Authoring Content on Educative

How much does it cost to create a course on Educative?

The content creation tools are free to use. There is no charge for creating or publishing a course on the platform.

Can I use my existing material in my Educative courses?

Yes. As long as you own the rights to your material, you can use it as part of your Educative courses.

How can I publish courses on Educative?

You can publish your course on Educative in one of two ways.

1. Created by Contract Author (CBCA): You can use the free content creation tools to build a course. You will receive a fixed fee to create a course plus ongoing revenue share. To get started, propose a topic and/or send us a course outline at authors@educative.io.

Please note that Educative will own the copyright to courses under the CBCA model.

2. Managed by Educative (MBE): If you have pre-existing content to which you own the rights, Educative may be able to create an interactive course based on this content. You will continue to own the copyrights to your content. Educative has no claim to your copyrights.

For example, you may have written an ebook or a series of technical articles around a focused software development topic. If you own 100% of the copyrights to that content, you can submit it for consideration as an MBE. First, we will check if your material fits the Educative platform and is compatible with our technology stack. Then, if approved, we will build your course and market it to drive sales.

To apply, send us an email at authors@educative.io expressing interest in becoming an author, and we’ll get in touch.

How long does it take to create a course?

This depends on a number of factors including the type of course, its length and complexity, and the author(s) time commitment each week.

What kinds of courses are your learners looking for?

Our learners want rich, text-based courses with embedded coding environments that make learning easy. Some of them want to become a developer. Others are already junior or senior developers who want to grow their skillset. Many are well-established in their programming careers and are preparing for engineering and coding interviews. Still, others are looking for knowledge in new areas, such as container technologies, cloud architecture, testing automation, and more. So what you teach is really up to you. It depends on which programming languages, frameworks, or topics you know best, love most, and want to teach to others.

Visit Become an Author to get started.

What makes a good course on Educative?

Learners prefer courses with a coherent structure, clear language, and interactive elements to practice the concepts. We recommend that authors include:

• Illustrations - Explain the technical concepts with illustrations, in addition to text.
• Exercises - allow learners to practice the concepts by including coding challenges, quizzes, and assessments.
• Projects - Incorporate a project in your course, so the learner has a project to show their accomplishment.

Please note that videos or links to other educational platforms can not be included in a course.

I don’t have time to create a full course. What are other options to develop content on Educative?

We have two other options to develop content on Educative:

1. Mini Courses: There are many programming topics that do not require a full course. Consider topics like Regular Expressions in JavaScript, Async methods in Python, Lambda functions in C#, and so much more. These topics are dense but can be covered in a mini-course of 5-15 lessons. This allows you to publish a mini-course in less time.

Mini-courses are only available to unlimited access subscribers and not eligible for individual course subscriptions. Mini-course authors will receive revenue share based on unlimited access subscriptions only.

2. Edpresso: Edpresso is the community-driven forum to share technical knowledge in short form called ‘shots.’ For more information on Edpresso, please refer to the Edpresso Creator FAQ.

How does Educative promote my courses?

Educative may promotes courses through:

• Email - Send emails weekly to registered users to promote new courses.
• Social media - Promote courses on Twitter, Facebook, and other social media platforms.
• Blogs - Publish several blogs weekly on our site, as well as cross-post on other sites such as Medium, Dev.to, etc.
• Paid ads - Post ads on Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Bing.
• Influencer marketing - Partner with influencers to promote the Educative site and specific courses.
• Edpresso shots - Edpresso shots are viewed by millions of learners every month. We create shots that complement courses.

We also encourage authors to promote their course by:

• Social media - Promote your course on your social media platforms.
• Blog - Publish a complimentary blog on Educative and cross-post on other sites.
• Edpresso shots - Create shots that complement your course to drive more traffic.
• Sessions - Share your story in our podcast and videocast.

By working together to promote your course, we will reach a broader audience of learners.

I just published a course, but it’s not available on the website.

When you publish a course, it is unlisted (private) by default. This allows you to share your course link with others for early feedback or send us your complete course for final review. When you’re ready to publish your course publicly, please send us an email at authorsuccess@educative.io. We’ll review your course, test for bugs, and provide feedback as part of the review and approval process.

