Authority Pub Academy Review: All about Steve Scott’s Authority Self-Publishing

Learning self-publishing by trial and error is costly, time-consuming, and often downright disheartening. 

If you’re an author who’d rather shorten the learning curve, and benefit from the wisdom of self-publishers who have enjoyed genuine success, a paid course is a smart choice.

Related: How to Write a Book

However, not all self-publishing courses are created equal! Any course worthy of your time and money should contain the right information to help advance your author career, a format suitable for your learning style, credible teachers, and a supportive community.

So how does Authority Pub from Steve Scott and Barrie Davenport measure up? Let’s find out!

Here’s what we’ll cover in our review of Authority Pub:

1. What is Authority Pub?
2. Authority Pub packages and pricing
3. Should I use Authority Pub?
4. Authority Pub Academy review: pros and cons
5. Other Authority Pub Academy reviews
6. Alternatives to Authority Pub
7. Final rating

What is Authority Pub?

Authority Pub is a self-publishing training company operated by writing partners Barrie Davenport and Steve Scott.

Authority Pub aims to teach authors how to succeed in the self-publishing world, no matter their level of experience. The company offers a mix of free information on their blog as well as paid courses and training programs. 

Unlike some of the other training programs for self-publishers out there, this one is taught by people who truly are the real deal. Both Steve Scott and Barrie Davenport have published numerous books and have over a million combined sales between them.

But what exactly does Authority Pub teach? How much does it cost, and is it the right option for you? 

Authority Pub packages and pricing

Authority Pub offers two paid courses at this time – 10 Weeks To Write Your Book, and Authority Pub Academy. 

10 Weeks To Write Your Book is the lower-priced, entry-level option while Authority Pub Academy is the full-priced course containing a lot more material. 

Let’s take a look at the contents and cost of each.

10 Weeks To Write Your Book

10 Weeks To Write Your Book is also listed as the Book Habit Writing Course, but they appear to be the same thing.

This course is described as the chance to “learn the science-backed skills for writing book after book”. Unlike many other courses, this one promises two concrete outcomes – the development of a solid daily writing habit, and a 25,000-word book within a ten-week timeframe.

10 Weeks To Write Your Book takes the form of 19 audio lessons with accompanying PDF transcripts and supplementary worksheets and resources. On the one hand, this audio format is ideal if you want to listen to the course on the go or while working out. On the other, a lot of us are accustomed to video learning, so you need to be sure the audio format is right for your learning style.

So what material does the course cover? It consists of the following four modules:

1. Getting Ready. A practical introduction to the course covering schedule creation, writing prep, and the process of researching and outlining a book.

2. Setting Up The Process. This module delves into the psychology of habit formation, focusing on aspects such as starting small to build momentum as well as more esoteric topics like ego depletion. 

3. Maintaining Motivation. If you’ve ever struggled to maintain a new habit, you know full well that keeping momentum can often be harder than getting started. This module teaches techniques such as Pomodoro that will help you keep going after your initial enthusiasm starts to wane.

4. Dealing With Challenges. Rarely do our plans turn out as intended. In acknowledgment of that fact, this module focuses entirely on overcoming practical and personal challenges that crop up along the way. It also points to the next steps to take after writing your first book.  

10 Weeks To Write Your Book costs $47, although this is listed as a special offer price, with the regular price point being $197. It’s unclear if the course normally costs $197 or if the reduced price point is a temporary sale.

So is this course good value for money? You could make the case that $47 to develop a solid writing habit and get your first book written is excellent value. However, the information found here is available for free online, albeit not always in such a neatly-organized format.

If you’re new to book writing and want to get a taste of Authority Pub’s style before investing in their full course, $47 for this introductory program could be a wise move. 

Authority Pub Academy

Authority Pub Academy is the signature, premium program from Steve Scott and Barrie Davenport. But what exactly does it contain?

This course uses video lessons and accompanying transcripts to convey the content of its six modules. There are also a handful of bonuses bundled in which we’ll take a look at shortly. 

To help you decide if Authority Pub Academy is the right place for you to learn self-publishing, we’ve broken down and evaluated what each module contains. 

