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Writing a textbook takes preparation, organization, attention to detail, and a time commitment. I conduct "Textbook Writing 101" workshops for budding authors, and I've decided to compile some of my best tips and tricks. Below are some helpful hints for each of these gleaned from my more than 20 years as a published textbook author. 

1. Designate a writing space

Preparing to write starts with designating a place to write. This is important for a few reasons. Firstly, writing the first edition of a textbook usually takes about 18 months. Having a dedicated space demonstrates your commitment to the project. Secondly, it allows you to leave things out – notes, articles, reference books, which eliminates ‘setting up and tear-down’ every time you write. Thirdly, a dedicated writing space sends a message to others in your house that when you’re in your space, you need quiet and solitude.

Preparing your space also entails addressing the creature features that will make your writing a pleasant experience. For example, I rearranged the furniture in my office to have the desk face the windows rather than the wall, moved the printer to have it within arms-reach of the computer, and I bought a cup warmer to keep my tea hot throughout the day. Little things like that when added together, can make a big difference.

2. Designate a time to write

Preparation includes figuring out when you’re going to write. If you’re an academic, you might want to request a two-day teaching schedule to free up the other days for writing, or a schedule that starts later in the day to leave mornings for writing. If your job has flexible hours, think about when you write best. I do my best writing in the morning from 9 – 11:30. Consequently, I schedule other commitments in the afternoon. If you have a more traditional 9-5 job, writing in the early evening may work for you, or dedicating time on weekend mornings before family obligations kick it.  Whatever time works best for you, make sure to schedule it into your calendar. Make an appointment with yourself to write! Early in my writing career I posted my writing schedule on the refrigerator. This not only alerted everyone in the house, but also kept me on task.

3. Establish access to journals and articles

The two most important things you’ll need to actually write your book (in addition to a computer) are access to the databases of the journals in your field, and access to the full articles in those journals.

Some databases are publicly available online. For example, PubMed Central is a database for biomedical and life science journals. ERIC (Education Research Information Center) is a database resource for education research and related information. There may be similar public access databases in your field, as well.

If you’re employed at an institution of higher education or have emeritus status, you can search databases online through your campus library. However, for those not employed in higher education including retired faculty, accessing these usually requires physically going to the library. A word of caution – always call the library before going to make sure you can use the facility. While public institutions of higher education generally allow public access, private institutions often restrict the library to faculty, staff, and students.

Another option is your local or county library. These libraries will likely offer access to some databases, which may be of use to you depending on your topic area. 

Having access to the databases allows you to search for journal articles that provide support for the content in your book. Database entries contain the following basic information about the article: title, authors, the title, volume and issue number of the journal in which the article was published, the DOI, and an abstract. If the information you need is in the abstract, you’re in luck. Most times, however, it’s not and you’ll need to read the full article.

Again, if you are employed at an institution of higher education or have emeritus status, you can download the articles you want through your campus library. For those not employed in higher education, you can:  

• Download articles at an academic library, if you’re permitted to use the facility. The licenses academic libraries have to the databases allows the downloading of individual journal articles free of charge.
• Narrow your literature search to open access journals.  Open access journals are ones that allow anyone to read and download any article, for free. The Directory of Open Access Journals has an online searchable database of more than 17,000 open access journals.
• Do an internet search or search Google Scholar, although neither are an efficient use of time or particularly effective. While you may stumble upon a good article, unless the information you need is in the abstract or the article is in an open access journal, you’ll need the full article.
• Buy access to the articles you need from the journals in which they are published. However, this gets really expensive, really fast as individual articles cost, on average, about $40 each to purchase from a journal, and you’ll likely need hundreds of them. 

While websites may contain useable information, website content often changes. When this happens, the link to the information you cited won’t work because the content was removed and is nowhere to be found. When this happens, the copy editor won’t be able to verify that the link is active and the reference retrievable.  When this happens, you have to find a replacement reference for the content you cited. Lesson learned - use journal articles as references.

