By continuing, you agree to our Terms of Service and acknowledge our Privacy Policy.
A two-day workshop · Live on Zoom · Book your weekend
Leanpub Book Weekend
The weekend, six months of Ultra Author, and the GhostAI Plugin, forever.
Two days live on Zoom with Leanpub's founder. Your book goes public on Saturday and you publish it, in progress, on Sunday.
Publish in-progress on Sunday and you win the black Leanpub T-shirt and the Finish Line prices.
Leanpub Book Weekend 4
Saturday–Sunday, December 12–13, 2026
7:00 am – 2:00 pm Pacific, both days
Leanpub Book Weekend 5
Saturday–Sunday, January 9–10, 2027
7:00 am – 2:00 pm Pacific, both days
Both days, wherever you are
- Pacific
- 7:00 am – 2:00 pm
- Eastern
- 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
- UK
- 3:00 pm – 10:00 pm
- Germany
- 4:00 pm – 11:00 pm
The weekend
Two days. One published book.
Saturday, within the first hour, your book's landing page is public. By lunch, the whole book is outlined. Sunday at 11:00 am Pacific, everyone publishes in-progress together.
What you leave with
Published in-progress on Sunday, and set up for finishing successfully after
Public in an hour
Your book's landing page is live within the first hour on Saturday, with a public commitment to publish on Sunday.
Outlined by lunch
The whole book outlined by lunch on Saturday, with GhostAI set up and your first pages written before the day is done.
Published on Sunday
At 11 am Pacific on Sunday, everyone looks at where their book is, prices it together, and clicks publish.
Six months of Ultra Author
The real membership for six months, starting the moment you buy: ten times Max's AI usage, a month's worth at a time, Studio, and office hours after every Book Weekend day.
GhostAI Plugin, forever
The GhostAI skills for Claude Code or Codex, with every update we ever make. When there is a new release, download the latest zip from your library.
The shirt and the Finish Line, if you publish
Publish during the weekend and you win the black Leanpub T-shirt, and the Finish Line opens for you for 72 hours after your weekend ends.
In the ticket
What your ticket includes
Two days live with Peter Armstrong
Saturday and Sunday, live on Zoom. Your book's landing page is public in the first hour, the whole book is outlined by lunch on Saturday, and on Sunday everyone prices their book and clicks publish together.
Six months of Ultra Author, starting the moment you buy
The real membership: ten times Max's AI usage for six months, a month's worth at a time from the day you book, plus Studio. A window to get a real draft done, before, during and after your weekend: it runs from the day you book until six months after your weekend ends, and moves with your weekend if you move. It's paid Ultra Author too: go on to Ultra Author monthly before it ends and the ticket counts as your first monthly payment toward the 1:1 calls and the member prices on Publish on Amazon and Leanpub's AI services.
A set of downloadable skills for Claude Code or OpenAI Codex, yours forever, with every update we ever make. It runs in Claude Code or Codex, on your own subscription, so Leanpub spends none of your AI usage on it.
You download it as a zip from your Leanpub library and install it with one script. When there is a new release, download the latest zip from your library.
On its own it is $497. So, if you were going to buy the plugin anyway, the weekend is effectively free!
Ultra office hours for those six months
Held after every Book Weekend day, at 2:30 pm Pacific, usually two weekends a month: bring your book and your questions and get help live. Your six months are already running, so you're in them as a member.
A month on The Shelf, including a promoted spot in a weekly and a monthly sale newsletter
Yours the moment you buy: a month for one of your published books on the Leanpub homepage, used whenever you choose — the Sunday publish is the natural first moment, but you can also wait if you want to make more progress first. This is in addition to what is included in the Ultra Author membership.
It also includes a promoted spot in one weekly and one monthly sale newsletter. Our Weekly Sale Newsletter has over 90,000 subscribers, and our Monthly Sale Newsletter has over 130,000 subscribers. A promoted spot in one of these newsletters is placed right near the top, so it will get you a lot of exposure!
Publish on Sunday and win
The black Leanpub T-shirt, and the Finish Line: Leanpub's author services at the lowest prices we put on them for anyone, until 2 pm Pacific on Wednesday, December 16.
The Sunday Guarantee
Publish your first version on Sunday, or choose either a seat at a subsequent Book Weekend — whichever one fits your calendar — or a full refund. Move your weekend free up to 24 hours before it starts.
Who it's with
Live with the founder of Leanpub
Peter Armstrong founded Leanpub and runs every Book Weekend himself, live on Zoom, both days. Each weekend is capped at 20 authors.
