If you're not familiar with my course, it focuses on learning Amazon Web Services by actually using it. We focus on the problem of hosting, securing, and delivering static websites. There are a million ways to solve that problem. Some that don't even involve AWS. But it's actually a fantastic problem to focus on while starting your adventure into AWS.

In the course, we use that problem as our focal point. By doing that we learn AWS services like S3, Lambda, CloudFront, Web Application Firewall, and API Gateway to help us build a solution to it.

This time last year I was putting the final touches on the screencasts that accompany my Learn AWS By Using It course. I was determined to ship a life long dream of mine, a 100% self-published book with bonus learning material to go with it.

At about 10 PM the night before the launch, serious imposter syndrome started to set in.

I began to wonder if I was capable of putting myself out there like this. Folks would see content I created and likely question my abilities as any skeptic person would be who was exchanging money for content. I wondered if folks would see the value in learning something as complex as AWS while actually leveraging it.

Doubt kept creeping in, but I reminded myself of one thing. I told myself that this is an accomplishment first and foremost for myself. To prove to myself that I can create something that folks leverage to benefit their careers. If only one person buys this course and tells me it helped them, I will have succeeded in my mission.

So I shipped the course, posted to Product Hunt, Hacker News, and blasted it all across Twitter.

The first day I sold 10 copies, the first month 32 copies, and I sit here today one year later having sold over 150 copies.

Make no mistake about it, each one of those sales took a lot of work. Months of staying up late burning the midnight oil to put chapters together. Weekends of programming example after example and double checking everything I could.

It might not seem like much from the outside.

But releasing this course has been one of my proudest moments. I built something from nothing and folks have gotten value out of what I have produced. There is nothing quite like that.

Thank You

I wanted to write this post because I want to say thank you to this community.

If it wasn't for all the incredible folks here and on the [#DevDiscuss Twitter Chats], this dream would have ever become a reality. Each and everyone one of you provided the motivation and encouragement I needed to complete a lifelong dream of mine.

For that, I will forever be in debt to the community that is DEV. A community that supports everyone. It raises people up instead of putting them down and inspires everyone to share their knowledge with the world.

I will continue to post all my technical content here on DEV to share with all you. I will also continue my morning ritual of reading all your content to learn something new every single day.

Special 1-Year Sale

To celebrate this huge milestone and to say thank you to everyone for the support all packages of my course are currently 50% off. No coupon codes necessary, pick the package that works for you and you are ready to start learning AWS by actually using it.

As a bonus, anybody who purchases an Ultimate Package that includes a hard copy of the book will also get this awesome t-shirt included!

Want to check out my other projects?

I am a huge fan of the DEV community. If you have any questions or want to chat about different ideas relating to refactoring, reach out on Twitter.

Outside of blogging, I created a Learn AWS By Using It course. In the course, we focus on learning Amazon Web Services by actually using it to host, secure, and deliver static websites. It’s a simple problem, with many solutions, but it’s perfect for ramping up your understanding of AWS. I recently added two new bonus chapters to the course that focus on Infrastructure as Code and Continuous Deployment.

I also curate my own weekly newsletter. The Learn By Doing newsletter is packed full of awesome cloud, coding, and DevOps articles each week. Sign up to get it in your inbox.

If you’d like to get updates on my future articles and projects, please subscribe to my newsletter.

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