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Why be an Author?
The Book Creators program is an online (virtual) course and community to design, develop, and create your book.
Created in 2016 by Eric Koester, the two time Georgetown University entrepreneurship professor of the year, the Book Creators program asks participants the question at the heart of everything:
What would you love to do more of in 10 years?
Then we discover how your book can help get you there -- as a career booster, to unlock a writing career, to leave your legacy, to open new doors in startups or new ventures, or something else.
Based on Professor Koester's innovative research, he found that success doesn't automatically come from prestigious degrees or high-profile jobs. Success comes from what we create -- how we credibly demonstrate our expertise. Today's most successful young people, create their own credibility through books, podcasts, event series, research and more. And this class is designed to enable each person to do the same to achieve their goals.
However, our Book Creators program is not just a book writing course. It's a program for creators that empowers you to discover what you love, search for a problem you can answer, connect with thought leaders to gather stories, and create a manuscript. We use cutting-edge methodologies including idea generation, opportunity recognition, customer discovery, hypothesis experimentation, digital marketing, influencer engagement, and much more. We use these tools to develop the product at the heart of your credibility: a book.
The Book Creators program is synchronous, with regular deadlines, group discussions, and face-to-face video calls -- we have learned that for most authors having a clear timeline of 5-months to develop the book lets them fit this into even the busiest of lives. The program is coached, not taught with regular assignments posted publicly in Quip and thousands of messages exchanged between students, coaches, and editors.
The program takes place in two five-month parts (approximately 10 months in total). In the first part of the program, you'll view lectures, engage in small group discussions, and complete weekly assignments that lead you to the creation of the first draft of your manuscript. Along the way, you'll work with class partners and have the support of a developmental editor, a trained individual who will coach you through the creation of stories, lessons, chapters, and ultimately a manuscript. In the second part of the program, you'll launch a pre-sale campaign or your book, then focus on revising your manuscript, working with a team of designers to create covers and interior layouts, and develop a launch plan. We'll help craft a strategy to launch your book in a way that helps you achieve your personal goals: (a) landing a dream job or role; (b) getting paid for your knowledge through speaking or consulting; (c) launching a new product or service; (d) creating new opportunities for yourself; or (e) doing more writing.
Thanks to the support of some sponsors, authors in the Book Creators program only pay for the direct costs of the developmental editor which for 2022 is $999. The publishing experience is based on an innovative "Pre-Sale Publishing" model that helps authors sell 175-250 signed copies of their book BEFORE it is done as a way to (a) build an excited audience for the book; (b) capture beta readers and supporters to provide feedback on the book; and (c) fund production costs of the book.
The program is facilitated by Eric Koester, an award-winning professor of entrepreneurship at Georgetown University, serial entrepreneur, and venture capitalist.
Admission is by application only, and each author will complete a call with Professor Koester to help define and scope their topic.
Research into Community
Why We Believe Authors Should Never Write Alone
There's a perception that authorship and writing are solo endeavors -- this image of the lonely author locked away in a cabin, hunched over a typewriter writing page after page after page, only to emerge with a manuscript after the sequestered period.
It's just not reality.
In fact, Professor Koester's research found that among published authors more than 80% reported having an editor, coach, or active collaborator during the writing process. Unfortunately, most first-time writers and authors don't have that support leading to very poor outcomes (less than 2% of them finishing).
Humans are driven by the community, and in the author experience, we've designed a unique approach that helps authors create 'Pacts' with others -- their editor, their family, and friends, fellow writers, or even their mom (yep, moms are great for this). Pacts are these informal arrangements and accountability that help us stay on track and finish what we start.
Research finds it is more important to know whom you're writing with than what you're writing... especially if you want to finish and publish a great book.
The Book Creators program is built on community-powered writing -- no one will write the words down for you, but you'll have support, feedback, help, and collaboration to keep you on track, make your book much better, and help you build an audience for your book.
The second aspect of the program is Community-Powered Publishing through New Degree Press. Many authors struggle to sell books, but through our innovative approach, every author in this program will be in the top 3-5% of all authors in terms of sales in their first year. How? By building a community of readers who buy your book before it comes out. The Pre-Sale Launch program has a powerful effect on authors because you'll go into your book launch with 200 fans and early readers of the book to help it spread via word of mouth.
We have a twist on the popular phrase... if you want to go fast, go alone... and if you want to publish and get lots of readers, write together!
Never Write Alone.
Write Better; Write Together
About Eric Koester
Professor, Entrepreneur & Coach
Eric is the first multi-time winner of Georgetown's Entrepreneurship Professor of the year, has received multiple perfect teaching evaluation scores from his students and has developed dozens of innovative new courses and curriculums designed to help people discover and demonstrate their purposes. Eric has lectured at Berkeley, Emory and Columbia, has given workshops at the White House and World Bank, and has spoken at companies including Microsoft, Google, Booz Allen, Capital One and many others.
He stumbled into his own 'credibility through authorship' in high school when a chance opportunity from a family friend fell into his lap and he wrote his first book as a sophomore in high school. Lest you think it was a page turner, the topic was about the emerging markets and technologies of plastics recycling. Mastio & Associates published the follow-up to his first two self-published works. Eric went on to publish Starting a High Tech Business Venture (Taylor & Francis), and The Green Entrepreneur Handbook (CRC Press).
Eric has founded or cofounded numerous businesses (including two venture backed businesses), was the managing director of a $25 million venture capital fund (raised in 2013) and today runs the Creator Institute. He is focused on empowering individuals discover and demonstrate their purpose through the tools of innovation, startups, writing, intrapreneurship and experimentation. Learn more at www.EricKoester.com.
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