LECTURE: “THE PLAN IS NOTHING, PLANNING IS EVERYTHING…”: PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT IN ACADEMIC PUBLISHING
On Thursday, 22 October 2026, at 11:00, we invite you to an online lecture titled “The Plan Is Nothing, Planning Is Everything…”: Planning and Management in Academic Publishing. The lecture will be given by Prof. Dr. Jonatan Vinkler (UP FHŠ and UP UK). The event will be held in the Slovenian language via Zoom (https://upr-si.zoom.us/s/65226803711, Meeting ID: 652 2680 3711).
1. Introduction
The lecture by Prof. Dr. Jonatan Vinkler, titled “The plan is nothing, planning is everything…”: planning and management in academic publishing, aims to shed light on key publishing processes, ranging from strategic planning to communication with individual stakeholders. The lecture begins with a historical example from World War II Operation Overlord/Neptune in Normandy. This example serves as a metaphor for the complexity of planning: it involved coordinating 133,000 troops, 24,000 paratroopers, and 6,000 vehicles, while the Allied forces faced the seasoned “Desert Fox,” Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, and Hitler’s Atlantic Wall. Through this, the author emphasizes that the successful execution of complex projects such as those in publishing depends not merely on a static plan, but on a dynamic planning process that accounts for unpredictable factors.
In publishing, planning goes beyond linear thinking and single-scenario approaches. An editor must manage publication costs, which entails the precise planning of resources, timelines, and personnel. The lecture raises the questions: What, why, and for what purpose should one plan? Why not simply plan linearly or for a single scenario? The answer lies in a multi-level context where various factors are interconnected. Successful project execution requires not only an author and an editor but also competent, available, and cost-effective contributors (service providers). This introduces the concept of network planning, which forms the core of the lecture.
2. Planning in Publishing: From Intuition to a Network Approach
The lecture distinguishes between intuition, a static plan, and dynamic planning. While intuition can be useful for quick decisions, it is insufficient for complex projects such as publishing a book. A static plan is rigid and inflexible, whereas dynamic planning allows for adaptation to changes. In publishing, this entails managing costs, timelines, and resources.
The central concept is network planning, presented in three stages (1.0, 2.0, and 3.0). The first stage (Network Planning 1.0) defines all activities from D1 to Dn leading up to publication (specifically, the point of going to press). This involves determining prerequisite activities and identifying the parties responsible for executing them. The second stage (2.0) establishes start and end dates for activities, the optimal project path, and execution schedules. The third stage (3.0) focuses on cost management, anticipating complications, and developing multiple scenarios (regarding time, availability, and costs). Here, the use of artificial intelligence for scenario analysis is proposed. Continuous monitoring, adjustment, and a focus on the goal are essential throughout the process. That goal is a high-quality product delivered on schedule and within budget. The key message is that planning is not a one-off act but a continuous process; a publishing project’s success is ensured only if the editor the “general” of the process remains flexible and adapts constantly to real-world situations and changes on the “battlefield.”
Given the necessary competence of the editor and their team, this can only be achieved effectively if academic publishers which operate using public taxpayer funds adopt the fundamental logic of commercial publishing: financial efficiency per unit of output. Consequently, when planning, they likely need to and must act differently than the entrenched “planned economy” mentality of Slovenia’s public sector dictates. With its “annual work plans” at universities and elsewhere, this mentality appears to be a lingering relic of the communist social experiment that took place between 1945 and 1991.
3. Leadership as a Prerequisite for Successful Planning
The lecture includes three interludes emphasizing the point: “To plan effectively, you must know how to lead.” Leadership is presented as the crucial element that enables the execution of a plan. In publishing, leadership entails team coordination, motivating contributors, and conflict resolution. Without effective leadership, a plan remains merely on paper.
The interludes reiterate this message, underscoring its importance. Leadership encompasses communication, task delegation, and progress monitoring. In the context of network planning, management ensures that activities are carried out along the optimal path and that costs remain under control. The lecture implies that management is an interdisciplinary skill combining psychological, organizational, and legal aspects.
Prof. Dr. Jonatan Vinkler is a specialist in the literary and cultural history of the early modern age, editor and librarian. Editor-in-chief of Collected Works of Primož Trubar and editor of the individual books of the mentioned scientific critical edition (2003–2018: the third, the fourth, the fifth, the sixth – with F. Kranjc-Vrečko, the eighth, the ninth – with B. Javornik and M. Šetinc, the twelfth, the thirteenth and the fourteenth book). He is the editor of a scientific critical edition of the Symphony in F major, opus 68: ‘Ljubljana transcript’, Ludwig van Beethoven with an international review in an indexed scientific journal (A&HCI, Scopus (h), ERIH PLUS …). On the reception of the Hussite and Lutheran Reformations, the imaginary of the ‘Turkish’ threat in the Slovenian cultural space and Czech-Slovenian and Slovene-Czech cultural and literary contacts in the century of ‘townspeople and revolutions’ he has published several single-authored scientific papers and monographs, which are cited in domestic and foreign scientific papers and monographs. Bibliography of dr. Vinkler has 360 units; he is the mentor of several doctoral students. He is the director of the University of Primorska University Library, chairman of the Board of Directors of the University of Primorska, and vice president of the National Council for Library Activities. He has received several awards for his work, among them the Prešeren Award of the FF UL (2000), the Trubar’s plaque of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Republic of (2017) and the Golden Plaque of the University of Primorska (2020).
Please pre-register for the event via LINK >>
This is the seventeenth lecture in the OSUP series – Open Science at the University of Primorska. The event is organised by the University of Primorska within the framework of the Action Plan for the Open Science (Objective 6.2 ReZrIS30) that is funded by the Government of the Republic of Slovenia, Ministry of Education, Science and Youth. If you have any questions you can contact Dr. Ana Slavec, the editor of the OSUP series.
Past lectures that were organised within the OSUP series are available on the YouTube channel of the UP University Library >>