Episode Transcript
[00:00:03] Speaker A: And good morning, everybody, and welcome to every possible podcast and YouTube channel. I'm Bradley Charbonneau and today here with Hannah Huber. Hi, Hannah, how are you?
[00:00:11] Speaker B: Hi, Bradley. I'm good, thanks. Thanks for having me.
[00:00:14] Speaker A: Yeah, my pleasure. And today it is currently January 2025, and we are today talking about the conference coming up in March from Storyhouse Works. And we want to talk about who it's for, what it is, and get into the nuts and bolts of who should come, what's happening, the history behind it, and yeah, anything. Anything related to what people would want to know and what it's all about. Is it online? Is it in person? Does it cost money? Is it in Amsterdam? Is it also streamed live? Are there recorded videos after? Blah, blah, blah, blah. All the stuff.
So, Hannah, this is your darling and I'm really excited about it. So could you give us a little background on you? And also story health works real quick just to get us into the flow of where we are and who you are a little bit.
[00:01:12] Speaker B: Sure.
Well, I am an American, originally from Pennsylvania, moved to The Netherlands, early 20s, been here ever since. So half my life in America, half my life in the Netherlands. And I've always had a love for books and reading. And during the pandemic, I had some space and time to actually work on my creative skills and started writing and wrote my own book debuting novel called Place about calling two places home. And I just realized what a beautiful process that is, making a book together with a team for the book cover, the layout, the editing. There's just a real. A whole team involved in birthing a book. I like to call it birthing a book.
So with that whole creative process, I thought, well, let's gather all these forces and create a team to help others do just that, to do the same. Because there's so many people that have a story out there.
Maybe their manuscript is collecting dust or they have imposter syndrome and they just don't have the confidence in themselves to bring it out there. Or maybe the motivation or the resources. So gathering this team of professionals that have experience in laying out a book and doing cover design and editing to help these people get their book out there that normally might not get accepted at a traditional publisher because oftentimes those gate doors are closed. They're not accepting manuscripts. It's highly selective.
But that doesn't mean that a story shouldn't be out there. Just like we can't hang all the paintings in the world on the gallery walls. So, yeah, Story House Works was born and we are in our third year now. We've helped over 25 authors get their story out there into the world or help them with different processes, different stages of the self publishing publishing process, because that's what we do. So we're not a traditional publishing house in that we deal with the rights and the royalties. We're a service platform offering different packages and help people from A to Z with various aspects of the self publishing process. Because oftentimes you need that cheerleader and that person to help you, to guide you through the process. Because there is a lot to figure out. And as you know. Yeah. So everything from getting your book ready for distribution and even just writing as that's step one is getting words on the page. And sometimes that can be a huge barrier in itself. So we help people with that.
So that's about Storyhouse Works and the conference. It's our first conference.
Stories unfold on March 20 at the Public library. Perfect venue, makes total sense. Good match, surrounded by books.
[00:03:47] Speaker A: And also in Amsterdam.
[00:03:49] Speaker B: In Amsterdam, right by Central Station. Easy to reach. Because we want this event to be accessible to the public. We know there are a lot of people, everyone has a story to tell. I truly believe that. And I'm hoping also just to trigger people's senses that are there that day and even just have them encounter some of the authors and see what we're doing. Because that's what I love about the public library. You walk into this public space and this is, this is like the one common denominator. Books and storytelling. This is where everyone comes together to, to enjoy each other's stories and we learn from each other and it helps build empathy and forms democracy. So there's, you know, a higher mission here as well. But I think the public library is a perfect venue for this. And we'll be up on the sixth floor on the 20th of March. So with our conference stories unfold.
[00:04:43] Speaker A: I just looked and that's a Thursday.
[00:04:46] Speaker B: Yes, Thursday. From nine to five.
