On 20 March 2025, I I travelled from The Hague to Amsterdam for the Stories Unfold Self-Publishing Conference. Here’s the promo blurb:
Join us for a full day packed with inspirational talks from successful self-published authors, practical workshops on topics like Print on Demand, digital distribution, editor/author relationship, book advertising and promotion, writing workshops, paper industry, imposter syndrome, book cover design, layout, writing a press release, and more! If you’re a self-published author, considering self-publishing, or you just want to learn and connect with other authors – this is an event you don’t want to miss!
Though I’ve not (yet!) published a book myself, I have several friends who are authors and it is on my wish list for one day. For now though, my focus is online publishing and I was also a media partner via my website The Hague Online.
It was my first time at the Unfortunately I missed the first part….
However am happy to have arrived on time for this:
Colleen Genske and I met around 2008, as we have both worked for Expatica. I’ve been in awe watching the rise of her successful career. Not only is she behind the wildly successful “Stuff Dutch People Like” brand, she’s also a mother and currently the Head of International Marketing Communications for the city of Amsterdam! Despite all this, she’s hugely approachable and down to earth, and I always love seeing her at events over the years.
Moses Faleagaga is her husband, and together this powerhouse duo took us through a fascinating “behind the scenes” tour of this success.
One of my own personal hurdles has been a fear of (being seen as) copying someone else. Colleen addressed this directly: “It doesn’t matter if it has been done – you will always have your unique angle”.
They talked us through the other side of business that I’ve also found a huge challenge – monetisation. She encouraged us to do things that scare us, be creative, build relationships and create multiple income streams.
Colleen and Moses have done this exceptionally well – Stuff Dutch People Like started as a blog, then grew into a series of books, then jewellery and even a stroopwaffel teething ring!
Also – do things that bring you joy, even if that may not be something you initially think fits “in the business plan”. For Colleen at the moment, this is doing a podcast with co-host Allard.
The Stuff Dutch People like books are famous worldwide and have been one of the most popular books week by week at Schiphol for 10 years! Find out more and order yours here: https://stuffdutchpeoplelike.com
Lunch was lovely, with a view over the city, and I caught up with friend and author Kristin Anderson.
The afternoon breakout sessions again was a difficult choice as I wanted to go to them all.
Expand your audience and hone your craft through blogging, podcasting & speaking engagements
The next session I attended also had Colleen Genske as a panel member, as well as fellow Aussie Alice Ramsay, and Sue Deagle, who had come over to Amsterdam from the US for this event. Again, many gems shared in this session and I took pages of notes.
American Book Centre
Any English-speaker in the Netherlands long term is familiar with this fabulous place in both Amsterdam and The Hague to top up on books in our own language.
Founder of the ABC also shared more with us about how to publish our own books on their machine.
Of course books from the many authors present were also for sale, what a wonderful variety of of talent:
We were also treated to storytelling by song before we left:
Overall, The conference was a lot of fun, with fabulous conversations, talented people and a lot of valuable information.
A huge thanks to Hannah Huber and team for organising:
Find out more about any upcoming events via Storyhouse Works and check out their services here:
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