Who it's for
You're an expert with a book that's unfinished or unstarted: a draft, an outline, a folder of notes, or the thing people keep telling you to write. The standard path is GhostAI in the Leanpub browser editor. If you're technical, you can also run GhostAI in Claude Code or Codex with the GhostAI Plugin. That part is optional. "In progress" isn't an apology here. It's the point: the book goes public on Saturday, gets its first version on Sunday, and you keep publishing after.
The six months in your ticket
What's in Ultra Author?
Your ticket includes six months of Ultra Author, our top author membership. Here is everything it includes.
Included in Ultra
Ten times the AI usage of Max
Enough for heavy usage of the GhostAI skills and Leanpub's AI Studio, on every term.
Office hours: at least 24 over the next 12 months
After every Book Weekend day, at 2:30 pm Pacific for 60 minutes, with recordings. At least 2 per month. Valued at $3,600 a year.
A priority queue for two Launch videos about your book with Len
Get the first one whenever you're ready, after you've published in-progress. Get the second one when you're at 100%.
A priority queue for an interview on the Leanpub Podcast
Book it for whenever it makes sense for you.
Your video and your support email handled first
Ultra Author members go to the front of Len's queue for their two Launch videos and their podcast interview, and to the front of the line at vip@leanpub.com.
Member prices on Leanpub's services
A member price on every Leanpub service, the same one Max Author members pay: Publish on Amazon is $1,299 instead of $1,499, from the day your membership starts.
Four 30-minute 1:1 calls a year
With Peter or Len: one for each quarter you've paid for, all four at once on the annual term. Valued at $1,200 a year.
Also included in Ultra
- Two months on The Shelf a year, the bookshelf on the Leanpub homepage
- VIP author support by email, at vip@leanpub.com
- AI Support: instant suggestions when your book or course has generation failures
- GitHub and Dropbox sync, so you can write on your own computer
- Google Analytics, InDesign export and the Leanpub API
- Unlimited previews and publishes (Mini has 20 a month)
- Custom themes for your books
- Print-ready PDF export
- Up to 100 books and courses (Free has three books and one course)
- Our Minimal, Visual and Source editors, and Upload Mode
- The same royalty rate as every Leanpub author membership
- Coupons, bundles, tracks and all our other marketing features
- Support through the Author Forum or by email
The win
Publish on Sunday and win the black Leanpub T-shirt and the Finish Line prices.
The win is for publishing. Publish a version of a book you own during your weekend, from the start of Saturday's session to 11:59 pm Pacific on Sunday, with the book's landing page public at the deadline. A new version of a book you already have out counts.
The Finish Line prices
Publish on Amazon and GlobalAuthor at the lowest prices we put on them for anyone. You pay then and use what you buy when the book is ready, any time in the next 12 months. Open until 2 pm Pacific on Wednesday, December 16, 72 hours after your weekend ends.
The black Leanpub T-shirt
Earned by publishing. Give us your address and size when you book and, once you've published, we mail you the black Leanpub T-shirt: a Bella + Canvas tee with the logo discharge-printed into the fabric, so it's part of the shirt rather than sitting on top of it. Shipping is on us.
Book your weekend
Pick your weekend
Book Weekend: one payment of $497. Your seat is held the moment you pay, and your six months of Ultra Author start right then.
Saturday–Sunday, December 12–13, 2026
7:00 am – 2:00 pm Pacific, both days
$497 USD
Enter your email to get started
Already have a Leanpub account?
By registering you agree to being recorded, to Leanpub quoting what you say as a testimonial, and to email about the event.
The Sunday Guarantee: publish your first version on Sunday, or choose a seat at a subsequent Book Weekend or a full refund. Move your weekend free up to 24 hours before it starts.
Zoom link will be emailed to you before the weekend, and will be added to your Leanpub library in the events page.
The Sunday Guarantee
Published in-progress on Sunday. Guaranteed.
Here's the deal. You book your weekend. On Saturday your unpublished book landing page goes public. On Sunday at 11 am Pacific you publish your first in-progress version, together with everyone in the room. And if you don't publish on Sunday — for any reason at all — you choose what happens next.
1
Publish on Sunday
The whole room clicks publish together at 11 am Pacific. Your book is live, in progress, with a real landing page and a real price.
2
Or take a subsequent weekend
Didn't publish? Pick a seat at any subsequent Book Weekend with seats — whichever one fits your calendar, not just the next one. (Can't make your weekend at all? Move it, free, up to 24 hours before it starts.)
3
Or take a full refund
Or ask for a full refund instead. Your call. We have a 100% satisfaction guarantee, which we call The Leanpub 60 Day 100% Happiness Guarantee: within 60 days of purchase you can get a 100% refund on any Leanpub purchase, in two clicks.
We can make this promise because the weekend is built to get you there: public in an hour, outlined by lunch, published on Sunday. The guarantee is what it costs us if it doesn't.
