Hello, and thank you for checking out my writing class! My name is David Kummer, and I will be your ride operator. Please keep all hands and feet inside the cab at all times during the course of this ride.

Anyways, my name really is David Kummer, and I’m an author! (If you haven’t guessed that already. Smart you.) I’m definitely not the best author or even one of the top authors. I’m definitely one of the youngest authors (15 at the time of writing) and probably one of the least-experienced authors.

So that’s why I’m unqualified! Now here’s why you should listen to me.

My books

I published my first book, a collection of short stories called As Trees Turned Away, in May of 2015. Since being published, I’ve sold a few hundred copies of this book, with basically no promoting! Same goes for my second book, a novel called She.

On both, I spent ZERO on the editing (my dad did it for free), ZERO on the cover and publishing (did it through Kindle Direct Publishing), ZERO on the promoting (ha, what’s that?), and ZERO since. And I’ve made a couple hundred bucks from it in one year.

What’s that tell you? I have talent? No way, Joe and Jane. Instead, it tells you I have a couple good methods for selling books.

Now, a couple hundred bucks isn’t that much, I realize. And nothing I tell you in this course will be life-shattering, earth-changing. It’s really just… stuff. It’s the basic stuff, and it’s the stuff I’ve learned about actually writing the book.

About this class

There’s plenty more to learn after these lessons. Just view this as a door for you -a door to the future of writing that you want and deserve!

At the end of this course, there will be links aplenty. These will teach you about all the little intricacies I won’t cover in this particular course. (Will there be more lessons I teach in the future? Certainly, because there will be more that I learn.)

But before those links, I will teach you what I know, what I can offer you, and I will teach you how to become a better author.

Those who hath helped me

Now, I could never do any of this on my own. I’ve had help and lots of it! I already mentioned my dad, who has edited many books of mine for free. He also did the cover designs for the first two books, and the formatting for all printed versions.

Besides him, I’ve had many friends and beta readers who did an insane amount of work to help me. (This doesn’t even include my mom, who puts up with my talk of dead bodies far more than she should have to.) There’s my amazing girlfriend, Juliana; fellow authors Theresa Jacobs, Gaines Post, Ben Sobieck, and many others; very helpful beta readers Katie, Judy Seaman, and so many others.

Goodreads

How did I get all of this help?

By asking! By reaching out and communicating!

The majority of these people I met through Goodreads. If you haven’t already done it, sign up right now! This is a great tool for authors, and I can’t stress enough how important it is.

A fantastic book on the subject is Goodreads for Authors by Michelle Campbell-Scott. I highly recommend picking up a copy and reading it as you explore the world of Goodreads!

Besides Goodreads, there are numerous ways to get connected with other people. Facebooks groups, Twitter, lots of websites… There’s any number of choices. Goodreads can send you through to all these places!

Examples used

So, I’m sure you’re ready to finally get started reading. Trust me, I’m ready to start teaching. But first we need to talk about the examples I’ll use.

For some of the examples, I’ll use my own books She or My Abigail. You do NOT have to read these to understand them. (Although, if you’d buy a copy I’d be much obliged!)

The examples I use won’t be about plot and such. They’ll mainly be for, say, what the plot parts are. I’ll explain the book to you piece by piece, and this will give you an understanding of it. I’ll also be planning a book right alongside you so you can see how the process works out in my own life!

What I will teach

There will be five parts to this course:

Pieces of a Book– The basic elements of a book (plot, characters, settings, etc.)

Parts of a Book– A deeper look at the plot of a book (Beginning, Middle, End, etc.)

How to Do the Writing– A lesson on staying focused and determined (and beating writer’s block)

How to Improve Your Writing– Methods for you to get better at writing.

Links– A list of links by topic for you to find some more reading material.

As you can see, this course is simple, to-the-point, and won’t take up much of your time. I can assure you, however, that there are good lessons to learn!

Let’s get started!

And now, finally, I’m ready to start teaching. Pick up your coffee mugs, your earbuds, your party streamers and hats.

Keep your hands inside the car at all times.

And now we’re… OFF! *whooshing sounds* *screaming sounds* *elevator music*