Some students complete writings that take a few hours. Others must complete writing assignments that take a few days, while others take a few weeks.

But before you throw in a complaint about that English paper you have been chipping away at for the last week and a half, consider this: Jennifer Fronc, a professor in the University of Massachusetts history department took a full 10 years to finish her monograph, “New York Undercover: Private Surveillance in the Progressive Era.”

As a faculty member of a major research university, professors like Fronc are all expected to complete research in their fields, according to Bruce G. Wilcox, director of the university’s publishing arm, the University of Massachusetts Press.

“There is an expectation [at UMass] that faculty, along with engaging and teaching students, will be conducting serious scholarly research,” said Wilcox.

Fronc said that she certainly accomplished that in the process of writing her monograph, which began as a seminar paper when she was in graduate school at Columbia University in 1999.

“I was looking at the work of the Committee of Fourteen, which was investigating prostitution in New York City,” she said. “I went to the New York Public Library and looked at their papers and wrote a 20-page seminar paper and I was like, ‘This is it!’ and it evolved into my dissertation. Then the book came out of the dissertation.”

Fronc’s book was published by the University of Chicago Press last year.

Barry Levy, also a professor in the history department, shared some similarities in the process of writing his own monograph, “Town Born: The Political Economy of New England Towns from their Settlement to the Revolution” (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2009). Like Fronc, Levy said his inspiration for writing this book stemmed from an interest in research, specifically dealing with orphans in colonial New England towns.

“I was working on orphans and I found that there were more orphans in New England than fit the prevailing paradigm of how New England was supposed to operate,” Levy said. “New England was supposed to operate by powerful fathers who kept their children in check.”

Further research by Levy into the matter revealed that town governments played a more significant role in keeping New England towns together. Levy’s book stemmed from this research.

Other professors, such as Judy Goodenough of the biology department, were prompted to write their books based on the interest of publishers.

“A book rep came in and asked if I wanted to write a book,” said Goodenough of her 1993 textbook “Perspectives on Animal Behavior.”

Goodenough added, “I had no idea how to write a book and so I said, ‘Yeah! That would be fun!’ And I think it took me 13 years to get the first edition published.”

But overall it was a rewarding process, according to Goodenough, since she said that she was able to work with two others during the writing process.

“Betty McGuire is the co-author. She is a former grad student from here, and her field is animal behavior. Bob Wallace was a very well-known textbook writer. I wanted to work with him to learn more about writing, and he was just a very fun person to work with,” she said.

There seems to be almost unanimous agreement among professors who write with others that a team effort is a much more enjoyable process than flying solo.

One of these is Gary Karpinski, a professor of the music department, who worked with graduate school friend Richard Kram to publish a book and CD-ROM package entitled “Anthology for Sight Singing.”

“It was perfect for me,” said Karpinski. “Richard and I were very clear on our roles in this project. I asked him to come on board because of his programming knowledge.”

With Kram’s expertise, Karpinski added, the two were able to program “Anthology’s” CD in such a way that enabled professors to reorganize music excerpts for their classes.

Fred Feldman, a professor of the philosophy department utilized a different method of cooperative writing in writing his latest book, “What is This Thing Called Happiness?” (Oxford University Press, 2009).

“[The book] emerged from lectures I presented in my seminars,” said Feldman. “When I do a seminar I write up my lecture notes…and then I get criticism for it and I revise my notes based on that criticism. And then when I come to produce [a book or paper] I start with my seminar notes.”

As opposed to Goodenough and Karpinski, Feldman said that he does not use his own books in lectures, calling it his “general policy.”

“When I’m all finished [getting feedback and critiques], then I don’t see any point in presenting it to a class anymore,” he said. “My general view is that I almost never assign my published papers. I figure if anyone wants to know my view about something they can read it.”

On the other hand, Goodenough and Karpinski both emphasized the advantages of teaching with one’s own textbooks, citing the benefits of familiarity with the presented material and personal pride at being able to utilize the end product of one’s own hard work, respectively.

Yet despite all of the hard work that goes into producing their books, professors are facing serious problems in the publishing market, according to Wilcox.

“[The UMass Press was] hit hard by the recession last year, as were our colleagues at other university presses,” said Wilcox. “Anyone who sells print-on-paper is facing the double whammy of the economic recession on the one hand and the shift to the digital environment on the other.”

However, Wilcox did note that sales for this year are better than last year, ending on a positive note.

“We’re having a pretty good year this year,” he said, “and I’m feeling optimistic and hoping that the worst is behind us.”

Cameron Ford can be reached at [email protected].