Turn Your Non Fiction Book Into A Course

Quick set up

Udemy provide comprehensive details of how to get yourself set up.

1. Set up your account

2. Create a course - no not the full thing, just the first part

3. Decide on a working title - you can change it later

4. Follow the guidelines

5. Use the instructor resources

6. Stay up to date with the learning platform

What tools do you need to consider investing in? Please remember that these tools I mention have been built up over a number of years, and as time has gone by I may have upgraded my equipment.

Start with the essentials, beg, borrow and don't steal, friends and colleagues equipment before you buy. Products like Camtasia are essential. I always use the free trial offers to see how I get on with products and I watch training videos to learn how.

You owe it to yourself to get the best that your budget will allow.

Course overview

Your overview to what we will be doing.

Read your book and makes notes

In this step I want you to read your book. You of course know what your book is about, but this is reading it and being mindful of what parts could lend themselves to video, worksheets, case studies, interviews etc.

It is also about advising your unconscious mind that you are preparing to turn it into a course.

You will find that once you have read through it with your 'course head' on, lots of ideas will start to come to you.

The benefit of doing a first pass read through is that it starts your creative juices flowing and gets your left brained logic thinking about flow.

At this stage it is just a mindful read through.

It is really motivating to start to set up your curriculum. Whilst you don't know what the course outline is yet, this getting started section will help you to feel that you have started and is very motivating.

Not only that you can start to learn how the curriculum process works.

Take some time to play with the tools and get familiar with how everything looks from both the student and instructor perspective.

This will save you time later on when you come to upload and set up your course.

Outcomes

At the end of this session you will have the basics set up and feel like you have started your course. You will know what tools you need and can budget accordingly.

Benefits

Getting started is always the hardest step, but now you have and congratulations. Being ready for action is a great feeling.

Actions

1. Do the quick set up
2. Follow Udemy's instructions
3. Get your workspace and tools sorted
4. Set up the first part of your curriculum

Creating the course outline

Watch this lecture to understand my process for getting content from my book and turning it into a course outline.

Having a structure and a process will help you to take your creative ideas and logically form them into a course that flows.

Your book may be written one way and you may decide that your course will flow better another way.

Adapt for the way that you like to work. Take your time, have fun and remember to factor in some reflective time.

When you get to the end of this lecture you will be able to start looking at the production stage.

In this lecture we are concentrating on getting the right lecture materials together from your book content. We look at:-

• PowerPoint template

• Images

• Branded worksheets

• Free chapters of your book

• How to contact you

• Videos

You job is to now bring your book alive and engage your students.

You book outline in WORD

In this lecture you will go on a tour with your book outline in WORD. It will help you to get fully acquainted with your course outline.

In the resources I have included a document to help you to outline your book if you haven't already done so.

Deconstructing your book

We take a further look at deconstructing your book so that you are ready to turn it into lecture materials

This lecture provides a quick overview of creating a PowerPoint template. When you have a slide master set up it is so much easier to create your slides.

You will also get to know how the PowerPoint design assistant works

Canva quick tour

This is a quick tour of Canva. You can use Canva or Word to create your handouts.

Canva has a help guide if you have never used it.

Images for your slides

There three places I usually get images:

1. Pixabay (free)

2. Unsplash (free)

3. Depositphotos (paid)

Using the step it out process

I use this with my book clients and it is just as useful for course planning.

From my book course...

This is a walking, using your intuition and making sense process, which will really help cement your chapter outlines.

Have your mobile phone or recording device handy. Ask questions about each chapter as you walk up and down. I find writing this down on a A3 sheet and laying it on the floor very helpful.

• Title

• Questions

• What is this chapter about?

• Why is it important for my reader to know this?

• How can they do the same, or what exercises can I share?

• What if – what are the benefits of following the advice in this chapter, or the consequences of not ?

• Thinking points - what do I want my reader to think about?

This is a valuable exercise for getting to the heart of your book outline.

Print out the book outline so that you have the questions to hand or scribble a big one on an A3 sheet of paper

Discovering your book outline

• Turn on your voice recorder, make sure you have enough space to record

• Using one sheet of paper per chapter, start laying the A4 sheets out on the floor

• Either lay them in a straight line or in a circle

• As you step onto each sheet, pause to reflect, close your eyes and go inside and to get a feeling, sense or image of what the chapter might be about

• Using the voice recorder talk out loud and ask your what, why, how and what if questions

• As you step onto the next chapter, consider if and how they logically flow into each other. Can you feel the connection? Make a note of any connecting words or ideas.

• When you get to the end, look back and review the flow of your chapters. What else comes to mind?

• Walk around looking at them, getting a bird’s eye view, what other words or ideas come to you?

