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with James Blatch
Go from blank page to
bestseller success with
THE ULTIMATE GUIDE FOR ASPIRING AUTHORS
IS CURRENTLY CLOSED
COURSE OPENS: 2027
HELLO, I’M TOM ASHFORD
Publishing has never been so accessible… and yet neither has it ever been so complicated. Ebooks, print, audiobooks. Distributing wide and selling direct. Websites and mailing lists. If you’re just starting out as an indie author, it’s impossible to tell which tools and platforms are essential and which will only lead to wasted money and a lot of headaches.
That’s why I put together the Self Publishing Pathway course. Across our most comprehensive curriculum yet, I’ll teach you how to produce professional books, bring your stories to a global audience, and treat your writing like a business – without breaking the bank. From establishing an online platform all the way through to producing audiobooks and running effective ads – if it’s not covered in the Pathway course, an aspiring author doesn’t need it.
Don’t get lost in the weeds trying to bring your books to market. Follow in the footsteps of international bestsellers by walking a path that actually works.
With this course,
you'll learn:
How to finish that pesky first draft and write to market, so you actually have a book to sell.
How to build a solid foundation for your author business with a robust website and mailing list.
Everything you need to have ready before you publish – from beautiful formatting and a stunning book cover, to writing a killer blurb, mastering metadata, and setting up an effective automation sequence (and much, much more).
How to publish your eBooks exclusively on Kindle, or wide across the world.
How to publish print books on Amazon and sell them directly from your own store (with next to no upfront costs).
The various routes for publishing audiobooks, with advice on working with narrators, recording your own audio, and licensing your work to publishers.
What to do once your book has been published, including promotion tools, book launch strategies, and tips on how to source ethical reviews.
How to sell more books and climb the charts, with tutorials on Facebook Ads, Amazon Ads, and getting to grips with TikTok.
HELLO, I’M JAMES BLATCH
I’m the man behind Vinci Books, and you might also recognise me from the Self Publishing Show podcast and the SPS Live conference – the biggest indie author event in Europe.
A few years ago, I was asked for help by Robert Storey’s parents. Following Robert’s unfortunate death, his books – all of which were well-reviewed and had sold well in the past – were plummeting down the charts. They knew he’d want new readers to find the series, but they didn’t know how to market them properly on their own.
As someone who has always advocated authors self-publishing their work, I was hesitant to become a publisher of someone else’s books! But it seemed the only way to give Robert’s Ancient Origins series a much-needed sales injection. I had their covers redone by a professional, rewrote the blurbs to be snappier, and started running Facebook ads.
The results were incredible. I quickly grew the income from those six books from a few hundred dollars a month to five figures – all of the profit being split evenly between Robert’s parents and myself.
I repeated the process with other authors whose series had hit a slump, again with great success. I didn’t have a secret behind my sales, however – I was just following the lessons in the Self Publishing Pathway course.
What's in Self Publishing
PATHWAY?
MODULE #1
WRITING YOUR BOOK
Improve your productivity and learn how to write to market.
MODULE #2
BUILDING A FOUNDATION
We’ll look at the essentials: website, mailing list, social media, and how to communicate with our subscribers once we get them.
MODULE #3
PRE-PUBLISHING ESSENTIALS
Your book isn’t ready yet. Editing, cover design, writing a blurb, formatting, metadata, front and back matter – we’ll guide you through it all.
MODULE #4
PUBLISHING EBOOKS
We’ll explain the benefits of going exclusive with Amazon versus publishing wide, with guides on uploading your book to the world’s major online stores.
MODULE #5
PUBLISHING PRINT BOOKS
Every author loves holding a physical copy of their book in their hands. Learn how to distribute print books on demand via KDP, or sell books directly from your own online store.
MODULE #6
PUBLISHING AUDIOBOOKS
Collaborate with narrators, record them yourself, or work with a publisher – we’ll teach you how to produce great audiobooks and upload them to all the relevant storefronts.
MODULE #7
POST-PUBLISHING ESSENTIALS
Discover launch strategies to shoot your book up the charts, establish Advance Reader teams who’ll champion your work, and get ethical reviews prior to publication.
MODULE #8
MARKETING YOUR BOOKS
Marketing isn’t a luxury anymore. Learn how to drive traffic to your books using Facebook Ads, Amazon Ads and TikTok.
MODULE #9
TRANSLATING YOUR BOOKS
There are billions of people your book still hasn’t reached. Is there a cost-effective way to translate your stories into other languages?
BUT THERE'S MORE!
SPOTLIGHT
WANT A TRUSTED GUIDE?
The Self Publishing Pathway isn’t just a bunch of academic waffle. Whenever we recommend a tool or service, we’ll take you through a detailed, over-the-shoulder, practical demonstration of how to apply that tech to your own author career.
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Deep dives into using Scrivener and Vellum to write and format beautiful books.
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A comprehensive guide to building a powerful website with Wix.
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Step-by-step tutorials on putting together a mailing list using Mailerlite or Kit.
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How to deliver your reader magnets with Bookfunnel.
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A map for navigating the Facebook Ads manager to collect subscribers and sell books.
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Guides on navigating the KDP and Draft2Digital publishing platforms.
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Tutorials on publishing audiobooks via ACX, inAudio and Spotify.
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Deep dives into setting up your own store using Payhip and Bookvault.
SPECIAL AUTHOR-FOCUSED GUIDES ON:
YouTube
Facebook Live
Plus full access to the LSP University – an enormous collection of insightful webinar content on all things self-publishing, presented by experts from across the publishing industry.
PATHWAY IS THE SUCCESSOR TO SELF PUBLISHING LAUNCHPAD. HERE’S WHAT SOME OF OUR BESTSELLING STUDENTS HAD TO SAY ABOUT THE COURSE:
Maria Luiz
Romance
Launchpad has given me pretty much my entire career. It's given me my foundation. It's given me the tools I need to succeed. For me the course has been a constant helping hand. I applied every single thing that I learned and less than six months later I had tripled my salary that I made in my old job
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JM Dalgliesh
Thrillers
You cannot over-emphasise how positive Launchpad has been for me; it was an eye-opening experience. The barrier to self-publishing just disappeared overnight. After publishing my first book, I turned over $100,000 in nine months.
Imogen Clark
Literary fiction
With this course I was learning how to do all the things I knew I should be doing but couldn't do. Within six weeks of finishing my book, Amazon contacted me to offer me a 3-book deal which was a dream come true. I made that happen because of the Self Publishing Launchpad course.