Curious about self-publishing and want to find a class that will teach you everything you need to know? Publish &Thrive just might be the perfect fit. In fact, the next online session starts NOW and is open for enrollment through noon Eastern on August 3, 2024. You can register via the Heart Breathings site at Teachable. BUT is it worth the money?
The short answer is “yes.” I took the course back in March 2021 and found it enlightening even as an author who wasn’t immediately interested in self-publishing. WHY? Well, aside from the indie focus, the course does a phenomenal job of getting authors to think about their long-term writing goals and how to identify (and successfully market to) their ideal reader.
BUT, I am sure you want more details, so let me tell you a little bit about the class so you can decide whether it’s right for you.
What Is Publish & Thrive?
Publish & Thrive is a six-week online course designed to educate writers about self-publishing and provide the tools needed to create a sustainable career as an independent author. The program was created by Sarra Cannon, bestselling author of The Shadow Demons Saga and six other long-running series. Sarra began self-publishing in 2010 and has earned over a million dollars in profit with her writing.
Even though Sarra considers herself a YA author, the course is open to writers of all genres, including non-fiction and creative non-fiction.
What Do I Get with the Program?
The course contains six modules, each of which contains about five to six hours of video for the week. Every module is broken into smaller units as outlined on the class website. Publish & Thrive costs around five hundred dollars, which can be paid in full or over six or twelve month installments.
Clearly, the cost could be considered one of the top drawbacks, but I would argue that students gain a ton of valuable content for the price.
Plus, once students have enrolled they can move through the modules at their own pace—enrollment includes LIFETIME access to the information as well as any updates Sarra makes to the course as the industry changes. Each module contains videos (with captioning and accessibility transcripts) broken down by topic so that everything is at your fingertips.
It is also important to note that at the start of each new session Sarra opens the enrollment period with a two-hour LIVE kick-off call to welcome students to the program and acclimate them to the material. There are all also additional live calls, every Saturday from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Eastern, aligned with the first six weeks of the program so that students can ask questions about the material delivered in each module. And of course, all the live streams are archived so that students unable to attend can view the information at their leisure.
A detailed description of the course can be found on Sarra’s Heart Breathings site, but here is a brief overview of that syllabus:
- Module 1: Foundations for Success – this module covers the topics necessary to start your self-publishing path such as the proper author mindset, establishing a genre, deciding series versus standalone, pen names, and more.
- Module 2: Publishing Your Novels – this section introduces the technical aspects of publishing such as metadata, keyword strategies, ISBNs, formatting books, audiobook options, and includes real-time walkthroughs so students can see how to upload their work to vendors such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
- Module 3: The Business of Writing – this unit outlines the business aspects of publishing such as taxes, budgets, tracking sales, and protecting your work through copyright.
- Module 4: Intro to Indie Marketing – this module outlines the tools needed to attract readers and develop your author platform through topics such as website creation, effective newsletter strategies, book pricing, and the rapid release method.
- Module 5: Marketing Tools and Strategies – this section marks the heart of the promotional strategies you’ll implement from identifying your ideal reader to creating an audience funnel to utilizing Patreon and Kickstarter.
- Module 6: Thriving as an Author – the final unit unlocks the heart of what it means to sustainably succeed as an independent author by outlining ways to handle criticism, manage your time and energy, stay consistent, develop goals, and build your instincts.
The course also includes several bonus resources that accompany the main content:
- Access to a Facebook group where you can interact with Sarra and other authors on their self-publishing journey (as well as an option to interact on Discord)
- A goalsetting workbook titled, “Your Ideal Writing Life”
- A quick reference guide containing hyperlinks to all of the resources mentioned throughout the course
- A workbook containing a summary of each module as well as sample worksheets and spreadsheets of any concepts mentioned during the discussion
- Access to the Q&A archive from earlier sessions of the course
- Mastermind videos on special topics like social media marketing and utilizing Amazon’s A+ Content Tool
Sarra is also constantly updating the course and has recently recorded each module as a PRIVATE PODCAST for those who are unable to sit at a laptop and watch the videos. This added convenience and attention to detail help give this course an edge over its counterparts.
As you can see, despite containing only six modules, the course is massive. Thus, the second big pitfall may be that the course is extremely dense. Don’t be surprised if it takes several hours to get through one subtopic within a single section.
This wasn’t a big deal when I took the course because much of the country was still in lockdown due to the COVID pandemic. However, you may want to plan ahead to ensure that you have enough free time and a strategy of getting through the material in a timely fashion—whether that’s committing to listening an hour a day or devoting a weekend to each module. Nothing is worse than buying a course that you never finish.
Obviously, the best approach is to take concrete action steps toward your self-publishing goals as you finish each unit. Luckily, Sarra makes this easy by breaking most of the videos into chunks of 20 minutes or less.
Another smart approach to get the most out of this course is to attend the live weekly Q&A session even if you aren’t able to finish the module for the week because you’ll be inspired by your classmates’ goals/aspirations and gain an opportunity to question Sarra about the bumps/triumphs along her self-publishing journey.
Is There Anything This Course Doesn’t Cover?
Do not enter this class expecting tutorials on A.I. marketing or heavily monetized publicity strategies like Facebook Ads or pay-per-click ad campaigns such as those available through Bookbub or Amazon Marketing Services. Sarra notes that these are not part of her personal strategies, so she doesn’t feel comfortable teaching them. Therefore, if those lessons are your goal, I highly recommend seeking out other instructors such as Mark Dawson or Matthew J. Holmes.
You should also avoid this course if you’re looking for tips on obtaining an agent or advice on traditional publishing. The class does not include any information on query letters, submission tactics, or publishing houses. While some of her audience marketing strategies may apply to both realms, it is important to emphasize that this is a class focused on writers who want to self-publish their own work and forge an entrepreneurial path.
Lastly, even though Sarra’s course is open to all writers, including children’s authors, she does not include walkthroughs of how to format picture books or non-fiction books with extensive tables, indexes, or references. Be aware that you may need additional resources to complete those elements.
Is Publish & Thrive Worth It?
Absolutely!
Will you become a million dollar bestselling indie author overnight with this course? Probably not. After all, we’re each responsible for the level of action we choose to take. However, this course definitely provides the tools and the roadmap needed to get you where you’d like to go—and is well worth the cost. How far you push things is up to you.
But don’t worry! What makes this course so great is that Sarra is with you every step of the way. As an instructor, she is incredibly generous with her time and provides thorough answers to questions posed on the class site. And as noted earlier in this post, class enrollment includes weekly Q&A’s as well as access to a Facebook community where you can connect (or commiserate) with other authors and potentially find accountability or critique partners.
In short, Publish & Thrive is an invaluable resource for any author interested in self-publishing, and I highly recommend checking out all of Sarra’s courses: Your Path Forward, Manifest Your Best Life, and HB90 Bootcamp. Or better yet, read my review of HB90, which is her writer productivity and goalsetting system.
What are your thoughts about Publish & Thrive? Do you have questions about my experience? Comment below.