[00:04:48] Speaker A: Nine to five. So it's a one day in person conference. Correct. Great. Wow. You know, the in person element is just. I find. Because I was of course gonna, of course I know this, but I just. For everybody listening and watching. Is it, oh, is it on zoom? Is it gonna be recorded? Is it, you know, all that stuff. But I have to say I just went to. I, I'm a bit of a. I was going to say conference junkie. That sounds terrible. But the advantage of the in person conferences is really, it's just, it's not replaceable. With anything online or zoom or no matter how good the quality or how awesome the videos and the content and the whatnot and the recordings and the community, all on zoom or whatever. That's all wonderful. Nothing wrong with that. Absolutely. But the in person, I like to think of it also the whole unexpected element of I'm planning on going there and I want to learn, you know, about publishing or editing or book covers or whatever. I have some goal. Great. But the idea of meeting people, like minded people with similar ideas and then in varying, varying stages, various stages of advancement. They've published 39 books or they are zero books. They're thinking about the first one. You're going to get different ideas by meeting people there at this in person real life thing with other breathing humans.
[00:06:14] Speaker B: Exactly.
[00:06:15] Speaker A: So that's really cool that March 20th is a right near Amsterdam, right near Central Station in Amsterdam. I think it's so cool that it's at the library too. That's so appropriate.
[00:06:26] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:06:27] Speaker A: What's the venue like? I haven't actually been to that venue. I've been to the. I've been into the old library on the canals. Okay, is that the new library? And that was the old library.
[00:06:38] Speaker B: It's relatively new in the sense of I don't know exact year that was born, but I remember taking my children there when it was and visitors from abroad when they came to Amsterdam that was. Was at the time really groundbreaking. The whole design of the building, the open spaces. They have a beautiful. On the ground floor children's section where you can just crawl into a little tree house and read a book. And they have programming with theater and reading out loud to children.
And they have a beautiful view over Amsterdam from the seventh floor. There used to be laplace restaurant. Now there's a different cafe there where people can gather but had beautiful views over the city. And we're on the sixth floor, which is their center. So they do lots of events there and they have this beautiful room with lots of glass called the Forum. So that's where we'll have our keynotes and then we have breakout sessions and they have staff there available to answer questions. And we'll be leading people through the main entrance up either the elevator or escalator to get to the sixth floor.
[00:07:36] Speaker A: Okay, so speaking of which, you just mentioned breakout rooms, like a main. Main hall and then breakout rooms because. So could you run through the sort of the. The day is. Is it all. I'm going to sit in a hall and listen to presentations or their breakout rooms with little hands on workshoppy type stuff or what?
[00:07:55] Speaker B: Well, we're going to start off the day with Lauren Falbert, who is going to talk to us about the imposter syndrome. She actually wrote a book, Imposter, I have it back here on my shelf.
And she went with an indie publisher for that. And she's such an excellent speaker. I've seen her speak before at different conferences. So that's because everyone at one time or another deals with imposter syndrome when writing. So we thought that's a great way to open up the whole day. People also can enjoy coffee if they get there earlier and do some networking. And then we have three rounds of breakout sessions with the occasional keynote in between. So we have everything from practical workshops like those that even don't have words on the page yet. You can please feel welcome to come. We have a writing workshop given by Kate Doyle, who wrote beautiful book collection of short stories called I Meant It Once, together with Talia Stone, who runs a story lounge in Amsterdam, writing workshops. So that's just about getting words on the page with easy prompts.
And then we have funding your book. A panel discussion.
Of course it costs money to produce a book and oftentimes that can be a barrier for people. Oh, I just don't have the funds to even self publish. I'm not going to do it. No. We're going to show you how. One of our authors, David Anker for Phantom Parents, his memoir, he went through Vorte Kunst Print An L, did a whole crowdfunding campaign. So there are ways to raise funds for your book and we're going to show you about that ways to do that. And then we also have Janet Margot, founder of Book Geeks Media, who has loads of experience as a former Amazon senior product manager with book advertising, positioning your book, starting with the why. There's so many questions you need to ask before you self publish, like why are you writing this book? And to get. And what are your objectives? What's your author ecosystem? Who's your audience? These are all things you need to determine before putting out there, as you know as well. So that's, that's the first chunk block of breakout sessions that people can choose from.
