The Production Schedule: Planning Your Books Like a Plant Plans an Order
Updated: 5 days ago
Part One
Over a decade ago, I worked as a contractor for a large e-commerce print-on-demand company. I was part of the HR staff in the office, focused on the employees: their hours and their attendance habits. Back then, they were already planning to expand. Today, their newer facility is 300,000 square feet.
The 4th quarter is their busiest season, with the holidays bringing in more orders than any other time of year. It’s a busy season for writers too, especially anyone taking on a novel-writing challenge, and we have to be prepared the same way. Last October, I shared how to get ready for a month of writing, and this post picks up where that one left off.
In this blog on the Planning Stage of the Writer’s LifeCycle, we’re getting real, ready, and serious about planning.
The Production Schedule is the detailed calendar that lists every customer, what’s being built for them, on which machines, and at what times. It’s mostly used in manufacturing businesses, but I’ve twisted it so that you can create your own production schedule for your self-publishing. For writers, the book is the order, and publishing is the delivery. We’ll start with your release date and work backward from there, and along the way we’ll line up what you need: your team, writing space, and your supplies.
SET YOUR RELEASE DATE
While a plant’s schedule and delivery dates hold little flexibility, you, as the writer, can choose a release date for your book that works for you and your schedule.
Use your own calendar to set a deadline for the very last day you’d like to publish. Many authors publish on a Tuesday. No one but you knows what you can handle when it comes to producing something, especially if it’s a book that’s over 50,000 words. Some writers juggle multiple projects too, but not at a plant’s capacity, unless they have other people helping them, like a ghostwriter.
The perk of self-publishing is that you have the ability to control the plan. You’ll have the opportunity to display your own creativity and set your own hours. Decide which days you’ll work and how long each work session will be, whether that’s 30 minutes, 1 hour, 4 hours, or even 8 hours if you have the flexibility.
When I was writing my first book, I worked a 9 to 5. I had to commute home, cook, clean, and take care of my children (thank God I have freedom now) before I could write in the evening, often until late at night. Then I'd wake up from dreams that inspired me, record them in my dream journal, and get back to my book in the early morning hours, usually around 5 a.m. I'd write as long as I possibly could and still have time to shower, dress, and make my coffee before work. Now, my schedule sometimes includes 4-hour days, but most of my days are 8 or 12 hours, so I can work on the multiple projects I have going on. My writing schedule is already full, and it will stay that way through the 4th Quarter.
Knowing how much time you really have is how you choose a release date you can keep. For an honest look at where your time has gone this year, read Is Your Time Worth It?
Choosing your release date also means knowing where you’ll be releasing your book. That’s a big decision on its own, and I’ll walk through publishing platform options in an upcoming post.
WORK BACKWARD TO FILL IN THE DATES
Inside a production plant, the project manager builds the schedule with milestones in mind. Writers can work backward the same way, starting from the release date and filling in each step that has to happen before it.
Tip for success: Instead of thinking about everything as one big goal, try breaking it up into smaller, more manageable pieces called milestones.
Here are some common milestones you might reach when writing:
Brainstormed a new book idea
Researched important facts to use
Planned my project out in advance
Outlined my book
Wrote the first chapter
Finished the first draft
Shared the book with others
Sent the book to an editor
Each milestone has its place in line. Publishing can’t be completed before all the other parts of the process are done.
When you are setting the dates for your milestones, remember that they’re really just estimates. And as you know, estimates are never the final date. Each milestone can be marked as complete, and you can even give yourself a small, inexpensive reward for each one.
I’ve developed my own schedules, and I’ve had to revise them many, many times when it came to my own projects in progress (PIPs).
If you’re planning a book series, every book in the series needs its own schedule, and that can stretch well beyond the three months we have left in the 4th Quarter.
To see how long each phase might take, take a look at this self-publishing production schedule. If you need help setting the goals behind your milestones, start with Make a Vow.
ASSEMBLE YOUR TEAM AND YOUR WRITING SPACE
A schedule only works if a few things are in place before you start writing. Writers need a team too, whether we're introverts or extroverts. That's another perk of being a self-published author: you have the right to choose who will help you on your journey to publish, from editors to designers.
Your place matters just as much. Self-publishing authors usually work from the comfort of their own homes, covering those costs themselves. So, what's your twenty? You'll want a set location to do your work, and your setup is just as important, because it's where you'll be spending a lot of your time.
Tip for success: Limit distractions by telling the others in your space before you start a focus session, and make sure you have a quiet and safe place to write.
You’ll also need the right supplies. If you don’t have a computer, printer, phone, internet, paper, and writing utensils, you may find yourself struggling to even write down your story.
As an introvert, I prefer working with smaller groups of people, and I'm very grateful to Beth's team, who has been understanding, patient, and considerate of my specific dilemmas.
My writing space has been harder to keep steady. I, personally, have had to change it several times over the past few years, and some of those spaces were noisy, with emergency vehicles going by that broke my focus. That series of events turned my writing plan into a bigger mess and delayed my own progress. The quiet hours are the best for me, and now I plan my writing around them. I've also gone without many of my most important productivity tools, like ink for my printer and paper to print on. Printing helps me revise and edit faster, because I can annotate my pages.
READY TO WRITE
When it comes to large projects, manufacturing and production plants can’t wait until the day before delivery to plan out their production. They plan in advance what they’ll be doing to meet the deadline, using the milestones they set for their process.
When you have a schedule you can follow, and you’re able to actually use your time and what you already have on hand, you’ll find that your productivity is more consistent.
So, think of your book as the order that just came in. Pick your release date and work backward from it, and make sure your team, your writing space, and your supplies are ready before you start writing.
Grab the Writer's Production Schedule printable and fill in your release date today.
Want the whole plan on one page? Download the Production Schedule infographic and keep it near your desk.
In Part 2, we’ll take a closer look at your writing inventory: the finished pieces you’ve already written, the ideas still waiting for their turn, the skills you bring to your writing, and what to do with the parts that don’t fit your book.
RESOURCES
Preptober & Beyond: Preparing for a Month of Writing – Inspire Books Blog, Jacquelyn Lee, October 20, 2025
Is Your Time Worth It? – Inspire Books Blog, Jacquelyn Lee, March 20, 2026
How to Create Your Self-Publishing Production Schedule – Cozy Mysteries and Clean Romance Books, Laina Turner, February 3, 2024
Make a Vow, Then Take a Bow – Inspire Books Blog, Jacquelyn Lee, December 31, 2025
Comments