Remember

Fully engage your senses and, as you step from sheet to sheet, think about what the chapter is about and try to get a feel for it. If you find it difficult to feel then use another way (seeing, hearing, thinking) to make sense of each chapter

CAUTION: If you are writing an emotionally sensitive book, do not stand on the chapter sheets; observe them by walking alongside. You want to be dissociated from the content.

At the end

Listen to your recording, make notes and get ready for your brainstorming wall. If you are unable or do not want to do the brainstorming wall go straight to mind-mapping.

Remember you can adapt these exercises to suit you.

In this lecture we are looking at:-

• What to put on a slide

• Bringing your content alive

• Creating activities

• Adding in worksheets

• Giving extra content

• Checking in on learning and actions

• Blending the learning

In this way you are giving your students a richer experience and it also gives you the opportunity to create workshop materials if you haven't already.

In this lecture I give you an idea of how long it may take you to produce your course. My advice when you decide how long it will take add some on.

Remember to put time in your diary, ask others to leave you alone, take time out to reflect, breathe and smile. You will get there.

After planning the next big phase is production. In this lecture I share with you my production process.

Your job is to now sit with your course planning tools and any material you have collated and record your course. You are now also creating worksheets and deciding what other materials you will share.

As you work through your planner you will be uploading to Udemy and going through each section checking that you have covered all of the requirements.

Using your course planner will keep you on track, because you will definitely want to take a rest.

Do the first section, reflect and get feedback. Take your time if you are new to this and remember to ask questions.

How the lecturer sees PowerPoint

In this lecture you will see how I use PowerPoint. I can do this because I have my notebook computer with an additional monitor attached.

You can see where my notes are and how this makes it easier for me to deliver my content

Starting to create the curriculum

In this lecture you will see how to create your course in Udemy

Using Zoom

Zoom is what I use to coach my clients remotely. You can also use it for webinars and to record course content. There is a free version - so download and play with it. Check that it gives you the right level of quality.

This lecture is the raw video which is unedited.

Creating a video some tips

This a demonstration of creating a video - disasters and all...

Yes I have over egged it a bit, but as you will see all is not lost and you can, as long as you 'learn' your way of recording get better and better.

Most of all don't give up, remember to breathe and take breaks often. Sometimes you will chuck your video in the bin, but most times you will be able to pause and continue.

Action it: Practice making your videos - with time it will get easier

In this lecture I provide you with a brief intro into editing with Camtasia. My advice would be to head to Camtasia and watch their videos.

Like most software it is often a case of trial and error. Watch the videos, make mistakes and keep learning. This is powerful software which will really help you to create amazing videos.

Adding a screen visual effect in Camtasia

In this lecture you can see one way of making your talking head more interesting. If you don't have Camtasia have a look and see what you package can do. You can also buy images to use as backgrounds.

When you have a talking head to practice for, it's a great idea to head outside for a walk. In this fun video, I share my first practice.

Your bonus lecture

This is your chance to sell. It has to be the last lecture. Please go to the Udemy lecturer resources and follow the guidelines.

Publish your course

Do all of your final checks, make any changes and go live

Go through all of your final checks, make sure everything is as you would want it. You can always come back and change things later, if you need to.

The review process has been designed to support the instructors. This lecture provides an overview of what to expect and how to followup on the feedback.

Outcomes

At the end of this section you will have uploaded everything and have checked everything ready to submit for review.

Benefits

This is where you get your moment of glory and feedback from all of your hard work.

Actions

1. Do all of your final checks and submit for review
2. Read through all of the review items and make any changes
3. Feedback to your reviewer when done and move onto the next steps

Remember Udemy are experts and will provide good feedback. Follow it and when your course is live sell, sell, sell!!

Designing a sales funnel

The sales funnel refers to the buying process that you will lead your customers through when you are inviting them to purchase products.

The typical sales funnel is divided into multiple steps, which differ depending on the particular sales model.

The best way to learn is to look at what others do or to go on a course with a digital marketer who can teach you.

Right now your job is to get out your journal and start scribbling you ideas down. Reflect and then create a process map.

When you put it together test it.

Other marketing ideas

In this lecture I share some other ideas. Grab your journal and brainstorm. Follow others. Most importantly - do ONE thing well

Please connect with me

Please head to https://www.daledarley.com to find out more about how I can support you.

Other courses

Links to other Udemy courses which will support your writers journey.

• Plan your non-fiction book in a weekend

• Blog your book in 30 days

• Writing your life story

• Kick-start your memoir - writing exercises

• Writing to heal

Books on Amazon

I have a selection of books on Amazon

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dale-Darley/e/B006ZSXP1M

Dale