Learning to Teach, Teaching to Learn
One of the most important things anyone who's mastered a craft can do is pass that knowledge and experience on to others. To educate, inform, and inspire those coming after us is a high calling, so it's no surprise that as authors grow in skill, many of us choose to explore education to pay it forward.
In fact, passing on the things we know to newer writers is something of a tradition within the writing community. The more writing has grown into a profession, the more authors have worked at teaching new writers the trade. Over the past hundred years, this has grown into an industry in its own right. There are many ways to pass along knowledge to others, and today, we can choose which tools we want to use to do so.
Shared Knowledge
One of the simplest methods of teaching, and the most common for authors, is to write a book on the topic. Because we're already writers, this comes naturally to most of us, and we already have the tools at our disposal to put the book into the world.
Other authors may make the leap from writing a nonfiction book to making small online appearances. Becoming a guest on podcasts, for example, matches up well with writing a book, since writer-oriented podcasts are often especially interested in hosting guests who've recently released an informative book about writing.
Online webinars and conferences are another way to do online teaching in a low-demand way. These are something you can do once or regularly, but it's at your pace. You have total control over the amount of work and stress you take on. I speak regularly at conferences, but I get to pick which I want to attend, and whether I want to speak or attend for fun.
All that changes for authors who opt to run regular classes. Whether they're online only, in person, or some combination of both, organized courses require a significant step in terms of complexity, required knowledge, and commitment.
Authors Kristine Kathryn Rusch and Dean Wesley Smith teach a combination of online and offline classes about a dizzying array of topics, from the craft of writing to the business of publishing. Although they're probably better known for their online courses, they've also taught in-person workshops, where dozens of people from around the world come for a week to learn from masters.
When asked about teaching courses both online and offline, Rusch says, "Teaching is a big time commitment, so make sure you do it because you love it. Dean and I love helping writers and always have."
Most authors who teach prefer online courses. In-person options are less common, but there are still plenty of examples of in-person teaching within the author sphere. Kevin J. Anderson teaches an entire master's program at Western Colorado University. His course is one of few in the world that focuses on both traditional and indie publishing, and to date, he's had several classes graduate with an MA in publishing at the end of the thirteen-month curriculum.
"All my career I have been taught and mentored by masters who were way ahead of me in their craft," Anderson says. "It's only fitting that I should pay it forward and help lift up other authors."
Business or Pleasure?
One of the first things you'll want to look at when deciding to teach is whether this is something you aim to do professionally—to make a good income from it—or something you intend to do as a hobby or sideline.
Either of these can work very well. There are superb teachers worth every cent of what they charge who make a good living from their classes. And there are excellent teachers who opt to give information for free or for token payments, because for them, the teaching is more important than the financial reward.
Neither of these groups is wrong, so your job is to figure out which of these two paths best aligns with your goals. Some teachers will find the burden of knowing that paying the rent relies on getting as many people into their classes as possible painful, while others thrive under those conditions. It's worth a little soul-searching before you figure out what sort of teaching will work best for you.
The World Is Your Classroom
For those teaching online, one of the first questions a budding teacher must ask themselves is whether they want to host classes on their own website or as part of a larger course-hosting platform. In a lot of ways, this is easy to compare to selling ebooks on retailers versus directly on your own website, complete with all the pluses and minuses thereof. And like with the direct sales debate, the answer for which is best for your business is one you must answer based on factors like time, cost, and your target audience.
Udemy and Skillshare, for example, are easy places for one to launch their first course. They are well-known sites that millions of people use regularly, but the competition for eyeballs is fierce. When you advertise a class on Udemy, anyone who follows your link is only one click away from a competing class.
Indie Author Training, IAM's sister site, offers a smaller marketplace of courses tailored to indie authors, and allows creators to set their own prices and course structures, walking the line between larger, more saturated teaching platforms and fully self-hosted sites. Those interested in becoming an instructor can learn more and register at Indie Author Training.
For self-hosted education sites, Teachable is a seemingly obvious choice. It's well known, recognized, and trusted by millions of people, and it dominates online writing classrooms. However, some authors choose to teach from Shopify, Squarespace, Wix, Fourthwall, Podia, Thinkific, and a host of other sales platforms. Explore a few options, test each, then pick. Be decisive; the content you will share is the important part. If you someday want to move to another teaching platform, you can bring the content with you. Don't be Hamlet. Take action!
In-person efforts tend to be more complicated, but the connections formed by gathering in the real world can be worth it. First, you'll want to decide if this is a one-time thing or a regularly scheduled event. For the former, any venue can work: Hotels often have conference space they'll rent, Staples stores will rent their meeting rooms, and even churches might rent out their meeting space. There are plenty of options for this sort of thing; which work best will depend on the size of your group and your budget.
Ongoing meetups can be great, too. The site Meetup is a good place to advertise such things and get other people to join you. Your location could mean finding a nearby coffee shop or public park, or perhaps borrowing space from a local school or college. If you're charging for these sessions—though regular meetups are sometimes just done without charge—there are more options, as you can rent a space.
Lesson Planning
The other decision one needs to make early in the process is what, precisely, you intend to teach. I again lean into the confluence of passion and business. Pick an area of writing you're deeply passionate about, as that will help carry you through the days when you really don't want to teach. But also pick something where you have the chops and experience to make it work.
How do we know what to teach? It can be difficult! Impostor syndrome will often have us second-guessing our skills. My advice is to put out some feelers in the form of helpful content. There are online groups where we can post informative essays about the craft and business of writing. Try launching an essay or two related to your topic, and see what the response looks like. If loads of people are liking and commenting about how helpful the post is, you've probably got a winner.
Having a unique selling proposition is as important as passion, says Elizabeth Anne West, CEO of the Future Fiction Academy (FFA). "What makes your course offering unique?" she asks. For her courses, that selling point is in-person classes and the ability to interact directly with West as an instructor. "So few do it [host live classes] and it really sets us apart in the field. This way authors can ask their questions and it's easier to build a sense of community."
By running live classes most days a week, every week, West's FFA fulfills student needs in a unique and powerful way. Of course, she's built a team to share the stress of ongoing live classes. "Being the person whose name everyone associates [a course with] is a tall order," she says. "Consider partnering early on with others teaching nearby lanes to what you want to teach. You can swap off times of teaching, combine resources for marketing, and grow faster."
Inspiring others can be a powerful tool in making a course work. Sarra Cannon, who teaches the HB90 class about time management and task organization, has helped thousands of authors learn how to better manage their time and boost their productivity in sustainable ways. Her classes are deeply inspirational, and her message that you can do this comes through in all her teaching. This can be a powerful asset to an author/teacher. Potential students can go anywhere to learn, but as mentioned above, having a unique selling proposition is powerful, and being upbeat, hopeful, and energized can help dramatically with class marketing.
Take Note
One obstacle many face when they consider running a course is whether they have enough knowledge on the subject. The answer is simple: If you are already, right now, where some novice writer wants to be, then you already have something worth teaching. It'll be something different for each of us, but every author I've met who has published a decent number of books has learned things worth passing along.
Teaching your own course isn't for everyone. Some people will feel fulfilled by the work while others will hate the experience. That's okay, because there are many ways to teach beyond running your own school. If in doubt, volunteer for a small speaking engagement or guest-star on a podcast or webinar to see if engaging with other authors about your publishing process is something you enjoy. For those who believe running their own course is a path they'd like to follow, it can be a powerful enhancement to a career and a brilliant chance to change the lives of others in positive ways.
Kevin McLaughlin