inquiry topic

The working title of my inquiry project is "The influence of textbooks on course delivery." Generally speaking, I'm interested in learning more about how different teachers and students interact with textbooks - what they like, or don't like about certain textbooks, how much they use them, and for what purposes. I'm of the opinion that textbooks have a disproportionately large impact in terms of dictating how content is taught/learned, especially in upper year math and science courses. And so I'm curious to learn more about where these textbooks come from. Who are the authors of these textbooks, what are their backgrounds, intentions, and teaching philosophies? What does the process of creating textbooks actually look like? How might the popularity of certain textbooks be based on momentum/convenience/compulsion vs. innovation? Is there any chance for an individual, or small group of individuals, who aren't affiliated with large textbook publishers, to have much success in independently writing a new textbook? Is there any evidence to suggest the degree to which textbooks should be employed by teachers? I have a lot of questions at the moment, but I'm sure that reading through some articles and speaking with different people will help inform which questions I investigate more or less.