And then we have coffee breaks in between. We make sure we keep up your energy and sugar levels. And.
And we also have people from our team, Storyhouse Works team there. There's a whole editing panel discussion about different forms of editing. Sometimes people are like, what's the difference between copy line editing? Some people call it copy editing, some people call it Line editing and developmental editing, proofreading, just to give a lay of the land and different types of editing out there. And the importance of working with an editor that you trust because that's a really intimate relationship. Sharing your writing with someone else and taking all their red pen and criticism and constructive criticism is quite an important part of the process. And we're thrilled to have Sue Deagle coming all the way over from the States.
She has a newsletter called the Luminist about loss and living a vibrant life. And we also have Alice Ramsey, content creator and speaker from Creative Mornings. And Colleen Getzky. She wrote stuff Dutch people like and has been a bestseller. And she has a wonderful podcast, but all about building your audience and your craft through blogging, podcasting and speaking engagements. Because not just with the book, but there's ways of building your community outside of that and different ways of getting your writing out there, like through blogging and newsletters, which is becoming increasingly popular.
[00:11:25] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah.
[00:11:26] Speaker B: So. And then we also have optimize your Amazon presence. More people that are further along in the self publishing process might want to get in more into the nitty gritty about book promotion and digital distribution and things like that. So there's really something for everyone. And then we have Colleen also talking about stuff Dutch people like and how she created her series that has really taken off and sold a couple hundred thousand copies.
And then we end with our third breakout, how to make your book stand out. We have bookstore owners coming to speak to us about their experience and how to do that. We have Susan Derrickson, self publishing manager from Kobo Writing Life in the Netherlands.
We have one of our teammates, Anna Trap. More about writing the perfect press release for your book and book design. Cover design with Cheetham Gouven and the interior design with Lisa hall from our team.
Because they say don't judge a book by its cover, but we all do and it's important to get the COVID looking beautiful. And they're going to talk about the whole design process.
And also to walk people through the differences between self publishing and traditional publishing. We have a wonderful panel with both traditionally published authors like Nicholeen von Slingeland and Elizabeth Heider. And we also have some of our own authors who have self published Claire Bowne and Paula Bukiel.
I'll be moderating that one. And then with our final keynote. I always love to have a musical element in the events that I organize. And we are thrilled to have our translator, but also musician Danny is going to be playing storytelling through music, talking about that A bit. And a visual artist from Belgium about visual storytelling, Vicki Bochert.
And plenty of time for networking with everyone. Exhibitor stands, book signings. It's just going to be a packed day from nine to five. And if people want to continue the party elsewhere, they can. We're in Amsterdam.
[00:13:28] Speaker A: Wow. Fantastic day coming up. I, I really like the title stories unfold because nothing do tell about the, the different events of the day. It's not just.
I'm more of a marketing guy than like a craft guy. So I like these different elements. You were talking about how we've got the visual, you've got the podcast, you got the blogging, got the speaking. And I assume because I've sort of heard fiction and nonfiction woven throughout. Sounds like.
[00:13:58] Speaker B: Right, right.
[00:14:00] Speaker A: Fiction and nonfiction. And yeah. Keeping that open. And it sounds like it's also going to be quite inspirational for people who they're just dabbling or they're just thinking about it to get them some idea of, of what's. What's coming up.
[00:14:15] Speaker B: Yeah, no, exactly.
[00:14:16] Speaker A: Yeah. What's. What's possible, what's out there talking again with the. But the real humans like well, you know, she did this. I can go talk with her at the break, right?
[00:14:27] Speaker B: No. And that's why we love to build and there's plenty of coffee breaks and networking opportunities.
