An extensive course with everything you need to know from the moment you type THE END on your manuscript.
Who is this course for?
- Authors (beginner to intermediate level) who want to learn how to self-publish and establish a foundation for their indie author career.
What you’ll learn
- How to build a solid author platform (website, mailing list).
- How to get your book ready for publication (formatting, blurb, metadata and much more).
- Whether to go exclusive with Amazon or publish wide (and how to best launch a book for each approach).
- How to launch a book, build an Advance Team of superfans, and get reviews.
- How to generate paid and organic traffic for your books.
About the course
Self Publishing Launchpad is an extensive course with everything you need to know from the moment you type THE END on your manuscript. Over thirty hours of straightforward video guides take all the guesswork out of publishing your book and getting it into the hands of new readers. Join thousands of other students and give yourself (and your book!) the best possible start, no matter what genre you write in.
Suitable for beginner to intermediate levels.
Self Publishing Launchpad is an extensive course with everything you need to know from the moment you type THE END on your manuscript. Over thirty hours of straightforward video guides take all the guesswork out of publishing your book and getting it into the hands of new readers. Join thousands of other students and give yourself (and your book!) the best possible start, no matter what genre you write in.
Suitable for beginner to intermediate levels.
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Course Content
30 Hours
Lesson Name & What’s Included
Module 1: Build Your Platform
(1 hr 27 min)
We'll look at the essentials: crafting a website from scratch, putting together a mailing list, establishing yourself on social media, and learning how to communicate with readers.
Session 1: Website
(22:52)
Session 2: Communication with Readers
(8:00)
Session 3: Mailing List
(30:21)
Session 4: Social Media
(25:49)
Module 2: Pre-Publication
(4 hr 41 min)
We get into the weeds. I'll show you what you need - and don't need - in the front and back of your book.
I'll show you how to format your book for all of the relevant platforms.
My own genius cover designer, Stuart Bache, (he's worked for John Le Carré and Stephen King), will explain what you should be looking for when it comes to your cover.
Bryan Cohen, the man I go to for my blurbs, will teach you everything you need to craft killer hooks that will have readers dying to read more.
We'll look at metadata to help make your book more visible in searches, and examine pricing strategies.
I'll show you how to build your Amazon Author Page, and how to make your book's Product Page sing.
I'll teach you about the incentives you'll need to offer to get readers onto your mailing list, and then I'll show you the landing page that you'll need to make sure they sign up.
I'll show you how to automate a series of emails that will greet your new subscribers as they join your mailing list, and I'll throw in my own copy that you can use as a jumping-off point.
Session 1: Front and Back-Matter
(16:15)
Session 2: Formatting
(5:26)
Session 3: Your Book Cover
(46:15)
Session 4: The Blurb
(56:11)
Session 5: Metadata
(65:50)
Session 6: Pricing
(14:18)
Session 7: Your Author Page
(10:14)
Session 8: Your Book Page
(24:52)
Session 9: Your Reader Magnet
(10:02)
Session 10: Your Mailing List Landing Page
(6:34)
Session 11: Automation Sequence
(9:56)
Session 12: Delivering the Reader Magnet
(9:17)
Session 13: The Cost of Publication
(5:44)
Module 3: Amazon Exclusive or Wide?
(31 min)
Amazon is the biggest single platform, but by going exclusive you'll be leaving readers behind.
I'll lay out the pros and cons of exclusivity and tell you what I would do if I was starting again.
Session 1: Strategy
(30:33)
Module 4: Go Exclusive
(37 min)
I'll show you how to use the tools that Amazon makes available in exchange for exclusivity and I'll share some thoughts that will help you to optimize your book for the retailer's powerful algorithm.
Session 1: KDP Select
(16:52)
Session 2: The Amazon Algorithm
(14:10)
Session 3: Timetable – The First 90 Days
(6:29)
Module 5: Go Wide
(26 min)
We'll look at a powerful model that you can deploy if you have (or will shortly have) more than one book ready to sell.
And we'll look at the merchandising opportunities available at the other retailers – and how you can get them to sit up and take notice.
Session 1: Leveraging Your Catalogue
(4:51)
Session 2: Going Permafree
(4:19)
Session 3: Merchandising
(8:02)
Session 4: Timetable – The First 365 Days
(8:33)
Module 6: Generating Traffic
(1 hr 36 min)
I'll teach you the equation that underpins my business – how to take a browser and turn them into a reader, then a fan, then finally a friend. I'll show you tried and tested methods of driving traffic to your page and the best tools you can deploy to turn readers into buyers and subscribers to your mailing list. This module also includes a session from BookBub on how to use their Deals and Ads platforms to add rocket fuel to your career.
