
Hello!
Welcome to the course!
This course is a self-study online course.
Please schedule time in your calendar to write/study daily.
I'd suggest at LEAST 2 hours a day if you can!
COURSE CONTENT:
Module 1 'How To Plan and Outline a Best-Selling Book'
Module 2: 'How To Write Your Book'
Module 3 'How To Edit and Format Your Book' - don't start this module until you have written your rough draft
'Module 4: 'Create Your Book Covers' - don't start this module until you have written your rough draft
Module 5: 'How To Publish and Print Your Book' - don't start this module until you have written your rough draft
You can speed through at your own pace, but I recommend that you get through Modules 1 and 2; then START WRITING! (Or dictating!).
Remember that your rough draft is where the magic begins.
Don't try to write perfectly in version 1.0!
Make it raw, real, ugly, messy letters on paper.
It needs to come out - like birth - a bit chaotic as it is coming out - but magical as it starts to breathe and come to life in the world outside of you.
Happy writing (or dictating!) and let's go!
Sarah x
**NOTE: These books were printed on 'Createspace', which has now been taken over by 'KDP Publishing' (Amazon's publishing platform).
So it is pretty much identical but is now a different name, as they have merged under Amazon itself.
We will go into how and where you print your hard copy books later in the course.
Please complete your activities instructed in the videos above so far, before you move to the next step.
You will need to have done the steps above before you go forward.
Aaargghh Soooooo Much Content!! How To Handle All of Those Content Ideas
Ok. Now You have a HUGE amount of post-it notes.
An entire wall full!
You're probably thinking
'Wow, this book is going to be ENORMOUS'
'How will I write about all of this?'
'Is this too big for an eBook?'
First of all - take a deep breath. Lots of content is GREAT.
Next, here are some answers to questions that students on this course have asked at this stage:
"This book looks like it's going to be too big - should I break it up or cut some stuff out?"
There is no 'right' or 'wrong' answer to this question. But here are some things to think about:
There is no rule about what size a book or eBook should be, or how many pages it should have.
A good book is not determined by it's number of pages, but by it's content.
You can look at each of your post-it note tips and explain each one in a single sentence, just as you could go into microscopic depth about each one, with case studies, recipies, examples, comparative viewpoints and much more; taking 100 pages for each tip if you so wanted to.
It's less about breaking it up, and more about 'how much do you want to explain each one?'
It's less about 'how many pages should each tip be in explanation', and instead about 'How much reading does your particular audience want to do?'.
Does it need to broken up? Or is breaking it up good for business?
I started writing my book 'Entrepreneur To Edupreneur' in 2014.
It started out as 10 tips to create an online course; that was it.
But as I started writing and engaging more with my community, I first realised that I needed to add a tip about confidence to create a course. So I started writing the chapter on confidence and the more I wrote, the more tips about confidence and motivation for course writing just started coming. I was in flow, the tips and content felt like they came from a place of passion, and so I kept writing.
By the time I finished that chapter, it was over 55,000 words!!!
So I decided to publish that chapter as a book in it's own right. ‘Awaken Your Course Creation Mojo’ went to Number 1 in my category on Amazon within 3 days.
I went back to the original book (which i KEPT this HUGE chapter, and started to write the next chapter on how to commercialise your expertise as an edupreneur. The content flowed and by the time I finished that 2nd chapter, I'd written another 50,000 words. I decided to publish that as it's own book too. ‘Millionaire Edupreneur: How to Monetize Your Skills and Expertise to 7 Figures and Beyond' is now published.
I will still include this chapter in the original book - and that one will be my 'Edupreneur Encyclopedia'. It will be my huge 'all-in-one' guide to becoming a successful course creator and edupreneur.
TEXT TO COPY-PASTE IN THE FIRST 1-3 PAGES OF YOUR BOOK:
Copyright ((YOUR NAME))
ISBN-
ISBN-1
See the back page of this book for your FREE ECOURSE
Author: Sarah Cordiner
Title: Awaken Your Course Creation Mojo
Subtitle: Beat Procrastination and Fire Up Your Course Creation Motivation
Subjects: Education; Adult Education; Learning Theory and Practice; Curriculum Design and Development, Business, Entrepreneurship, Marketing
Disclaimer: The material in this publication is of the nature of general comment only, and does not represent professional advice. It is not intended to provide specific guidance for particular circumstances, and it should not be relied upon as the basis for any decision to take action or not take action on any matter which it covers. Readers should obtain professional advice where appropriate, before making any such decision. To the maximum extent permitted by law, the author and publisher disclaim all responsibility and liability to any person, arising directly or indirectly from any person taking action or not taking action based on the information in this publication.
The moral rights of the author have been asserted.
Then see if you can ‘make a model’ with your chapters.
This is where you can form your unique IP or methodology or approach to achieving something. This can later become a flagship course, workshop, retreat and keynote presentation.
HOMEWORK ACTIVITY:
Can you sum up each chapter with a single word?
Sum up each chapter with a ‘word’
Rename your chapters accordingly
Create a chapter title page for each chapter
Refresh your contents page and print
Look at books you love and follow the pattern. This is a personal creative process, don’t feel like there is a right and wrong. Make your own formula and follow the same one throughout your book.