Module 1

• Why you should use just-in-time learning
• The current state of self-publishing
• 10 opportunities to expand your self-publishing reach
• 6 limiting beliefs about self-publishing
• 2 types of profitable book models
• How to apply the 80/20 rule to self-publishing
• The importance of writing a quality book 
• Daily writing habits and measurable goals 
• The writing habit and ego depletion
• Best methods for tracking your writing habit
• Never break the chain
• Making your books your assets
• The advantages and disadvantages of KDP Select
• How to get accountability as an author 

While this initial module contains some useful topics, it feels a little disorganized. Some of the lessons listed here are also listed as appearing in subsequent modules. It’s also debatable whether a topic such as ‘the current state of self-publishing’ will still be up to date at this point. 

Module 2

• The 3 Ps of selecting a niche to write in
• The #30,000 rule of profit potential
• How to research and pick a winning niche
• Walkthrough of 8 websites to research book ideas
• The advantage of focusing on one niche
• Case study of a bestseller: 10-Minute Declutter
• How to build the idea capture habit
• Daily writing habits and measurable goals (also listed in module 1!)
• The writing habit and ego depletion (also listed in module 1!)
• Tracking your writing habit
• Never break the chain (also listed in module 1!)
• Your books are assets (is this different to ‘making your books your assets, listed in module 1?)
• The Advantages and Disadvantages of KDP Select (also listed in module 1!)
• How to get accountability as an author (also listed in module 1!)

A lot of the concepts found here are both useful and interesting, and the presence of a case study is a nice touch. However, some of the lessons also appear in Module 1, and some have very similar names to other modules. Although this might be some kind of admin error, it somewhat hurts the credibility of a premium-priced course such as this. 

Module 3

• How long is a self-published book
• Understanding your customer avatar
• How you should survey your readers
• Our writing process
• How to create a bestselling topic
• Finding the hook for your book
• How to craft an eye-popping book title
• Eliminate writer’s block (sic) by creating a great outline
• Why you should write a “crappy” first draft
• How to write your 2nd and 3rd draft
• Working with the right editor
• The steps to improving your writing skills
• When you should hire a ghost writer 

The third module of Authority Pub Academy is arguably the best of the entire course. Book titles, the editing process, and redrafting are topics that can derail new writers, so it’s reassuring to see them covered here. However, the slightly sloppy feel is again apparent through minor errors such as the missing apostrophe in writer’s block. 

Module 4

• Costs to anticipate in self-publishing
• How to effectively price your books
• Compelling cover design ideas
• The best ways to get feedback on covers
• How to upload your book to KDP
• How to format your books for Kindle and Print
• How to find and select the best keywords
• 10 sections of Amazon (an overview)
• Amazon KDP Select Program
• Kindle Unlimited (a walkthrough)
• Kindle Countdown Deals (a walkthrough)
• Author Central (a walkthrough)
• Amazon Marketing Services (a walkthrough)
• Amazon Associates (a walkthrough)
• Amazon Top 100 Lists (a walkthrough)
• Creating Your Winning Author page
• Writing Amazon Sales Page Copy
• Writing Compelling Book Jacket Copy
• Publishing on Other Book Platforms 

The contents of Module 4 are practical and cover issues a lot of authors end up learning the hard way by making mistakes. One problem with practical guides to Amazon is the ever-evolving nature of that company. For example, this module refers to Amazon Marketing Services, even though Amazon changed its name to Amazon Advertising quite a while ago. The core content is sound if not a little out of date. 

Module 5

• How to create a marketing lead magnet
• How to create your lead capture page
• Techniques for guest posting on relevant blogs
• Outreach strategies for getting testimonials
• 9 strategies for generating reviews
• How to build your street team of loyal reviewers
• Social media marketing strategy
• Identifying your book launch strategy
• Ten-day free book launch strategy
• Ten-day book launch strategy
• Never break the chain (also listed in modules 1 and 2!)
• Your books are assets (also listed in module 2!)
• The advantages and disadvantages of KDP Select (also listed in modules 1 and 2!)
• How to get accountability as an author (also listed in modules 1 and 2!)

For most authors, writing is a relative joy, whereas book marketing is often anything but. It’s laudable to see marketing covered in detail here, especially so many proven processes such as guest posting which are often courses in their own right. 

Module 6

• 3 effective ways to grow your author business
• How to track your book based business
• Amazon associates data in 3 easy steps
• How to maintain consistent sales
• The value of a book bundle 
• How to run a winning sales event
• Using paid book ad sites to increase sales
• Using a blog to market your books 
• How to create a Facebook ad for your books
• How to get more readers from a perm-free book
• Creating a personal books page
• Audiobook creation exchange (a walkthrough)
• 3 audiobook production strategies
• Finding your tribe and making connections
• 4 ways to leverage your foreign rights
• How to monetize a winning blog post
• How to build an author platform
• Book funnel walkthrough
• How to monetize using affiliate marketing strategies
• Understanding the BookBub Ad Platform
• Researching your market for ad marketing keywords
• The huge value of surveys
• Scaling up Amazon Marketing Services to drive more sales

This module is definitely on the more advanced side of the spectrum compared to a lot of material intended for self-publishers. That’s kind of a double-edged sword. While it’s great to see such impressive topics, it’s unclear whether a single video lesson would be enough to do any of them sufficient justice. 