Revenue Share Model & Payments

At Educative, we know your knowledge is valuable and we want to make sure you are well compensated for your effort and expertise. There are two types of buyers for courses on Educative: individual learners and enterprise customers. Compensation depends on the course engagement type and learner method of access.

Revenue for courses Created by Contract Author:

For CBCA courses, you will receive a fixed contract fee paid out at key milestones. You can also earn bonuses for early completion and actively marketing your course.

• Receive payments throughout the course creation process.
• Earn ongoing revenue share for marketing the course.

Revenue for courses Managed by Educative

For courses Managed by Educative (MBE), our payment model is

• 30% of individual course or track sales revenue
• 30% of revenue share for subscriptions

How is the author revenue share calculated?

Educative calculates the author revenue share based on effective price. The effective price may differ from the published price on the Educative website due to:

• Regional discounts – Educative adjusts prices by region.
• Promotional discounts – Educative occasionally offers promotional discounts.
• Sales tax – Educative displays course prices inclusive of tax.
• Affiliate revenue share – Third party affiliates who promote Educative courses receive revenue share based on the amount collected by Educative.

For example, Sally clicks on an affiliate link and then purchases an Educative course for $79. In addition, she lives in a geographical area subject to sales tax.

Course Price Paid by Sally	$79
Sales tax (10%)	(8)
Amount collected by Educative	71
Affiliate revenue share (20%)	(14)
Effective price	57
Educative revenue share (30%)	17
Author revenue share (70%)	40

To recap the example above, Sally paid $79 for a course, of which $8 went to sales tax and $71 went to Educative; an affiliate marketing partner then collected $14. Of the remaining amount, $17 went to Educative and $40 went to the Author.

How do you pay authors?

Authors are paid via PayPal.

What’s your payout schedule?

Authors receive their revenue share every month on the 15th of the month for sales from two calendar months ago. So, for example, if a learner buys a course subscription in January, you will receive the associated revenue share in mid-March. If a learner buys a course subscription in February, you will receive the associated revenue share in mid-April. And so on.

Why is there a delay in the payout?

The delay allows Educative to factor in returns and chargebacks.

Is there a minimum limit on the payout amount transferred?

No, there is no limit.

Where can I give my payout information?

For PayPal, you can add your PayPal ID in your Author profile settings.

How do I report my earnings for tax purposes?

If you cross the IRS thresholds in a given calendar year, PayPal will send Form 1099-K to you and the IRS for that year by January 31. More details are available here.

If you do not meet the IRS thresholds or you are based outside the US, you may login to your PayPal account and download your transaction activity or invoices to use in your tax filing.

Post Launch

How do I get feedback from students?

Learners can email questions to the author via an email address you specify for course feedback. Some authors also choose to be notified when a course-related question is posted in our Discuss channel.

How do I turn on notifications for the ‘Discuss’ forum?

Learners post course-specific questions on Discuss. To receive notifications of questions for your course, please follow these steps on Discuss:

1. Login to Discuss with the email address linked to your Educative account.
2. Click on the tag for the specific course you want to follow and
3. Click the bell icon to receive email notifications. On the Collection Editor page, an author can enter your email in the feedback email field to receive user emails.

Can I update my course at any time?

Yes, you can update your course to resolve learner feedback, incorporate technology updates, or enhance the course. However, before you make any changes, notify the Course Coordinator (ASCC) assigned to your course or email authorsuccess@educative.io.

How do I set up/update my author profile?

The author’s profile fosters connection with the learner and adds legitimacy to the course. Your profile also contributes to your personal brand and can be shared on social media and/or your personal website. The author profile is located within the user account settings of your Educative account.

Please add this information to your profile:

• PayPal account where you want to receive your revenue share
• Long and short bio to share your personal and professional story
• Image/graphic of author, logo, etc.
• Social media handles/links

Please note that authors can not provide links to other online educational platforms.

What are Paths?

Paths are a compilation of lessons from multiple courses to achieve specific learning objectives. Paths provide visibility to courses and increase user engagement. We continue to add Paths to the platform.

What if I want to remove my course from Educative?

For MBE courses, you own your content and can prevent future sales of your courses by notifying us in writing. We will remove your content within 180 days after receipt of notice from you. Please note that learners who have previously purchased your course will still have access to the course.

Will new learners be able to buy my course after I remove it?

No, only learners who have previously purchased your course will have access to it.