Correspondence Regarding Course Launch Promise
Terms and conditions governing the announcement of a course that has not yet been written by the party making the announcement.
Article I: Definitions
For the purposes of this document, "course launch promise" refers to any public or semi-public declaration of intent to produce and distribute educational content, made prior to the existence of a first draft of that content.
By January 2022, the course launch promise had become a standard form of side-hustle theater. Courses, newsletters, templates, and creator businesses were treated as default ambitions. The announcement was not the exception. It was the expected format for a certain kind of professional identity.
Article II: Conditions of Announcement
The first case of course launch promise changes one small decision without being discussed. The subject announces a course idea. The announcement is made in good faith. The announcement predates the first lesson by a period ranging from one week to an indefinite number of months.
Upon announcement, the following terms become operative:
- The subject must respond to expressions of interest within a commercially reasonable time.
- The subject must provide periodic updates suggesting progress, regardless of whether progress has occurred.
- The subject must not announce a different course before the first course is completed, unless announcing the second course can be framed as an expansion of the first.
After repetition, other people begin adjusting their behavior around course launch promise. Colleagues ask about the course at intervals. The subject explains the delay. The explanation is plausible and sometimes even accurate.
Article III: The Central Contradiction
The project is supposed to create freedom, yet it keeps generating unpaid administrative work. This is not a defect. This is the operational character of the course launch promise as practiced in 2022.
Visible preparation counts as revenue adjacent activity until the first customer forces a different standard. The announcement itself has value. It positions. It signals. It generates interest that may or may not convert, but that is real regardless.
Article IV: Enforcement
Eventually course launch promise acquires an unwritten enforcement system that everyone denies creating. The person who announced the course eighteen months ago and has not yet launched it is not penalized formally. They are updated on, occasionally. They update others in return. The system perpetuates.
These terms are effective upon announcement. No signature is required.