Want readers to love your fantasy novel?

Then you must hook them in your first chapter.Because it doesn’t matter:

If your first chapter sucks, readers won’t get to experience any of that — because they will put your book down and never read any further.You don’t want that.Over the last few years, I’ve reviewed hundreds of opening chapters from writers who have applied to work with me.

Here's the unfortunate truth:

Most first chapters are bad.And no wonder!Just think about everything you have to do in chapter one…You’re trying to:

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.Starting your novel is insanely tricky.Especially for us fantasy writers. We usually have a LOT more complexity to deal with compared to writers working in other genres.I even had one fantasy writer tell me that they “usually rewrite the beginning 10-12 times before settling on the right start.”

So how can you overcome these challenges and write a great first chapter?

My name is Jed Herne, and I’ve published four fantasy novels (and a video game).

I also run a fantasy writing advice YouTube channel with over 96,000 subscribers, and I have personally coached over 80 fantasy writers to help them improve their stories.

I want to focus on that workshop for a second.46 fantasy writers attended this live workshop, which ran for almost three hours.When I saw how much the workshop helped these writers, it inspired me to build First Chapter Mastery (the course you’re reading about right now), which includes a full recording of the workshop inside.Here's a 60-second video review from one of my workshop students:

From all my experience, I’ve spent a lot of time trying to craft the best opening chapters possible. Both in my books and other writers’ books.Because in my 12+ years of writing, I’ve discovered this:Nailing your first chapter sets you up to write the best story possible.And once you learn the principles behind a great first chapter, you can apply these to every other chapter you ever write.

You will also see me apply these lessons to edit real opening chapters.

These chapters come from writers just like you.They’re early in their writing career, with plenty of great ideas and concepts — but they struggle to get their ideas down on the page.As you watch me edit their work, you will gain deep, practical insights to improve your own writing.In other words:This course isn’t just ‘abstract theory.’It will show you how to put theory into practice with hands-on examples.Many of these chapter critiques were done on live coaching calls — so you can see me improve these chapters in real-time.

(Optional) Get my feedback on your writing

When you sign up to the course below, you’ll see an option to get my personal feedback on your writing.If you pick this option, you can send me the start of your fantasy novel, and I will give you an in-depth critique within 7 business days.To give you an idea of what to expect, I once gave a student 3,199 words of feedback on a 10,000-word piece of his writing.Of course, you might get more (or less) feedback from me.My goal isn’t to overwhelm you with notes. My goal is to help you level up as quickly as possible, and I will tailor my feedback to achieve this.While the standard First Chapter Mastery course will teach you everything you need to know about starting your fantasy novel, getting my personal feedback is the quickest way to improve your writing.Note: I only have a limited number of feedback slots per month.If all my slots are full, you can join a waitlist to be notified when they re-open.Here’s what some past clients have said about my editing:

By the end of First Chapter Mastery:

You will know how to write first chapters that hook fantasy readers.And with lifetime access to First Chapter Mastery, you can apply these principles to every story you write in the future.When you sign up today, you’ll get the following bonuses:

My 100% money-back guarantee:

I want to make sure that First Chapter Mastery is so good that it feels like a no-brainer to make this investment in your writing.So here’s my guarantee:If you go through the First Chapter Mastery course, and you don’t feel like it’s a fantastic investment, just email me within 30 days of purchase (my email is jed (at) jedherne.com) and I will give you a 100% refund.That is how confident I am in the quality of this program.Note: as you will see below, there are three packages you can choose for this course.Some of these include my personal feedback.Giving you my personal feedback takes a lot of my time.So if you buy a package that includes my feedback:The portion of your package that involves my edit is non-refundable.However, my refund policy still applies to the course itself.

A quick disclaimer:

This is the lowest price the program will ever be.As I continue to add new resources to the program, the price will likely increase in the future.When you sign up today, you’ll get free access to all future updates (even when the price goes up).So if you want this, there will never be a better time to join than right now.Select your package below to get instant access to First Chapter Mastery.I’ll see you inside!

Frequently Asked Questions:

Can I buy just the course now, then upgrade to get your feedback later?Yes.If you buy the ‘full course’ option, you will have the ability to upgrade later, and roll over your investment to get the feedback packages. There is a link to do this in the course.For example, if you buy the full course option for $97, and later decide to get the ‘course + Jed’s feedback’ package, you would pay $497 – $97 = $407.However, the price for my feedback packages is likely to increase in the future, and I may eventually remove them. So if you really want my feedback, I suggest locking that in now.Is this a self-paced course?Yes. This means you can get started right away, and you can easily rewind, pause, and replay the lessons as many times as you want.I would suggest going through the course multiple times to ensure you deeply understand all the teachings I share.Does this course include videos?This course includes a combination of video lessons, text-based lessons, and downloadable resources.I want to get a package with your feedback. How does this work?After joining the course, you will see a link to send me your writing.This will take you to a form where you can submit your story.This form will ask you to provide some basic details about your story and what you’re struggling with (so that I can be as helpful as possible).Once I receive your writing, I will go through and perform an in-depth critique.To give you an idea of what to expect, I once gave a student 3,199 words of feedback on a 10,000-word piece of his writing.Of course, you might get more (or less) feedback from me.My goal isn’t to overwhelm you with notes. My goal is to help you level up as quickly as possible, and I will tailor my feedback to achieve this.At this point, I’ve edited a lot of fantasy novels, and I can quickly identify common mistakes (and provide solid solutions).My notes won’t just apply to your opening chapter, but they will also help you with the rest of your novel.I want to get the package with the video calls. How does that work?For this package, I will begin by first completing my critique on your writing.Once you have received my notes, I’ll send through a link to schedule our call.Your calls will go for 60 minutes, and I run them on Zoom. You will have lifetime access to the recording.What’s the benefit of getting on a live 1-on-1 call with Jed?At this point, I’ve done hundreds of coaching calls with writers.Many writers have come into these calls with problems that they’ve been struggling with for months (or years). Because I’ve run so many calls, I’m often able to solve these problems with just a few minutes of talking, which is why I enjoy them so much!How long does it take to go through the First Chapter Mastery course?My goal is to help you write better first chapters as quickly as possible.To do this, I’ve intentionally kept the course streamlined and concise.You will be able to complete the course (and walk away with many improvements to your writing) in just 4-5 hours.Can you guarantee that this will make me a published author?Unfortunately, no. Writing is a tough game, and I can’t guarantee success.However, through this course I will do everything I can to help you write the perfect opening to your fantasy novel, which will set you on the path to building a successful author career.And like I mention above – if you go through the program and don’t feel like it provided enough value, you can always request a 100% refund.I have another question.No worries - you can contact me by emailing jed (at) jedherne.com

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