Courses

I set up a new system for courses and have a few here. But they need work, I’ll continue to improve them!

Creativindie courses cover writing and publishing, but choose by the problem you need to solve. Bookcraft Academy covers plotting, scenes and revision, with nonfiction lessons too. If you already have a draft, start by identifying what’s wrong with it. The older plans below give background; use the course pages for the actual lesson lists and enrollment details.

For the past 5 years I’ve been helping authors, artists an entrepreneurs start and launch profitable online businesses. This generally includes:

• Finding out who your people are and what they want
• Making it easy for people to support you
• Branding and design that makes you look amazing
• The perfect, brilliant tagline that defines your purpose
• Building amazing content that attracts people to your site
• Producing your best quality work faster
• Overcoming common frustrations, challenges and mistakes
• Hacking the system to get a flood of traffic
• Selling yourself in way that makes people feel grateful to buy
• Etc, etc.

I’ve also put out a huge amount of free content. But I’d like to spend the next few years working on my own meaningful projects, and I won’t be taking on any more clients. So I’ve decided to boil down everything I know into three small video courses that can get you from zero to your first $1000 as fast as possible.

They will basically guide you through the six steps of Creativindie, help you plot your rise to fame, avoid the mistakes that will cripple your efforts, and save you a ton of money.

If you’re serious about turning your passion into profit, learning what you need to know as quickly as possible, and avoiding the headache of spending hours online searching for information, then you might want to check them out.

Topics will include:

• How to find the right product or offer.
• How to set up your own WordPress blog for under $100
• How to get the media talking about your and your work
• How to create a news story, or project, that will spread virally
• How to position yourself as an authority so that people trust and like you
• How to quickly build a large group of fans and supporters
• How to network with already popular bloggers and get them to promote your work
• How to get tons of free traffic to your website
• The right way to use Social Media to Promote your book, art or business

For Authors:

How to publish a bestselling book

• How to write, edit, format and design your book, for print and digital ebooks
• How to boost your Kindle rank, get more reviews, and sell more books
• How to launch your book like a superstar by offering incentives

Current course launch in process! >>“Reach Your Readers”.<<

For Artists:

How to sell your art without selling your soul

• The best websites to get exposure
• How to create and sell more art
• How to present your art to get into galleries
• How to sell directly to buyers and make them want to buy

For Entrepreneurs

How to start a profitable online business you can run from anywhere

• Consolidating your vague idea into a powerful brand
• Offering the perfect service or produtct that people are hungry to buy
• Creating the offer and sales page
• Content marketing for quick growth and exposure
• How to get people to enjoy sending you referrals

Anyway – those are coming real soon, by the end of 2015 at least. I’ll talk more about it next month.

Author training: pick a problem you can work on now

If you keep restarting a novel, a new writing routine might not fix it. Work out what happens next and why the character can’t avoid it. Try the plot outline on the scenes you already have, including the ones that don’t seem to connect.

Bookcraft Academy covers plotting, scenes and revision. Use the lesson list to check whether it addresses the problem you’ve identified. Then bring your actual draft or outline to the lesson, rather than watching everything and hoping the next book will somehow be easier.

If the draft is finished, read the self-editing guide and decide what needs fixing before you polish sentences. The free self-editing video course is another starting point. Work on a passage from your book while you learn, so you can see whether the advice helps.

Self publishing classes: check the work behind the promise

Before buying a publishing class, write down the job you want it to help you finish. That might be planning a nonfiction book, preparing a readable interior, or finding readers for a finished novel. Those aren’t the same project, and a long list of modules doesn’t tell you which one a course solves well.

If you’re still shaping the book, start with writing nonfiction that helps a reader. If you’re preparing to publish, use the book launch checklist to see the work involved. Compare your missing steps with the syllabus before paying for instruction.

Look for a concrete exercise you can do with your own material. Check separately whether the price includes personal feedback, live sessions or only recorded lessons. Don’t infer coaching from friendly sales copy. Bookcraft is self-paced and doesn’t include personal manuscript feedback; choose it with that scope in mind.

Questions readers ask

What do Creativindie courses cover?

Bookcraft covers plotting, scenes and revision, with nonfiction lessons too. The course pages list the actual lessons. Use those lists when deciding what fits the book you’re working on.

What should author training help you finish?

Choose a concrete task, such as outlining the missing middle or revising a scene. Try the lesson on your own material rather than treating watching videos as the finished work.

Are self publishing classes worth taking?

Compare the syllabus with the publishing steps you don’t yet know how to do. Check feedback and support separately. Bookcraft is self-paced and doesn’t include personal manuscript feedback.