Session 1: The Equation
(6:15)
Session 2: Organic Traffic
(22:20)
Session 3: Paid Traffic – Facebook Ads
(40:38)
Session 4: Paid Traffic – List Services
(9:57)
Session 5: Prolific Works
(9:09)
Session 6: BookBub
(8:27)
Module 7: Advance Teams & Launching
(1 hr)
The question I'm asked most often by other authors is this: "How do you launch your books so successfully?". I'll break it down for you, with timings and email copy for you to run with. I'll also show you how to establish an advance team – the powerful group of superfans who will provide you with advice, reviews and motivation.
Session 1: Advance Teams
(19:33)
Session 2: Launch Sequence
(23:15)
Session 3: Launch Emails
(15:32)
Module 8: Getting Reviews
(33 min)
"How can I get reviews if I can't get sales? How can I get sales if I don't have reviews?"
It's the ultimate chicken and egg question, and I'll show you how I answer it.
Session 1: Reviews
(10:49)
Session 2: How to Get Reviews
(21:46)
Tech Library
(15 hr)
Every single technical process that you'll need to master is broken down for you. Want to know how to build a WordPress site yourself? We have a fifty-minute video that will take you from A to Z, with a clear focus on the content a writer should consider. Want to set up a Prolific Works promotion to blow up your mailing list? We worked with Prolific Works to produce a detailed video. Want to deliver your books to your advanced readers so that they can provide reviews, but avoid the headaches of teaching them how to sideload the files to their Kindles? A session from market-leading specialists BookFunnel will help. Want to format books for yourself? I'll show you how.
And on and on and on. We've got you covered.
Amazon
(40:09)
Kobo
(12:36)
Draft2Digital
(19:34)
Apple
(36:34)
KDP – Print On Demand
(53:01)
Setting Up Your Domain
(21:33)
Author Website – Wix
(94:06)
Author Website – Squarespace
(63:48)
Author Website – Wordpress
(45:09)
Author Website – Leadpages
(10:24)
Email Service Providers – Mailchimp
(61:11)
Email Service Providers – Convert Kit
(92:51)
Email Service Providers – MailerLite
(87:46)
Delivering Reader Magnets
(16:08)
Social Media
(15:25)
Formatting
(172:04)
Ingram Spark
(58:24)
Bonus Sessions
(44 min)
Effective Author Networking
(24:27)
Writing Copy for Facebook Ads
(19:39)
Instructor
Mark Dawson
Mark Dawson is the author of several fiction and non-fiction titles and has worked as a lawyer and in the London film industry. He is currently writing three series of books, including the John Milton books, which have made the USA Today and Audible bestseller lists. He currently lives in Wiltshire, U.K, with his wife and two children.
Reviews
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I’ve used and re-used this course and every time I find something new to improve my writing world. Highly recommended.
Mark and his team have done an excellent job laying out all the ground work for information every newbie author needs to know. This course is comprehensive and constantly updated to reflect changes happening in the industry. WORTH EVERY PENNY! Do yourself a favor and get the “one course to rule them all.”
I went through this course step-by-step as I launched my first book, and it was a fantastic guide. Thanks to using it I wrote a novella, which I used as a reader magnet and started my mailing list. This was the absolutely best thing I could have done.
I learned so much by doing this course – absolutely the best for getting the ground work right. Everything is laid out to be easily understandable, and you can work through it at your own pace. You get lifetime access, and free updates as well, so it’s always current.
Mark Dawson’s courses are excellent and worth every penny. They do cost a little more than others, but in Mark’s case you certainly get what you pay for — comprehensive, detailed, practical, honest content.
Just as valuable as the course material itself is the access provided to the closed Facebook group of other authors taking the course. Mark and his team actively engage with the Facebook group, and so not only can you learn from other authors as they head down the self-publishing path, but Mark and his team will also step in to offer their opinion where necessary.
Provided that your personal budget allows to purchase this course (and I believe that instalment payment options are also available for those unable to fork out the course fee all at once), then you really can’t go wrong with Mark Dawson.
An excellent course taught by a successful and working fiction author, along with a team of experienced users. The great thing about the instruction has been that it’s a one-time pay that includes not only updates, but additional items that add to the experience you obtain following the instruction, guidelines and suggestions. Always there, always on, always growing.