After Sunday
What happens after Sunday
On Sunday you're a published author with a book in progress and Ultra Author already running: six months of it, with ten times Max's AI usage and office hours after every Book Weekend day, usually two weekends a month. Book Weekend authors stay on for that day's Ultra Author office hours at 2:30 pm Pacific; with the months in your ticket, you're there as a member. Keeping Ultra Author is how you keep writing, finish and launch.
See Ultra AuthorFrequently asked questions
FAQs
What if I don't publish on Sunday?
That's the Sunday Guarantee: publish your first version on Sunday, or choose either a seat at a subsequent Book Weekend — whichever one fits your calendar — or a full refund. You choose from your Book Weekend page.
What counts as publishing?
A successful publish of a book you own, made during your weekend: from the start of Saturday's session to 11:59 pm Pacific on Sunday, with the book's landing page public at the deadline. Most people publish together at 11 am Pacific on Sunday, but any publish inside the weekend counts. A new version of a book you already have out counts too, and there is no minimum length. Every ticket holder for that weekend is eligible.
What do I win if I publish?
Publish a version of a book you own during your weekend and you win the black Leanpub T-shirt, and the Finish Line opens for you: Leanpub's author services at the lowest prices we put on them for anyone, until 2 pm Pacific on the Wednesday after your weekend.
What happens to the win if I take the refund?
A refund closes any Finish Line price you haven't used. A service you already bought at the Finish Line price stays yours. The months of Ultra Author and the GhostAI Plugin's updates end; whatever is on your disk stays.
How do I get the shirt?
Publish during your weekend. When you book, put your shipping address and size (S, M, L or XL) in the box on the order form, and after the weekend we mail the black Leanpub T-shirt to everyone who published. It's a Bella + Canvas tee with the logo discharge-printed into the fabric, and shipping is on us. No address, no shirt, and your booking goes through either way.
When does my Ultra Author start, and when does it end?
It starts the moment you buy, with your first month of AI usage available that day and a new month's worth every month after, so you can set up GhostAI and Studio and start your outline before Saturday. It runs until six months after your weekend ends — a weekend booked far ahead is covered from the day you book — and it moves with your weekend if you move. When it ends, it ends: nothing renews and nothing is charged. If you were on another Leanpub membership when you booked, your account goes back to it by itself.
What is the GhostAI Plugin?
It's a set of downloadable skills for Claude Code or OpenAI Codex, in the Book Weekend ticket and yours forever, with every update we ever make. It runs in Claude Code or Codex, on your own subscription, so Leanpub spends none of your AI usage on it. You download it as a zip from your Leanpub library and install it with one script. When there is a new release, download the latest zip from your library.
What is the month on The Shelf, and when can I use it?
It's a month for one of your books on the Leanpub homepage, and it's on your account the moment you buy. Use it whenever you choose from your author balance page — the Sunday publish is the natural first moment. Two standing rules: the book has to be published, and you need an active Ultra or Max membership at the time; your ticket's months of Ultra Author are one, and the month waits for you if you come back to Ultra later. It's on top of the month on The Shelf that Ultra earns you every six months, never netted against it.
I'm already a Leanpub member. What happens to my membership?
Nothing is taken away. Your plan and its billing carry on, and you have Ultra Author on top for your ticket's six months. If you're already paying for Ultra Author, the ticket's months are added to your membership instead: your next renewal moves back by them, and nothing is charged until then.
I have a Books Die Alone Pro Ticket. Does it count?
Yes. The $79 you paid for the Pro Ticket comes off the ticket's regular price automatically when you're signed in. The ticket's own months of Ultra Author start the moment you buy, whether or not the Pro Ticket's month is still running.
Do I need a finished draft?
No. Book Weekend is for a book that's unfinished or unstarted: a draft, an outline, a folder of notes, or the thing people keep telling you to write. The book goes public on Saturday, gets its first version on Sunday, and you keep publishing after.
What are the hours, and where does it happen?
Live on Zoom, 7 am to 2 pm Pacific on both days. The Zoom link is emailed to you before the weekend and added to the events page in your Leanpub library. Ultra Author's office hours follow each Book Weekend day at 2:30 pm Pacific, usually two weekends a month, and with the months in your ticket you're in them as a member.
Can I move my weekend?
Yes. Your Book Weekend page lets you switch to any other Book Weekend with seats, free, up to 24 hours before yours starts — and we email you a week out to ask whether the date still works. After that, if you want to reschedule, contact hello@leanpub.com and let us know what happened: we're a bootstrapped startup with limited event spots, so we'd really like to avoid late cancellations.
Published by Sunday.
Pick a weekend and book it. Your seat is held the moment you pay.
Book your weekendLeanpub authors love Leanpub.
