Best Self Publishing Courses: Which one is right for you?

What's the best self-publishing course on the market?

Over the past couple of years, I had many authors ask me this very question. At the time, my answer was, “I’ve never taken any, so I can’t honestly tell you.”

In truth, how can anyone recommend such an important part of a self-publisher's development if they haven’t taken one?

Well, that has now changed. After hearing this question too many times, I decided I would choose the most well-known courses in the industry and take them all so that I can finally answer that pressing question.

Yup, I actually put in 48+ hours of watching videos and doing the courses in hopes that I can give you first-hand recommendations.

How did I get through all those hours of video? A lot of this:

However, writing this ended up being harder than I thought. It turns out there is no such thing as the perfect course…but there is such a thing as the right course for the right person.

So, before you spend money on a course based on a mention from an authority or a random email you found in your inbox, find out which course is the best for you and make the right investment for your goals as an author who wants to successfully self publish your books.

In this article, you will learn:

• An unbiased review of the most popular self-publishing courses on the market
• Pros and Cons for each: Self Publishing Launchpad, A Fearless Way to Publish, and Your First 10K Readers
• Which course is ultimately the best fit for you and will give you the best ROI

Now, I’ll tell you from the start that most of the links on this page are affiliate links.

P.S. Some of the courses below are only open for enrollment at certain times of the year. During set times, the creator launches his course, gets students, and then focuses on that class of students before the creator relaunches it again.

Why I Chose These Self Publishing Courses

Thanks to platforms like Thinkific and Teachable, which make it easy to create online courses, the internet is now brimming with trainings on how to make money with Kindle books. However, over the years, only a few have risen above the rest and really stand out to teach you how and where to market your books.

Therefore, in choosing which courses I would review, I used the following guidelines:

1. They must have been created by someone who has devoted themselves and their business to eBook publishing.
2. The course has to have a good standing with those who have taken it.
3. The creator should still be active with the course and updating it so as to reflect new changes in the market.
4. The tactics taught in the course should be morally sound, in line with Amazon’s rules, as well as Kindlepreneur's marketing morals.

Now, just because a course wasn’t selected for this article doesn’t necessarily mean that it was excluded because of the above guidelines. However, many didn’t make the cut because of it.

If you have a course you think I should check it out, then contact me about it here…not in the comments. And if you want to learn how to outline, write, and sell from your writing heroes, check out my review of MasterClass.

Best Self Publishing Courses Comparison Chart

Before we get into reviewing these courses, let’s go ahead and look at them side-by-side so as to compare some of their features:

As you can see, all of these courses have their pros and cons. So, let’s find out more about them and see which one is right for you.

Self Publishing Launchpad Review

Mark Dawson is well-known for his Self Publishing Formula podcast and his Ads for Authors course. But some don’t know that he also has an in-depth course for authors that includes a whopping 22 hours of video to teach you the many stages of the self-publishing process. This is a course many Kindlepreneur readers brought to my attention, and I can see why!

Mark Dawson started out as a traditionally published author and has ventured over to create an extremely successful self-publishing author business. He’s a USA Today bestseller and has published over 20 books, so he definitely knows what he is doing. In his Self Publishing Launchpad Course (formerly Self-publishing 101), he shares the methods virtually any author can use after you've written your book to build your author platform and earn money from your writing.

Self Publishing Launchpad is the perfect course for beginner and intermediate and even advanced authors who are trying to build a continuous stream of money from your books. Mark and his team, along with a few key guest experts, cover everything you need to know in order to have a successful book.

You get to look over their shoulder to see everything from how to create accounts, how to format your book, how to setup a landing page, and an email sequence that will put your email list and book sales on autopilot.

This course focuses on the basics of self publishing, with a major focus on building your email list and your author website – which are very powerful for those who are looking to build an author career out of this. It includes lots of examples for fiction authors, as Mark is a fiction author, but it all equally applies to nonfiction authors as well. It covers everything from “What is an email list and why do I need one?” to “How do I build an email list as a new author?”

Each module also includes a cheat sheet session notes with a To Do list and the video transcript to help ensure you implement each step you learn.

PROS TO SELF PUBLISHING LAUNCHPAD

• Includes the most video by far
• Costs the least
• See step-by-step how to use both paid and free tools to format your book (Vellum, Scrivener, Draft2Digital, and Reedsy)
• Book launch guidelines for first 90 days and 365 days after you publish
• Shows how to use tools to deliver lead magnets and create autoresponder sequences, keys for building your email list
• Continuously updated with the most relevant information for students
• A NEW extra mini-course on Facebook Live for Authors
• A NEW deep dive into how to find the very best keywords and categories by yours truly 😉

CONS TO SELF PUBLISHING LAUNCHPAD

• Not for authors who want to learn how to publish a book as fast as possible
• Ummm yeah, that's about it.

