Create courses and books to maximize your sales

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I want to share a tip on how I organize and create my content, a method I've perfected over my six years as an online course creator. My model is based on generating content indual format: a video course and its corresponding book (I currently have over 20 books, including English translations).

How do I achieve this, and why does it work so well?

1. The Win-Win of the Dual Format

The trick is simple, although I don't understand why more content creators don't apply it. The creation process is circular, where the book is a copy of the course and vice versa, which generates a huge advantage:

a. Recording Efficiency (The Book Facilitates the Course)
By having the book already written, 50% or more of the recording work is already done.

• The Material is Prepared: When you go to record the videos, the material already exists and is organized. This greatly facilitates the process, as you only have to narrate what is reflected in the book.
• Ensure Quality: This is especially useful for frameworks that are constantly updated (like Laravel). If I have to update the Laravel course from version 10 to Laravel 11, I update the book first.

b. Continuous Improvement (The Course Improves the Book)

The constant review process ensures that the written material gets better in each cycle.

• Fresh Perspective: When I review the book (for example, a year after writing it), I read it almost as if it were someone else's. You lose the thread of 80% of what you wrote, which allows you to detect errors, inconsistencies, or ideas that were weak.
• Double Check: When recording the videos, ideas and explanations emerge that are more natural when speaking. If I detect that the spoken explanation is better, I go to the book and write it down, improving the written material.
• Conclusion: By improving the written material, you automatically elevate the quality of the next review or update of the video course. It's a win-win.

2. Advantages of the Written Format (The Book)

Although current society likes to consume more audiovisual resources, the book format offers unique benefits that enhance my work and personal learning:

• Personal Log: For me, the book works as apersonal log or notes. Since I work with many technologies (Laravel, CodeIgniter, Django), if I lose the thread, I quickly consult my book to catch up.
• Ease of Updating: Updating a book is much simpler and faster than re-recording an entire course. This ensures that the written content is always current.
• Passive Sales: An updated book can be a source of constantpassive sales, regardless of the need to re-record the videos.

Enhancing Video Explanation

By using the book in the course recording:

Double Reference: You can pause the video and read the text I am explaining. You have the spoken reference (my voice) and the written reference (the book), getting the best of both worlds.

Eliminates Slides: I don't need to create slides (PowerPoints) or additional material. The book functions as my professional slide and is much more beneficial for the student.

3. ⏳ The Initial Investment

I must be honest: starting is complicated and time-consuming.

• Additional Time: Initially, creating the book and the course literally consumestwo or three times the time you would dedicate to just recording a course, as manually writing, formatting, adding titles, and code takes many hours.
• It's Worth It: It's time well spent, as the written material is the foundation for the future and is much easier to maintain.

My Advice: If you are starting from scratch, begin bywriting the book. This helps you establish ideas, define keywords, and structure the content, which will greatly facilitate the subsequent recording.

Even if you work on this alone, if I can create this volume of content by dedicating primarily my mornings, you can do it too if you are interested in generating your own material.

My Reasons for Not Including Books and Courses in the Same Purchase or Pack

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I want to address a recurring question I receive, especially from students on Udemy: "Where can I download the PDF or Word file that references the book?"

To understand my answer, it's crucial first to understand why I use my books as supporting material during the lessons.

1. The Book's Purpose During Recording

For about two or three years, I adopted the approach of referencing the content of my books while recording the lessons. This method has several pedagogical intentions:

Visual Aid and Emphasis: Instead of talking about a topic while only showing a blank screen, the book acts as avisually pleasing slide. For example, when explaining migrations, I show the four tables we are going to create, quickly describe their attributes, and then we move on to the practice.

Clarity and Deepening: This allows me to emphasize and clarify exactly what I am saying. You have a visual support that accompanies my explanation, which is more useful and pleasant than just listening to my voice.

Quick Reference: If at any point you notice an error or a discrepancy, you can quickly return to the section of the book I am showing to verify the concept.

Technical Topics: When I have to present highly technical or theoretical topics (such as the layers of Django Channels for WebSockets), the book helps me point outPoint by Point, deepening the explanation in an organized manner.

Important: I never copy and paste code directly from the book into the course; I simply use it as an informational slide.

2. ️ Two Formats, One Same Product

The content I have written in the book is essentially the same content I put into my video courses. This synergy facilitates my process of creating and updating material, but they are two products withmutually exclusive formats:

• Video Format: The course you see on screen.
• Written Format: What I call the "book."

The book is not necessary to follow the course. Rarely does a course offer 100% of its content in written form, as they are two complementary but independent products.

3. ⚖️ The Economic Decision (Why I Don't Include It on Udemy)

Unfortunately, it is practically impossible for me to offer the book or its PDF along with the course purchase on platforms like Udemy.

Low Remuneration on Udemy: As you know (and without intending to offend anyone), I earn a small percentage of the sale on Udemy. For example, for a course sold at $10, my profit might be only a dollar or two, due to currency conversion and the platform's retained percentage.

Additional Effort: My courses are very long (averaging 30 hours, and some exceed 70 hours, like the Laravel one). Creating the content for the book representsadditional effort and work time that I cannot give away, since the purchase of the course on Udemy, by itself, does not compensate for that extra material.