We're authors too, and we built Leanpub to be the platform we would love to use. It turns out, we weren't alone...
As an academic, I like Leanpub because it lets me write and get my ideas out there quickly. Leanpub is simply the best place for publishing my books.
Roger D. PengAssociate Professor of Biostatistics at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public HealthLeanpub's book-creation tools allowed me to focus on creating the types of books I wanted to write instead of worrying how to create my own book publishing toolchain. I have never regretted using Leanpub to publish my ebooks.
Chris HartjesThe Grumpy ProgrammerLeanpub takes the pain out of publishing. They provide the tools, you provide the books and then magic happens.
Ryan BiggAuthor, Multitenancy with RailsI love using Leanpub because I can write my book using simple Markdown notation. Leanpub lets me focus on my content and they handle the rest.
Taylor OtwellCreator Of LaravelLeanpub is a game changer for independent authors, removing the hassles associated with formatting, book production, and electronic sales, freeing up the time to do what we do best: write.
W. Jason GilmoreAuthor, Easy Laravel 5Leanpub helped me achieve my goal of publishing a book. Its simple, easy to use interface got my book up and making money within weeks, I love Leanpub!
Samantha LaingGrowing AgileLeanpub helped me gauge interest in my book, get payments early on when it was only a few chapters, and has got me a bunch of sales just from people browsing around the site.
Phil SturgeonAuthor, Build APIs You Won't HateLeanpub helps me see my books as I write them. Even better, I can find readers early, to read my books and offer suggestions. I can pivot, if I see the need.
Johanna RothmanAuthor of 18 Leanpub books and counting…Leanpub made it simple for me to run with my book idea and build my reputation in the Ruby community. I went from first draft to first sale in days, not months or years.
Aaron SumnerAuthor, Everyday Rails Testing with RSpecFour years ago, I joined Leanpub to just give it a try. Today, over 28,000 book sales later, I cannot help but say that I'm the biggest Leanpub fan on this planet!
Manuel KiesslingAuthor, The Node Beginner BookLeanpub makes publishing your own book super easy. The fact that you can release updates continually helps with the mindset of getting a minimum version out ASAP and then iterating to improve.
Karen GreavesGrowing AgileI earn more royalties from my books on Leanpub than I do with well established publishers or through Amazon (which I publish on thanks to Leanpub's mobi conversion).
Paul BradshawPaul runs the MA in Online Journalism at Birmingham City UniversityLeanpub allows me focus on content, takes care everything else and offers an amazing author royalty. It’s a fantastic platform for writing and publishing books.
Simon BrownAuthor, Software Architecture for DevelopersI love that Leanpub makes writing and publishing a beautiful book so simple. I no longer spin my wheels with layouts and formats - Leanpub gets out of the way when it's time to write, and then automates everything when it's time to publish.
Daniel RootAuthor, Trello DojoWith Leanpub, the first person who purchased my book for $9.99 almost two years ago (and only received a preface, and two short intro chapters) has had access to almost every bit of knowledge I've gained in those two years, and *that's* the value.
Jeff GeerlingAuthor, Ansible for DevOpsSimple and lean, forces me to focus on writing and marketing, and pays excellent royalties.
Reg "Raganwald" BraithwaiteAuthor, JavaScript Allongé, the "Six" EditionLeanpub forces you to focus on writing and gives you immediate feedback. Allowing Leanpub to take care of the curation and delivery helped me focus on shipping my book.
Paul RedmondAuthor of Writing APIs With LumenWhile most eBook exporter apps today can generate PDF files and many support ePub, there's one tool we recommend above all after trying 8 of the most popular: Leanpub.
Matthew GuayContent Marketer at Zapier
The Leanpub 60 Day 100% Happiness Guarantee
Within 60 days of purchase you can get a 100% refund on any Leanpub purchase, in two clicks.
See full terms...
Earn $8 on a $10 Purchase, and $16 on a $20 Purchase
We pay 80% royalties on purchases of $7.99 or more, and 80% royalties minus a 50 cent flat fee on purchases between $0.99 and $7.98. You earn $8 on a $10 sale, and $16 on a $20 sale. So, if we sell 5000 non-refunded copies of your book for $20, you'll earn $80,000.
(Yes, some authors have already earned much more than that on Leanpub.)
Learn more about writing on Leanpub
Write and Publish on Leanpub
You can use Leanpub to easily write, publish and sell in-progress and completed ebooks and online courses!
Leanpub is a powerful platform for serious authors, combining a simple, elegant writing and publishing workflow with a store focused on selling in-progress ebooks.
Leanpub is a magical typewriter for authors: just write in plain text, and to publish your ebook, just click a button. (Or, if you are producing your ebook your own way, you can even upload your own PDF and/or EPUB files and then publish with one click!) It really is that easy.