Timelines & Scheduling

Introduction

Of course, projects can be completed on a variety of timelines. Your expectations will inform the textbook development timeline as much as the author's writing schedule. Other factors include how many people are contributing to a project, if there are graduate students available to help, what expectations are around design and revisions, and what publishing platform is being used. Still, you may ask yourself...

• "How long does it take to make an open textbook?"
• "How long should we give authors to write?"
• "How long will it take us to get the book published?"

The answer is: It depends.

Average Timelines

Writing and producing a book takes time, probably more time than you think. Very broadly, and rather ambitiously, allow at least year for the author to write the book and 3-6 months for production, depending on who and what is involved. It's common for a book to take two years to create from start to finish. 

Here are some reflections from Amy Hofer, Coordinator, Statewide Open Education Library Services at openoregon.org.

"There are many factors that can speed up or slow down the process of creating an open textbook. Some are on the authors' end: does any of the content already exist, will they include images or other multimedia, are they doing the project solo or with a team, do they have release time or a full teaching load, etc. Some are on the support team's end: do you already have a platform available to offer, can you provide copyright and accessibility assistance, are you expecting input from peer reviewers, etc. 

"Taking a step back, I have found that with a lot of aspects of this work I need to be comfortable with uncertainty. If open textbook publishing is something that your institution wants to pursue, I recommend starting with a project team that is willing to work with you as you refine your process to make it a learning experience for everyone involved."

For more specifics, see Project Charter and Timeline Links to an external site. in the BCcampus' Self-Publishing Guide and an example in Developing a Timeline Links to an external site..

Scheduling Guidelines

• Check with the author to see if they will be away at any time during the project’s lifespan.
• Keep holidays in mind.
• When you have completed your schedule, confirm with the people that will be working on the project if it is feasible. After this, confirm with the author if it is a good schedule for them.
• Adjust the schedule if there are delays, or if work is finished earlier than expected.
• Select a scheduling software that works for you. 

Scheduling and Payment

A shared timeline will clarify expectations about deliverables, and potentially inform payment. For example, you may want to pay an author half of an authoring stipend at the halfway point, and the remainder once the finished textbook has been delivered in a manner compliant with the author and manuscript guidelines you've created and communicated. These details are best included in the contract at time of signing.