In summary, although the book acts as a clever promotion that is useful to you, the low percentage of my income on Udemy makes it unfeasible to add more material without giving away my additional work.

Academia: The Place Where You Can Buy My Courses and Books Cheaper Than on Udemy, Leanpub, Amazon, Google/Apple Book

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Following up on the theme of the previous video (about why the books are not free supplementary material on Udemy), I want to detail how you can get the best price if you have already purchased one of my products (course or book) and wish to acquire the complementary format.

Initial Conclusion: Since the book and the course are products with distinct formats that require a separate investment of time and creative resources, they must have independent prices. However, for my Academia customers, I offer savings options.

2. Coupon System for Purchases

My Academia platform rewards loyalty with acoupon system that you can apply to future purchases:

• Individual Course/Book Purchase: If you buy an individual course or book, a coupon of $1 or $2 is automatically generated for you.
• Pack Purchase: If you purchase any Pack, you get a $5 coupon.
• This coupon can be applied to any subsequent purchase (another course, another book, or a pack).

Practical Case: If you already bought the Laravel course, and you get the book (whose offer price is $11) by applying the $2 coupon, the book costs you $9, which is almost half the commercial price!

3. ⭐️ Exclusive Benefits for Academia Customers

I always mention that I treat customers who support me by buying directly on my platform (Academia) better than those on others (like Udemy), and this is reflected economically:

• Discount When Buying in a Pack: If you purchase a pack, the discount is automatically applied to the products you are missing. If you already had the course, you will only be charged for the book at the pack's discounted price.
• Free Updates: A great advantage is that I keep my books constantly updated (for example, since Laravel 9). If you buy a book from me, you will receive those content updates forfree for life, as long as the technology does not undergo a radical change (as happened with CodeIgniter 3 to 4).

In summary, if you want to acquire several of my products in the most economical way, the best option is to purchase them through thePacks on my Academia platform. In the future, I plan to implement a shopping cart-type functionality to apply automatic discounts based on the quantity of products added.

✍️ My Experience Publishing a Book with Apress Publishing House

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I wanted to share my experience publishing the book on video game development with Flutter Flame with the publishing house Apress:

https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/979-8-8688-0063-4

I knew Apress as a recognized publisher in the world of development books, whose titles I often find in high-quality packs. For me, it is a publishing house that commands respect.

1. Contact Process and First Impressions

The process began when the publishing house contacted me directly.

• Initial Contact: Apress, which is headquartered in New York, contacted me through Leanpub. All communication was handled in English, which was always a challenge for me, as my English is mainly technical.
• Added Value: For me, it is essential that the publisher contacted me and not the other way around. This implies that they saw value and potential in my book, as no one would seek to collaborate on a product they don't believe will sell.
• Personal Motivation: This contact filled me with satisfaction, as it was a way to measure the quality of my work through the interest of a serious publishing house.

2. ️ Review and Correction Process

Once the collaboration was accepted, the editing process was very professional:

Technical Corrections: They asked me for minor corrections, mainly adding legends to the images. I adopted this practice in my current books, which improved my methodology.

External Review: They hired one of the Flame (the Flutter package) contributors to review the book. This confirmed that the material was being checked by experts in the field, a very important point for validating the level of my work.

3. The Dilemma of Sales and Expectation vs. Reality

The publication brought two major dilemmas: the loss of control and low sales of the material, which generated disappointment.

a. Loss of Creative and Economic Control

• Update Rights: I lose the right to update the book. I am accustomed to keeping my books up to date (for example, updating Laravel 9 to 11), but with Apress, if Flutter or Flame evolve, I can no longer do the review on my own. I depend on them requesting it.
• Absolute Control: The publishing house has total control over sales, pricing, and 90% of the profits.
  • Profit Distribution: For each sale (priced at $50), the publisher keeps 90% of the income, and I receive barely $5.

b. Low Sales and Disappointment

• Niche Book: My book is very specific (mobile developers & Flutter developers interested in video games interested in Flame). The specificity reduces the potential audience, and by definition, it wasn't going to be a best-seller.
• Misleading Expectation: Although I knew it wouldn't be a best-seller, I expected interesting sales given that a serious publishing house had shown interest. The reality is that sales are similar to what I achieved selling on my own on Amazon.
• Feeling of "Deception": I feel that, in a way, I was "deceived" by that great implicit promise that the book had strong sales potential, when in reality they were just looking to have a title in that niche.

✅ Final Conclusion and Balance

Despite the disappointment with sales and the loss of control, the experience had undeniable professional value:

• Professional Validation: I don't regret it. For me, having a book published by Apress is like obtaining a "degree." In the professional environment, having a book with a serious publisher gives a different perspective and validates that I know how to work with the technology.
• Motivation for the Future: The creation process was the trigger for me to start developing my own video game in Unreal Engine.
• Lesson Learned: My first mistake was assuming by default that the sales potential would be high. This experience has taught me to be much more thorough and cautious with companies that contact me.
• Reflection: I will never be comfortable with a company taking total control for life over material that I have created. Not everything is a win-win; sometimes you have to settle for the grey areas.