Terms

These terms cover your use of Jim Harvey's StoryMachine at storymachine.themessagebusiness.com. The StoryMachine is provided by Allcow Trading Company Ltd, trading as The Message Business, a company registered in England and Wales with number 07768986, whose registered office is at 14 North Street, Bourne, Lincolnshire PE10 9AB, United Kingdom. “We” means us. “You” means the person using it. By using the StoryMachine you agree to these terms.

What the StoryMachine does

You give it your notes, a deck or a document. It builds a presentation story from them in two stages. Stage 1, Get your story straight, is free and needs no account. Stage 2, Add interest and impact, and the PDF need you to sign in with your email address.

The StoryMachine uses an AI model to write. It is told to keep to your facts and to invent nothing, and its output is checked by code, but it can still get things wrong. You are responsible for what you present. Check every fact, figure and name against your own material before you use it. Nothing the StoryMachine writes is legal, financial or professional advice.

Your account

You sign in with a code or link sent to your email. Keep access to that email account to yourself. One account is for one person. You must be 18 or over to create one.

Prices and payment

Your first story is free: both stages and the downloads, with one rerun and five AI edits. After that you can buy one story, a month or a year, at the prices shown on the site when you buy. Prices are in US dollars. We are not registered for VAT, so the price shown is the price you pay. Payments are taken by Stripe; we never see or store your card details.

• One story gives you that story, both stages and the downloads, for as long as your account is open.
• A month gives you as many stories as you need until you cancel. It renews each month. Cancel any time from Billing in your account; you keep access to the end of the month you have paid for.
• A year gives you as many stories as you need for twelve months. It renews each year. Cancel any time from Billing in your account; you keep access to the end of the year you have paid for.
• Lifetime access, sold until 11 October 2026, continues for those who bought it, for as long as we run the StoryMachine.
• A programme code from a The Message Business training programme adds the number of stories it states, free, until the date it states.

Refunds are set out on the refunds page.

Your material and your stories

What you put in stays yours, and so does the story the StoryMachine writes from it. You give us permission to store and process your material only to run the StoryMachine for you. We do not publish it, sell it or use it to train AI models. Files you upload are read in your browser; only their words are sent to us. How we handle your information is set out in the privacy notice.

Only put in material you have the right to use. If it belongs to your employer or a client, make sure you are allowed to use it this way.

The method

The method behind the StoryMachine (the three-act structure, the Prologue and Epilogue, the presentation types and the tests each part has to pass) is the intellectual property of The Message Business. You may use it, and what the StoryMachine gives you, for your own presentations. You may not copy the StoryMachine, its prompts or its method to build a competing product, or teach the method commercially without our agreement.

Fair use

Do not use the StoryMachine for anything unlawful, to harass or defame anyone, or to try to break, overload or get round its limits. We set daily limits on free use and may change them. We may suspend an account that breaks these terms; if you have paid, we will refund what is fair.

Availability and changes

We aim to keep the StoryMachine running and improving, but we cannot promise it will always be available or free of faults. We may change how it works. If we ever close it, we will give subscribers and lifetime users at least 30 days' notice so they can download their stories.

Our liability

Nothing in these terms limits liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, for fraud, or for anything else the law does not allow us to limit. Otherwise, we are not liable for indirect losses, or for losses arising from content you present without checking it. Our total liability to you is limited to the amount you paid us in the twelve months before the claim. If you buy as a consumer, you have legal rights these terms do not affect.

Changes to these terms

We may update these terms. The date at the top shows the latest version. If a change matters to people who have paid, we will tell them by email first.

Law

These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales, and its courts deal with any dispute.

Contact

jim.harvey@themessagebusiness.com, or write to Allcow Trading Company Ltd, 14 North Street, Bourne, Lincolnshire PE10 9AB, United Kingdom.