Here is a structure that I ‘sort of’ use:
Context: Set the scene with an opening ‘story’
Personal and Personable: The story must be relevant and ‘visually’ present the message. It must stir emotion (positive or negative), and emotion that the reader has likely experienced too
The Purpose: Highlight the barrier, trouble or problem or principle that might be in the way to a goal you know they want that was illustrated in the story
Theory: Back this up with some factual information, theories, statistics (left brain)
Saviour: Then tell them broadly that there is a solution and that this is what will be explored in this chapter (prepare their expectations and make them want to read on)
Expert: Add your unique viewpoint that either builds on or contradicts what the ‘theory’ or existing information says. Show how you are different, that your experience is special.
The wow/how content: Then give them the recipe, the how-to, the exact step-by-step process
Convince: Add some case studies or other people's stories to show that it's more than just you who has benefitted from adding this new information or method to their life. **ask permission to reference people and get that permission in writing. This also means that you get marketing leverage - if somebody is in the book they are likely to promote it - so try to pick people with bigger audiences!*. If you dont have case studies, give them some scenarios - fictional examples that are as likely to be like your reader’s situations as possible.
Reinforce: Summarise the key learning points or ey message from the chapter, and reinforce why they should listen to you and why they shouldn't ignore you by reminding them of what they could gain or lose.
Practical implementation: give them examples of what they could now do, give them some activities,
GOOGLE DOCS VOICE TYPING
Use 'Google Docs' voice typing tool on your computer OR on your mobile phone to dictate your book.
If using your phone, you will need to download the Google Docs APP (free) on your mobile.
Then just use a pair of cheap headphones with a microphone on them and start walking and talking!
MICROSOFT WORD DICTATION
You can also use the dictation tool in Microsoft Word!
Download a free web storyboard template to guide your illustrator in creating a children's book, with scene descriptions, book text, and image references for precise text-on-image placement.
Learn to create low-content activity books, journals, and puzzle books for Amazon using print-on-demand. Use interior wizard and drag-and-drop cover designer to publish and market effectively.
Click 'download' to get your editable book templates for print and eBook
1. Choose the size that you want your book to be
2. Download the template
3. Copy-paste your book content into your new template and when you paste, select the 'use destination formatting' option
Go to Resources section to get the dimensions with the correct spine size for Amazon or to directly download from my Google Drive.
Explore how to hire editors and copy editors using Upwork, post job listings, and test candidates with sample pages to estimate variable editing costs.
**please note that Creatspace is now taken over by KDP, so this lesson still applies, just ignore the word createspace**
Learn how print wrap covers differ from Kindle square front covers. Save print and Kindle files as PDF, use the Create Space template, and align spine width and bleed.
Learn how to hire a graphic designer and book formatter on Upwork to design print and Kindle covers, format interiors, and prepare editable manuscripts, using templates, briefs, and mockups.
Ideal dimensions for cover files are 2,560 pixels in height x 1,600 pixels in width.
Design your print book cover with an exact spine and page template, ensure bleed, barcode placement, safe white areas, and upload to Amazon.
The synopsis of your book is the description on the back of it.
It must be the same as the synopsis that you submit when you upload your book to Amazon KDP.
This needs to tell the reader what the book is about and what they can expect to learn from it.
Other things you could include on your back cover of your book or in your synopsis (not required):
Photo of you
Your bio
Endorsements or reviews about you, your book or your work
Business logo
Barcode (KDP will add your barcode FOR you when you upload your book cover PDF to Amazon)
Set up Amazon and Kindle Direct Publishing accounts, upload your title, optimize with subcategories and keywords, publish, and set up an Amazon Author Central page to showcase your work.
Publishing a book is a GAME-CHANGER for your credibility, reputation and brand - not to mention a dream-come-true for many.
You get to contribute to the body of knowledge in your industry, entertain, educate and inspire others with your stories, and get to help people all over the world at the same time.
The second you become a PUBLISHED AUTHOR, is the second that your name, your business, your brand (and your sense of pride and achievement) elevate to a new level.
In this course, 14-times self-published international number 1 best-selling author Sarah Cordiner, will show you the exact steps for writing and publishing your own non-fiction book in print or eBook and Amazon / KDP.
You will walk through the entire process of creation, to pressing the big 'publish' button on Amazon and major bookstores, getting your books in libraries and the best bit - holding a real hard copy in your hands by the time you finish this course!
This online course will cover:
How to structure your book
How to draft your book outline
How to write your book
How I wrote my first book in 72 hours
How to format your book
How to get your content into the right template for publishing (downloadable templates included in the course)
How to edit your book
How to manage the internal design process
How to design your book covers for print and Kindle
How to get your ISBN and barcodes so that you can be your own independent publisher and bookstores and libraries can find you
How to get your book listed in the National Library database
How to Save your files ready for the publishing process
How to set up your KDP account and upload your book files ready for publishing
How to set up and upload your files to Amazon ready to be published on Amazon in Kindle and Print versions
How to print your hard copies of your book
Press 'publish' and become a published author on Amazon and associated major book distributors
Tips for your launch and pre-sales
Mistakes to avoid
How to create and publish a children's book on Amazon
**Please note that this course does NOT teach the following**:
We do not teach how to draw, paint or personally create illustrations yourself - this is not an art course, it's a publishing course. However, we do teach you how to find illustrators to do your artwork for you and how to add images to a picture book.
We do not teach you how to write a fiction story, nor how to create characters and plot lines - this is a non-fiction writing course. However, we do teach you how to create a basic story-board for your illustrator.