And it's true with the nonfiction. It's not just fiction, literary writing. It's also people that have business, creative leaders, thought leaders that have, that want to turn their knowledge into book form. So we. That nonfiction element is also very important of how to even do that. And then I think Claire Bowne's an excellent example of that with the art engager. She wrote this beautiful book actually I just got the print on demand copy yesterday came in and she sold over 500 copies in her first month which is really great for a self published book. And it's just a nice example of how you can share the knowledge that you've been building in your business in book form. And in this case it's for museum guides worldwide and facilitator role with lots of exercises. So. Yeah. And there's even children's books authors there. Paula with her ABC City book. So there really is something for everyone and that's the most exciting part, I think. And how authors connect with each other and build relationships. And I already know for a fact that people are going to meet at least, at least one person, if not five or 10 on this day that's going to help them with their book project. And that's the most beautiful thing for me is seeing these connections be made and authors connecting with each other, sharing resources and tips with each other and in that sense really mentoring each other for publishing process.
[00:15:52] Speaker A: Yeah, mentoring and accountability. I mean whether it's like a formal accountability paid a partner of some kind or just an accountability buddy, you meet somebody who's similar path or along similar lines or as far as you are, that's. That sounds great to meet like minded people.
[00:16:10] Speaker B: Yeah. So helpful.
[00:16:11] Speaker A: So more about the like details like so. March Thursday, March 20, 2025 in Amsterdam, right near Central Station 9 to 5.
[00:16:21] Speaker B: Including lunch includes a nice healthy lunch, a goodie bag and there's all these other things that includes like a story Houseworks trial membership. So one year membership, your registration fee which is 135 Euro, includes the membership for a full year and you can opt out at the end of the year. And within that membership we have both in person and online events throughout the year. We just had a webinar yesterday with Maven Publishing, a well known Dutch indie publisher.
We also have one with Ricardo Fayette, the co founder of Reedsy on April 7 about promoting your book and book strategy. Book launch promotion which is handy right after the conference actually. And we have borrows throughout the year and book launches and we also have an online hub, Storyhouse Works where authors can share tips and tricks. We can recommend book clubs, writing groups.
So really there's so much more that's included in that ticket because we believe in taking things further beyond the day of the conference and really oftentimes you go to a conference and you're all inspired now what? But we help with the continuum of. By providing this trial membership as part of the registration fee.
[00:17:38] Speaker A: In the membership you don't have to live in the Netherlands or anything.
[00:17:41] Speaker B: That's no.
[00:17:42] Speaker A: No online community type thing.
[00:17:44] Speaker B: Online community. You can still join our webinars from afar. We also have one hour discovery call to discuss your book project and help point you in the right direction whether you end up working with us or not. We just believe in helping authors and help brainstorm and get them situated in whatever direction they need to go. So that's also included.
[00:18:02] Speaker A: One hour discovery call is included?
[00:18:04] Speaker B: Yes. Yeah. So there's really no reason you should not be getting your.
[00:18:08] Speaker A: There is no reason you should not be coming to Amsterdam on March 20th.
[00:18:12] Speaker B: That's right. Exactly.
[00:18:14] Speaker A: Wow. Okay.
[00:18:16] Speaker B: A lot of added value there. And there's add ons with the ticket as well. So when people go to register they can also have an Author photo taken that day. There's the option, there's also a developmental editing package. So there's loads of things, book cover designs in there as well. So if people realize, hey, this is a good opportunity to already seize one of these services at a discounted rate that's also an option in the registration.
[00:18:39] Speaker A: So they get to see people from Storyhouse Works and actually see, oh, these people, these actual. Terry. I keep focusing on actual real humans because I do so much online stuff and then I really just, I just love the in person and that's why I keep kind of joking about the breathing humans. But it's just there's no replacement for it. So I know I keep banging that same drum, but I'm just such a fan.
