Fifty weeks ago, I sent out an email to a large number of clients who were all waiting on me for a class, a book, or an answer, explaining the personal reasons I was running late and offering a professional schedule of when I thought I would get things done. I've done a reasonable job of following through on that schedule, though most people are still waiting on things from me.
At that time, I received a lot of love and empathy for the personal trials that were taking up so much of my time and energy. "So, so sorry for your losses," wrote one longtime client. "Unbearable sadness, time sink, as well as draining of energy and focus goes with the territory," she continued. "Looking forward to the 65 weeks installments when you get to them. Take the best care. Thanks for the update."
Twenty weeks ago, that same longtime client politely inquired, "Might you provide a schedule of when the rest of the [65 Weeks] resources will be available?"
It's a fair question, and one I have answered many, many times over the past eighty weeks or so. I answered it again. "If I knew when it would be done, I would announce it. I don't know. I won't know until the work is done."
Sometimes I wonder, do people imagine that I am keeping information from them? Or that if they don't remind me, I won't remember that I have work to do?
As I said, it is a fair question. People did give me their money. However, part of the arrangement of a pre-order is that I don't guarantee a specific delivery date, and there are no refunds. The funds from the pre-orders offset the research time and printing costs, and everyone gets a discount. It's kind of like community sponsored agriculture: a way for the customer base and the producer to share some of the financial risks as well as the benefits.
The thing is, I never know exactly how long any of my research projects will take. My Ph.D. took me about 675 weeks instead of the 200 weeks I'd expected. I run late on most of my LEX products, and it's not because I'm out getting pedicures or traveling the world. To be clear, I do get pedicures and travel, but I do not carve that time out of my work hours. I do those things during my time off.
The current project of 65 Weeks was originally projected to take me about 25 weeks to research and develop. It's been exactly 104 weeks since it was announced. I'm not bragging about that; it's a true fact. It's a long time no one needs to be pissed off or scold me for it. I'm not delayed at anyone, and no one is more frustrated with how long it's taking than I am. I rue the day that I ever took it on.
It's really good, though.
Three weeks ago, the same longtime client emailed me to complain, understandably, that 65 Weeks remains undone. "At this point, it seems unlikely that you will finish the project before I retire," she lamented, though I have no idea when she is planning to retire. Again, her frustration is understandable, but I cannot time my deliverables to anyone's retirement plans, family emergencies, work schedules, birthdays, vacations, or dinner parties. "The lack of communication reads as lack of care for your customers," she scolded me, and she demanded a pro-rated refund.
Now, I don't know about you, but I loathe unsolicited business emails. It's why I don't send out marketing emails or newsletters or keep a mailing list. I see no point in junking up anyone's inbox with weekly or monthly missives that offer the same excuses for work still undone. To me, not filling your inbox demonstrates that I care. Doing unparalleled, quality work demonstrates that I care. Taking on projects that my clientèle says they want, even though it's not my heart's desire? Yes, that shows that I care.
Do tell me, how often does anyone need to get the following email?
Dear Customers,
My apologies, but 65 Weeks is still not done.
I still don't know when it will be.
Regretfully,
Gina Cooke, Ph.D.
I reminded my client that I do provide occasional updates on my public LEX Facebook page, but that I really don't have any news to report. Still not done. Still don't know when it will be. I also reminded her that the pre-order terms stipulate no refunds. She was also reminded that she paid less than half of the current price for the resource, and that that price will go up once it's published. If I refund her, and she changes her mind, she will have to pay the full, current retail price to acquire the books.
Yes, books. Plural. A student book and a teacher book. One of the things I did not anticipate doing when I first embarked on this project 100,000 weeks ago.
In addition to the major personal commitments that superseded 65 Weeks for about forty-five weeks from 2022-2023, it's a lot bigger than I thought. It's more research. It's more editing. It's more spreadsheets and more organizing and more conceptualizing than I had anticipated. It's also way more tedious. Do you have any idea how long it takes to put in all these little underlines and boxes?
This is just one of five pages for Week 2 of 65 Weeks.
That kind of task is just the icing on the freaking tedium cake. There's all kinds of formatting and editing and proofreading. And did I mention the spreadsheets? It is 1,000 words, ladies and gentlemen. There's a reason no one has really ever tried to do something like this: because it sucks.
It's also really good.
You may be thinking, "Why doesn't Gina just hire someone to help?" Well, I did. It was a disaster and ended up costing me more time (and money) than doing it myself would've taken me. I do have a couple of willing proofreaders, but the research and the answer sheets are all on me.
Another client literally spent thousands of dollars on 65 Weeks for teachers in her district, about 100 weeks ago. When I sent her a recent update, she responded, "I completely understand the situation and know that the finished printed resource will be AMAZING! Teachers have enjoyed using the digital version of the first ten weeks with students."
I mean, it is really good.
Another factor in the time this takes is that it is not something I can work on all day long. Because it is tedious and involves sitting hunched over books and a computer, I can only dedicate two or three hours on any given day to doing this work, if I want to maintain a high level of attention, quality, and care. I also teach, consult, prep, schedule, answer questions, write, and package and ship materials.
Oh, God, the shipping will be epic.
At this point, my best guess as to when 65 Weeks will be done to my satisfaction is about four to six weeks. Then it will go to the printer, who will have to work it into his schedule, which could take another two to four weeks. Once I get the hard copies from the printer, it will take me a week or two to get them all packaged and shipped. And please do not nag me about making it all digital. I'm not interested.
I am interested, however, in making some of it digital to people who have pre-ordered. I made the first 10 weeks available fifty weeks ago, when I sent out that email update, and just now, I've made three more weeks available in the folder where clients accessed the 10-week Samplers. Anyone can still get in on this. I've made 65 Weeks available at a discount through this weekend only. Once the books are published, there will be no more digital samplers and no more discounts.
The new weeks target soft <c> and <g> and Latin Palatals a a suite of non-consecutive weeks. representing weeks 30, 33, and 60, these three lessons are an excellent example of how the materials may be used out of sequence in order to study a specific pattern or set of patterns more deeply. In that way, 65 Weeks is the opposite of a scope and sequence: its only scope is English orthography, and its sequence is whatever a students and teachers need it to be. It is totally coherent but very flexible.
Because it is really so, so good.