Hi Manuscript Workers!

For today’s newsletter I thought I’d change things up a bit: I’ve invited my colleague Dr. Jane Jones to share some thoughts with you. Like me, Jane is a former academic who made a career change to self-employment as a developmental editor. She’s the founder of Up In Consulting, and in recent years has specialized in coaching academic authors through the process of finishing their book manuscripts. I’ve pointed many clients to her Elevate program, and I always appreciate what she has to say about the writing process, hence my asking her to share a message with you all this week.

Below is Jane’s wisdom on the question of how long it takes to write a scholarly book…

I’m sure there have been moments where you’ve been working on your book and asked yourself,

“How long is this going to take me?”

(If you were feeling frustrated, that sentence might have had a few NSFW words sprinkled in!)

It’s normal to wonder how long something takes, and with a high-stakes project like a book, a lot depends on you knowing the answer.

Even so, it’s the wrong question.

Usually, when people wonder how long it will take to write a book, what they’re really asking is “how long should it take to write this book?” This is a question that invites unnecessary comparison and shame. Instead of asking that question, I suggest you consider the following variables.

How does the book fit into my publication pipeline?

In other words, what other projects will I work on alongside my book? How important are those projects? How long do I have to complete them? One misstep I see authors make is devoting too much attention to projects that actually aren’t that important to them personally or professionally because the project seems urgent or they were afraid to say no. A pipeline is more than a calendar divided into columns. It’s a visual representation of your priorities.

When can I work on my book, and what can I get done in the time I have?

It’s hard and in many instances impossible to set aside enough time to write your entire book at once. For instance, when I talk to prospective students about my Elevate program, they often ask if it’s possible to write a book in six months. The answer is no, it’s not. It is possible, however, to have a six-month stretch where the book is your priority writing project for the majority of that time. This is why it’s essential that you look at your calendar and identify the time you have to work on your book, then think about what’s realistic to accomplish in that amount of time.

The fact that we often work on a book sporadically is one of the reasons our estimates are consistently inaccurate. It’s also another reason why it’s unhelpful to ask other people how long it took them. You might, for instance, write your book over the course of 3 years, but it doesn’t actually take 3 years. Only the most fastidious time trackers will know that it took three years of writing 2 hours 4 days a week with a 3-month break to organize a conference. In all honesty, you might ask yourself if you even want to know how many hours it took you in total to write your book! It might be useful to know when all is said and done if you’d like to mentor other book writers, but only if you can track with precision.

So now that you know what variables to consider, what should you actually do with this information?

First, be sure you consider the trajectory of your book in both the long and short term. If you must submit a hard copy of your book to your tenure and promotion committee in the summer of 2025, then what milestone should you meet by the end of 2022? (If you have no idea how to answer this question, click here to check out my book publication timeline. You’ll learn about the stages of book writing and preparation that must happen for you to have a physical book in your hands).

Second, be opportunistic about your book writing time. Your competing projects will always feel more urgent, so it’s your responsibility to make time for your book. Once you make the time you have to keep the commitment. This is hard, so keep trying even when you feel discouraged.

Finally (and related to the point above), make sure you understand the necessary time commitments for your other work. If, for instance, a revise and resubmit lands on your desk when you intended to work on your book, you’ll have to shift your attention. That doesn’t mean, however, that you can work on that R&R forever. You have to create a schedule and a deadline so you can get back to the book work. The same holds for attending conferences, joining committees, accepting invitations to write for edited volumes, etc. Think carefully about how these opportunities are aligned with your professional goals, then give them the time they deserve (and not a minute more!).

I hope you use this information to manage your book writing with more clarity and precision. If you’d like more book-centric planning and writing advice, I’d love for you to click here and sign up for my newsletter. You can find me on Twitter @janejoann or Instagram @janejoannphd.

All my best,
Jane