diff --git a/lib/historyKeeper.js b/lib/historyKeeper.js
index cfdb14717..30b311eb7 100644
--- a/lib/historyKeeper.js
+++ b/lib/historyKeeper.js
@@ -18,11 +18,11 @@ module.exports.create = function (Env, cb) {
 
         id: Env.id,
 
-        channelMessage: function (Server, channel, msgStruct) {
+        channelMessage: function (Server, channel, msgStruct, cb) {
             // netflux-server emits 'channelMessage' events whenever someone broadcasts to a channel
             // historyKeeper stores these messages if the channel id indicates that they are
             // a channel type with permanent history
-            HK.onChannelMessage(Env, Server, channel, msgStruct);
+            HK.onChannelMessage(Env, Server, channel, msgStruct, cb);
         },
         channelClose: function (channelName) {
             // netflux-server emits 'channelClose' events whenever everyone leaves a channel
diff --git a/lib/hk-util.js b/lib/hk-util.js
index 1b1692afc..f5f6fa2cb 100644
--- a/lib/hk-util.js
+++ b/lib/hk-util.js
@@ -300,9 +300,10 @@ var trimMapByOffset = function (map, offset) {
     * the fix is to use callbacks and implement queueing for writes
       * to guarantee that offset computation is always atomic with writes
 */
-const storeMessage = function (Env, channel, msg, isCp, optionalMessageHash) {
+const storeMessage = function (Env, channel, msg, isCp, optionalMessageHash, cb) {
     const id = channel.id;
     const Log = Env.Log;
+    if (typeof(cb) !== "function") { cb = function () {}; }
 
     Env.queueStorage(id, function (next) {
         const msgBin = Buffer.from(msg + '\n', 'utf8');
@@ -321,6 +322,7 @@ const storeMessage = function (Env, channel, msg, isCp, optionalMessageHash) {
 
                     // TODO make it possible to respond to clients with errors so they know
                     // their message wasn't stored
+                    cb(err);
                     return void next();
                 }
             }));
@@ -364,6 +366,10 @@ const storeMessage = function (Env, channel, msg, isCp, optionalMessageHash) {
                         index.offsets = checkOffsetMap(index.offsetByHash);
                     }
                 }
+
+                // call back with the offset of the message we just stored
+                cb(void 0, index.size);
+
                 index.size += msgBin.length;
 
                 // handle the next element in the queue
@@ -846,7 +852,9 @@ HK.onDirectMessage = function (Env, Server, seq, userId, json) {
     * adds timestamps to incoming messages
     * writes messages to the store
 */
-HK.onChannelMessage = function (Env, Server, channel, msgStruct) {
+HK.onChannelMessage = function (Env, Server, channel, msgStruct, cb) {
+    if (typeof(cb) !== "function") { cb = function () {}; }
+
     //console.log(+new Date(), "onChannelMessage");
     const Log = Env.Log;
 
@@ -942,7 +950,7 @@ HK.onChannelMessage = function (Env, Server, channel, msgStruct) {
 
         // storeMessage
         //console.log(+new Date(), "Storing message");
-        storeMessage(Env, channel, JSON.stringify(msgStruct), isCp, getHash(msgStruct[4], Log));
+        storeMessage(Env, channel, JSON.stringify(msgStruct), isCp, getHash(msgStruct[4], Log), cb);
         //console.log(+new Date(), "Message stored");
     });
 };