Who Is SELF PUBLISHING LAUNCHPAD For?

• Do you have your first (or first few) books written and need help turning them into a long-term profitable business?
• Do you wonder how to build an email list as an author?
• Do you struggle with technology and how to make all the tech tools work together?
• Do you want detailed help establishing your home base on the internet, including your author website?
• Do you want the best bang for your buck by spending the least and getting the most hours of coursework?

Then THIS is the course for you.

A Fearless Way To Publish Review

For many people, Mark Dawson's courses and many others are far too expensive, especially when you're just starting out.

Thankfully, Alessandra Torre has you covered with her Fearless Way to Publish course.

Alessandra Torre is a New York Times Bestseller, all with self-published novels (something that is very hard to do). She ticks all the boxes when it comes to expertise in the subject, a good course, and a friendly and helpful personality.

Not only that, but her course is much more affordable.

This course discusses editing, proofreading, and self-publishing your novel. Cover design and formatting. Step-by-step instructions and video walk-throughs on publishing your ebook on Kindle, Nook, Apple Books, and other platforms. It also has instructions on creating and listing a paperback version of your novel, and information and video tutorials on creating an audiobook of your novel.

Pros to A Fearless Way To Publish

• Gives step-by-step details on how to publish on each platform
• Outlines common mistakes so you can avoid them
• Has a helpful FB page
• Classes are updated regularly
• Highly affordable

Cons to A Fearless Way To Publish

• Not an advanced course for those already familiar with the basics

Who Is A Fearless Way To Publish for?

• Are you a first-time author who has never published a book?
• Do you find the self-publishing process intimidating?
• Are you ready to publish your book?

Then THIS is the course for you.

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Your First 10K Readers Review:

Of these three courses, Your First 10K Readers was by far the most beneficial to me.  Not because the other courses are of poor quality, but because it was designed to teach ADVANCED marketing tactics, which is better suited for someone like me.

This course is NOT for beginners and was not designed to teach you how to publish your first book. Instead, it assumes you already have a book or books and want to create a strong platform on which to build your publishing empire.

Now normally, I don't trust pictures like the one below. However, after taking the course, and seeing some of the details he goes into in some pretty awesome ebook marketing tactics, I think it's safe to say that this is a good representation.

This course starts with a great look at the industry at a whole and brings everything full circle, as he goes into incredible tactics to immediately improve your pre-existing sales.  However, what makes this course epic is that he then goes into detail for each particular tactic like Facebook advertisement, automated selling systems, networking prowess, traffic generation methods, and more.

Of course, there are subjects like platform building and email list creation.  However, this course takes it a step further and shows you how to synchronize all your efforts so that they work together to truly grow your readership…to your first 10K readers…oh see what I did there?

Pros to Your First 10K Readers

• Best course on Advanced marketing tactics
• In-depth looks into individual and useful tactics – don't gloss over
• Great for fiction authors because it's one of the only ones made by a fiction author
• Marketing strategies are excellent for Non-fiction authors as well

Cons to Your First 10K Readers

• NOT for beginners
• Must be willing and ready to increase your marketing efforts – not for the faint of heart

Who Is Your First 10K Readers for?

• Have you published a couple of books but didn't make as much as you wanted?
• Are you ready to roll up your sleeves and take your ebook marketing to the next level?
• Are you  a fiction or non-fiction writer who needs the most advanced tactics to grow?

Then THIS is the course for you.

Final Evaluation

In truth, all three courses are excellent and definitely deliver on their promises. However, I strongly believe that each course is better for a specific type of person.

I believe Self Publishing Launchpad is perfect if you want to focus on the detailed steps of what to do after you've written a book or two, including how to build an email list and establish your home base on the internet. If you want to learn from successful fiction authors or if you like to watch videos that show step-by-step details of all the critical steps, like how to upload books, format books, start a website, and use tools and services that will help grow your email list to sell more books, then you will love this course.

I believe A Fearless Way To Publish is a great and inexpensive way to introduce yourself to Self-publishing and master the basics. Also, it comes from one of the nicest and friendliest hosts.

And finally, I strongly believe that Your First 10K Readers is best for those who are advanced but want to step up their game to the next level.  Truly meant for the advanced, this course will teach you all of the individual amazing tactics and how to bind them all together in order to have a perfectly in sync publishing campaign.

If you need any more guidance on this, be sure to hit me up on my contact page or just reply to any of my emails.

And now that this epic post is complete, I think I'll treat myself to a little “author” treat:

Cheers,