add a single page through Upload Photos. Pick the date it was written and each handwritten or mailed letter lands on your timeline in order, bound right into your Memory Book alongside the emails.

Yes — with every product. From your Archive, click Add Social Post, screenshot or download the post (Instagram, Facebook, anywhere), and upload it with a date, title, and platform. Multiple images? Add them together — the first renders larger in your book. Each post gets its own row.

Yes. Open the email from your Archive (click the subject) and add or remove attachments right on its page — handy for catching a photo you missed or swapping in the right files.

Yes — and adding more is free. Add more from your Account page once you're logged in. Each book gets its own Archive under one login, and each prints whenever it's ready. A quick-switcher in the nav bar moves you between them.

Yes. Invite your sender and, once they accept, they can log in and manage their own list without going through you.

View their broadcast address, check their Archive, manage members, and share their join link — everything to run their own list. Account-level settings stay with you.

All major credit and debit cards through Stripe, plus Apple Pay and Google Pay on supported devices. The payment form is built right into signup — no separate checkout to redirect to. Some cards add a quick 3D Secure step from your bank, handled automatically before the payment completes.

Yes. Enter it in the Have a promotional code? field on the sign-up form and the discount comes off before you pay. Codes apply once, at sign-up.

Yes. Card details go straight into Stripe's secure form and never touch our servers — we never see or store your card number. Stripe processes payments for millions of businesses at the industry's highest security standards.

There's no expiry — your free account and Archive stay open until you close them. You can cancel any time you're done.

Yes. Within 30 days of payment you can request cancellation for a full refund — as long as you haven't generated your Digital Memory Book or placed a paid print order yet (the free print proof doesn't count). Submit the request from Account → Cancel a List (add a reason if you like); support reviews it, usually within one business day, and your list stays active until it's approved. After that, or after 30 days, you can still close your account anytime from Account → Delete Account — payments past 30 days are non-refundable.

Within the 30-day window, go to Account → Cancel a List and submit a request. You'll see each product from your purchase with its refund amount — keep everything ticked to cancel the whole list, or untick what you want to keep and refund just the rest. Support reviews it, usually within one business day; once approved, the refund goes to your original payment method and typically lands in 5–10 business days. Nothing changes until approval, and you can withdraw anytime. Refunds cover every payment still inside its own 30-day window — so a plan plus a later purchase, both within 30 days, refund together.

No — accepting your proof is the moment your Digital Memory Book is generated and delivered, so it's no longer refundable after that (the free watermarked proof doesn't count, and rejecting a proof to make changes doesn't either). Until you've accepted it, the Digital Memory Book refunds normally within its 30-day window.

Once a print order is using your included book credit, the Hardcover Memory Book can't be refunded while that order is in flight — cancel the order first (from the order's status page, if it hasn't gone to print) and the refund becomes available again inside your 30-day window. After a book has printed and shipped, it's no longer refundable.

Refunding your whole purchase closes the list and permanently deletes your Archive, including every saved email and photo — this can't be undone, and the request screen asks you to confirm it. A partial refund never touches the archive: refund one product and everything else, archive included, keeps working.

Your payment becomes non-refundable, but your list keeps working — no further charges, ever. You can still delete your account anytime from the Account page.

Have an account? Use the Support page after logging in. Otherwise, reach us through the Contact page and we'll get back quickly. Already a customer needing help with broadcasts or your archive? See the Customer FAQ.