So, aside from the course content described above, what does Authority Pub offer? Compared to a lot of other options out there, it’s a little light on extras, but you do get:

• Access to a Facebook group
• Bonus training (focusing on Evernote tips, using Aweber, and setting up a WordPress blog)

It’s debatable how useful these bonuses are. They feel a little dated. A lot of people are less keen on Evernote than they used to be, and Aweber is only one option of many, and frankly not the best.

How much will Authority Pub Academy set you back?

You can either pay a single installment of $797, or opt for three payments of $298, totaling $894. 

Should I use Authority Pub?

So, is Authority Pub the right option for you? Or would you be wiser investing elsewhere?

With everything considered, Authority Pub might be the right choice for you if:

• You like the teaching style of Barrie Davenport and Steve Scott
• You’re happy to invest a significant amount of money to receive information but no coaching
• The smorgasbord of self-publishing topics appeals to you, even if it’s a little unstructured
• You’re OK with some of the information being a little out of date, even if the fundamental methods taught work well 
• Learning from an online video course is your preferred style

Personally, I feel that paying around $800 – $900 for information only, without any coaching, is fairly steep. The same information is out there for free, although you’d need to spend time reading various blogs and listening to podcasts to get it.

Authority Pub Academy review: pros and cons

As with all our reviews here at SelfPublishing.com, we like to give you a succinct summary of the pros and cons so you can easily weigh up whether Authority Pub Academy is right for you. 

Pros

1. Credible teachers. Barrie Davenport and Steve Scott are the real deal. Their track record speaks for itself. You can have full faith that these teachers have earned their self-publishing stripes.

2. Comprehensive. Authority Pub Academy covers a massive array of topics. It can come across as a bit unfocused, but there’s no denying the scope of its ambition.

3. Guest experts. Getting to learn from guest experts like Mark Dawson and Honoree Corder is a huge plus point.

4. Transparent pricing. Authority Pub are upfront about their pricing, which isn’t always the case in the self-publishing world!

Cons

1. Information only. My personal view is that a self-publishing course lives and dies by its ability to offer you coaching and community. You could learn any of the topics contained in Authority Pub Academy or courses like Tribe Writers by reading blogs or listening to podcasts. Do you really want to pay for information alone?

2. Slightly outdated. While the fundamentals of self-publishing don’t change, the details do. Some of the terminology here suggests the course isn’t fully up to date.

3. Lack of coaching. If you like having the human connection, warmth, and support of a teacher, this isn’t the best choice of course. 

4. No live event opportunity. Writing can be a lonely pursuit. Many other programs offer live events providing rich networking opportunities. Authority Pub Academy does not. 

Ultimately, if you’ve decided you only need paid information, and coaching wouldn’t benefit you, Authority Pub Academy is a quality option. 

Other Authority Pub Academy reviews 

So what are other reviews saying about Authority Pub?

Over on Quora, Authority Pub Academy is recommended by author Michal Stawicki.

The same Quora thread also sees praise for Steve Scott and Barrie Davenport’s course from Jon Peterson of Freedom Bound Business.

The course also made our very own rundown of the best self-publishing courses out there.

Alternatives to Authority Pub 

If you’re looking for other courses, check out our guide to five of the best here. 

However, if you’re looking for a different approach to self-publishing, we’d love to point you in the direction of Chandler Bolt and Self-Publishing School. Full disclosure – we’re proud to be a part of the Self-Publishing School family and are directly affiliated with them. 

You can get a taster of the Self Publishing School experience for free here. But what’s so special about Self Publishing School?

Rather than just some informational videos, you get coaching, community, and the chance to be part of what many students describe as a supportive, caring family of fellow authors. There’s also access to an epic annual live event.

Why not check it out?

Final rating 

As far as information-only courses go, this is one of the best out there.

However, we firmly believe that authors get better results when information is accompanied by coaching and support. 

If you have some thoughts on Authority Pub Academy, we’d love to hear from you in the comments!