4. Choose a cloud file storage site

You’ll want to save all your work on your computer and in a Cloud storage site such as OneDrive, DropBox, Google Drive, or Jones & Bartlett’s Alfresco. As an added layer of protection, you can email yourself files or save them on a flash drive. You can never have too many backup copies of your work.

5. Get organized. Really organized.

Textbook writing entails creating a multitude of different documents. Consequently, organizing your computer is key so you can find what you’re looking for. To this end, I suggest the following:

• Make a folder on your hard drive called ‘BOOK’
• In this folder make the following sub-folders and files

Here’s sample outline on how to organize your file storage:

• CHAPTER DRAFTS
  • Chapter 1
    • Drafts
      • Draft 1
      • Draft 2
      • Draft 3
    • Figures, tables, and artwork
  • Chapter 2
    • Drafts
      • Draft 1
      • Draft 2
      • Draft 3
    • Figures, tables, and artwork
  • Etc.

        

• REFERENCES
  • Article PDFs
  • Other references
• MANUSCRIPT
  • Submitted manuscript
  • Copyedited manuscript
  • Approved copyedited manuscript
• PAGE PROOFS
  • Review 1 (PASS01)
  • Review 2 (PASS02)
• FRONT MATTER
  • Acknowledgements
  • Preface
• ELEMENT LOG
• INSTRUCTOR MANUAL
  • Class activities
    • Chapter 1
    • Chapter 2
    • Etc.
  •     Quizzes
    • Chapter 1
    • Chapter 2
    • Etc.
  • Exams
    • Midterm exam
    • Final exam
  • PowerPoints
    • Chapter 1
    • Chapter 2
    • Etc.

6. Pay Attention to detail

Read the Author’s Guidelines REALLY, REALLY carefully, and make sure you adhere to the following:

• Style guide requirements. Specifically, make sure you’re following the most recent edition of the style guide. For example, the 7th edition of the APA style guide is the most recent. It’s considerably different from the 6th edition. One important difference is the format used for in-text citations.
• Font, size, and line spacing requirements. This is critical for estimating how many pages the final book will be, if you’re writing too much or too little, and for layout.
• Pagination specifications. Generally, each new chapter starts on page one. This enables each chapter to be compartmentalized while the work is in progress.   
• Heading specifications. These are important because they indicate how the content organization is to be visually conveyed. For example, a large, bold heading indicates the beginning of a new topic, while an underlined heading indicates a sub-topic under. Inaccurate heading designations result in a visual representation that is confusing to the reader.
• Figures, tables, artwork insertion specifications. Adhering to these specifications is critical because they guide where each element is placed in each chapter. You’re the only one who knows where these elements should be placed to sync with the text.

7. Make a time commitment  

Writing the first edition of a textbook is a time-intensive labor of love. Plan on 18 months to prepare the manuscript, select or develop figures, tables, or artwork, and prepare the element log. Once these are submitted, plan on another four months to prepare the front matter (preface and acknowledgments), ancillaries or instructor manual (class activities, student study questions and answers, exam and quiz questions and answers, and PowerPoint slides), and to review and approve or reject copy edits, and approve or correct page proofs.

Happy writing!

About the author:

Dr. Joanna Hayden began her more than 40-year career in health and education as a critical care nurse. After earning her doctorate in health education from New York University, she transitioned into academia at William Paterson University where she served as chairperson of the department of Public Health for over a decade. Dr. Hayden held leadership positions in state and national professional organizations, was an inaugural associate editor of the journal Health Promotion Practice and presenter at local, state and national conferences and workshops. 

Sample materials from Dr. Hayden:

Get a review copy of Dr. Hayden's textbook, Introduction to Public Health Program Planning.

Get a review copy of Dr. Hayden's textbook, Introduction to Health Behavior Theory, Fourth Edition.