The Default Library · Courses
Courses
13 courses. Each one stands on its own and takes about an hour.
Speak, write and learn
4 coursesSay it well, write it down, and keep what you learn.
Public SpeakingOne skill, four very different arenas: a small meeting, a stage with hundreds of people, a livestream where you're talking to a camera and a chat window at once, and a broadcast interview where every word can be clipped out of context. This course covers all four, plus the underlying fundamentals that carry across every one of them.Speed ReadingThe marketing claim is 1,000+ words per minute with full comprehension. The actual peer-reviewed research says something much more modest, and much more useful: real, honest techniques for reading faster and retaining more — once you throw out the myths a whole industry has sold for decades.Memory & Spaced RepetitionNot "brain training" gimmicks — the real, well-tested system: why you forget on a predictable schedule, the two techniques that reliably beat that schedule, and how to build them into anything you're trying to learn for good.How to Write a BookFiction or non-fiction — the real process: choosing and testing an idea, structuring it, building a sustainable writing habit, getting through a first draft, and revising it into something ready to publish. Publishing itself is its own course, next in this series.
Publish and promote
5 coursesGet a book or a song out, then get it found.
Social Media MarketingA full course, not a summary: what the platforms actually reward, how to build content that works, and how to scale it without burning out or getting blindsided when a platform changes the rules on you.Publishing a Book & AudiobookThe companion to How to Write a Book: traditional vs. self-publishing, ISBNs and formatting, covers and pricing, launch strategy, and a full, honest walkthrough of producing an audiobook — human narrator or AI, and what each actually costs.Publishing Your MusicNot "how to go viral" — the unglamorous, essential plumbing: distributors like DistroKid, copyright registration, PROs, mechanical royalties, and the exact registrations that stand between your music and the money it's actually owed.Marketing Your MusicNot chasing a single viral moment — the real system: where discovery actually happens now, how to turn casual listeners into superfans, playlist pitching that works, and a release campaign built to compound over years, not one lucky week.Marketing a BookThree formats, three genuinely different discovery systems: the Amazon algorithm and Kindle Unlimited economics, the Audible sample that sells or loses a listener in 30 seconds, and the indie-bookstore, library, and event channels that only exist for print.
Build something
2 coursesStart a business and put it online.
Starting a BusinessNot motivation, not a pitch-deck template — the actual procedural path: validating an idea before you build it, picking a legal structure, launching legally, pricing, cash flow, funding, your first hires, and knowing honestly when to pivot, persevere, or walk away well.How to Make a WebpageFor anyone putting a business, a band, or their own work online: domains, AI and no-code builders, "vibe coding" a fully custom site, getting paid, selling products (physical and digital), and keeping the whole thing running — zero to a real, published page.
Skills for life
2 coursesCooking and piano, from the start.
PianoNot scales for their own sake — a fast, honest path from a blank keyboard to playing real chord-based songs today, understanding why it works, and a genuine roadmap for where to go next.Cooking FundamentalsNot a recipe collection — the actual underlying system: knife skills, heat, the science of browning, food-safety temperatures, the five mother sauces, and how to build a real meal from what's in your kitchen without needing a recipe at all.