Custom LMS for Book Publishing Educators
A learning management system built for book publishing experts who turned their consulting practice into a scalable online course business - with course management, homework submission, and integrated payment processing.
About the Project
AuthorPilot is a custom learning management system built for experienced book publishers who transitioned from one-on-one consulting to scalable online education. The clients had years of expertise teaching new publishers how to navigate the industry - manuscript preparation, publishing workflows, marketing strategies - but were delivering this knowledge exclusively through time-intensive consultations. They wanted to productize their expertise into an online course that could reach more students, generate passive income, and serve as a funnel for premium consulting engagements. Existing LMS platforms (Teachable, Thinkific, Kajabi) were evaluated but none could deliver the exact user experience the clients envisioned for their course structure and content flow. AuthorPilot was purpose-built around their specific curriculum, homework-and-review workflow, and student journey.
The Challenge
Product & UX challenges
The clients had no predefined feature list - they knew what they wanted the student experience to feel like but had not translated that into specific product requirements. Designing the course flow, homework submission and review workflow, and admin management experience required collaborative discovery with ongoing scope refinement.
Technical challenges
Integrating with ConvertKit for email automation and ThriveCart for payment processing while building a custom course delivery engine that supported multimedia content, homework upload and download, instructor review workflows, and subscription management - all deployed on AWS for reliability.
Business challenges
The clients were successful one-on-one consultants but could not scale their knowledge delivery beyond direct sessions. They needed a platform that would generate recurring subscription revenue, reduce time spent on repetitive teaching, and serve as a lead generation tool for premium consulting - but existing off-the-shelf LMS platforms did not match their vision.
What We Delivered
Google, Apple, and email authentication
Admin panel for users and course management
Email automation with ConvertKit integration
Subscription management with ThriveCart integration
Instructor review and feedback system
Materials upload and download for homework
Course viewing flow with structured curriculum
Custom LMS web platform deployed on AWS
Work Process
1
Collaborative discovery
Worked with the founders through iterative discovery sessions to translate their vision into product requirements. Since they had no predefined feature list, we used a T&M engagement model with limited weekly hours - allowing scope to evolve as the product took shape.
2
UX/UI design
Designed the complete student journey from enrollment through course completion, including the homework submission and instructor review workflow. Focused on making the learning experience feel premium and personal - matching the quality of the founders' consulting practice.
3
Platform development
Built the custom LMS with React.js and Nest.js, integrated ConvertKit for email automation and ThriveCart for subscription billing, and developed the course content delivery engine with multimedia support, homework management, and instructor review tools.
4
Launch & iteration
Launched the platform with the initial course content, monitored student engagement and feedback, and continued to iterate on features through the ongoing T&M engagement as real usage data informed product decisions.
Project team
Results
Explore how we’ve helped startups and enterprises solve complex challenges, accelerate growth, and launch innovative digital products.
2 integrations
ConvertKit and ThriveCart connected for automated email sequences and seamless payment processing
Ongoing
T&M engagement model allowed flexible scope management, with the platform evolving based on real student feedback after launch
100%
Custom platform delivered that no off-the-shelf LMS could replicate - matching the exact student experience the founders envisioned
New revenue
Online course launched as scalable complement to consulting, generating subscription-based recurring income from day one
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