[00:19:03] Speaker B: Yeah, and it's great you mentioned it too because I have had the question from people, will this event be live streamed? And I hate to disappoint people, but no, it will not be live streamed. We are doing recordings of the sessions, but there is no live stream of this. And it's really about being there in person. But yeah, again, if you become a member, there's other opportunities to take advantage of the online content that we have. Yeah, but this is event is in person, in the flesh.
[00:19:29] Speaker A: Yeah. And you know, and good for you. And I think the livestream, not to mention it's a technological hassle, but the, the recordings. Okay, great. You know, the content is one thing and you can tell I'm so pro in person conference obviously, but you can watch the content afterwards. That's wonderful. I think it's really about the being there, hearing it real person go up and talk to that person or talk to your neighbor and see it afterwards and just, yeah, just come in person. And also I think it's a decision to make to whether or not you want to invest the time and the day and the money and, and to come and make this real and make this a real decision in your 2025 to do something maybe you've been holding off on or, or waiting to dip your toe in the water. And here's a place we've got a friendly, welcoming, inspiring group of people, real people. And if you live anywhere near Amsterdam or even near the Netherlands, you know, hop on a short flight or a short train ride and come on up and spend the day and I don't know, you know, spend the night or two in Amsterdam as well and. Or nearby cities.
[00:20:32] Speaker B: Yeah, we made a strategic choice to do it on a Thursday so that people could turn into a whole weekend if they Wanted to if they were coming from far away. I know people are coming from England and Belgium and even the us so it'd be nice to tie in the whole weekend there.
[00:20:45] Speaker A: Yeah. Do you have some. I'm going to ask a question I don't know the answer to. Do you have some tips not to ask. Answer them right now, but some tips on lodging or in Amsterdam or anything on the website or anything about that.
[00:20:57] Speaker B: I'm not sure if I shared it on the website, but I have shared it with speakers coming from out of town. Zoku on the vase for Strat. Zoku Z O K U is a good place to stay and I'll have to. That's actually really good that you mentioned that because I will put that on the conference page. Just some. There is some resource about where to park and how to get there and things like that. I might even have the recommended hotels, but Zoku was one of them that sticks out.
But I'll make sure that there's a list there that people can check out.
[00:21:28] Speaker A: Speaking of more information, where can people go to find out more information about this?
[00:21:33] Speaker B: Yes. Storyhouseworks.com and then you'll see the conference page right there at the top. Just click on Conference 2025 and you can see the full program there. A list of speakers and the session titles and what will be covered. And there's also a link to the ticketing there as well.
[00:21:50] Speaker A: Okay, great. Storyhouseworks.com Amsterdam live in person. No live streaming, please.
Neither of you square.
And yeah, I, I can't wait. I can't wait to be there, Hannah.
[00:22:05] Speaker B: Me neither. It's going to be a great, great event.
[00:22:08] Speaker A: Thanks so much for, for hanging out with me today and talking about this. I'm really excited. I mean, I'm even full disclosure, I'm involved with you in helping make this all happen, but I didn't know half the stuff that you just told. So this has been really informative for me as well. And I'm even more looking forward to it in March. So thanks so much.
[00:22:30] Speaker B: Thanks. Thanks for the interview, Bradley. I appreciate it.
[00:22:32] Speaker A: Yeah, my pleasure. All right. See Everybody in Amsterdam March 20th. And I, I was going to promise better weather, but there's no way in the world I can do that. But it's gotta be, gotta be better than January.
[00:22:43] Speaker B: So end of March it will be better.
[00:22:45] Speaker A: You might be getting a little bit of, you know, tulips popping up somewhere soon.
[00:22:50] Speaker B: And more light and more light and.
[00:22:52] Speaker A: More light and longer days. And it won't be dark at 5pm by end of month.
[00:22:55] Speaker B: Exactly.
[00:22:57] Speaker A: So we'll see you there. Thanks, Anna.
[00:22:59] Speaker B: Thank you.
[00:23:00] Speaker A: Bye bye, everybody.
