In my Interview with a Scholar, Dr. Hilde Eliassen Restad, an associate professor in International Studies at Oslo Nye University College, noted that when it comes to publishing your PhD as a scholarly book, “There’s no need to do this blindly or alone.” While most of us would agree with that observation, the reality is that PhD students even at the best universities often receive little guidance about how academic publishing works, including on how to transform their PhD dissertation into a scholarly book.
Luckily, even if your institution doesn’t offer a workshop on the subject or you don’t have a mentor to help you out, there are other ways to acquire this knowledge. In this post, I review several books that you might find useful if you are thinking about publishing your PhD dissertation.
Books to Help You Transform Your PhD Dissertation into a Book
The Dissertation-to-Book Workbook: Exercises for Developing and Revising Your Book Manuscript
Authors: Allison Van Deventer and Katelyn E. Knox
Year published: 2021
Length: 236 pages
Who this book is for: Recent PhD graduates who want to transform their PhD dissertation into a scholarly book that will appeal to a publisher, whether a university press or a commercial one.
What is great about the book:
- The workbook includes multiple examples for each chapter topic and blank space where you can rework the material from your own project. The worksheets can also be downloaded and printed.
- Each chapter comes with a recommendation on how much time you should spend on working through the exercises. The total time estimate for the thirteen chapters is 46 to 75 hours, with suggestions on how to pace yourself.
- The exercises will help you reconsider many aspects of your work, asking some hard questions that you might not enjoy answering but that will improve the final product (your book!). The workbook is particularly helpful for polishing your argument through “book questions” and “chapter answers,” and making sure that your book’s chapter structure really works.
What you should also know:
- All the examples are from the humanities and social sciences, so this workbook is probably most useful for individuals working in these areas. That said, some of the information will transfer to the sciences, even if you are transforming your dissertation into articles rather than a book.
- You will be doing “critical pre-revision thinking” about your dissertation, but, as the authors note, “you won’t revise any of your manuscript’s actual prose.” That said, completing the exercises will help you immensely with rewriting later.
- This is a hands-on book that assumes that you are at an early stage of the revision process. It is most useful when you are actually ready to do the work.
Additional resources:
The authors have a dedicated website for the book. They also offer dissertation-to-book workshops, either online or in person (by institutional invite).
Ellen Tilton-Cantrell, of Tilia Editorial, runs an 8-week online workshop titled “Crafting Your Scholarly Book.” The workshop is based on the Dissertation-to-Book Workbook. More info here.
The Book Proposal Book: A Guide for Scholarly Authors
Author: Laura Portwood-Stacer
Year published: 2021
Length: 204 pages
Who this book is for: Scholars in the humanities, social sciences, STEM, or interdisciplinary fields preparing a book for publication, whether their first or fourth one. Recognising the issue of the “hidden curriculum” and the structural injustices that continue to exist in academia, Portwood-Stacer in particular hopes to assist scholars who have been “marginalized, oppressed, or abused in academia.”
What is great about the book:
- Portwood-Stacer guides you through all the steps needed to prepare a solid book proposal, including how to identify your target presses, when you should start approaching them about your manuscript, and how to prepare the different materials you will need to submit.
- Each chapter includes “Time-Tested Tips” and “Frequently Asked Questions” (e.g., What are the advantages of publishing with a series?).
- The book comes with downloadable worksheets and other supplementary materials: a checklist of steps to complete, questions to help you assess your proposal materials, and sample documents (book prospectuses, a letter of inquiry, a response to readers’ reports). Further reading on academic book publishing, academic writing style, and more, is suggested.
- If you are already working on your book proposal, you can opt to consult only the sections relevant to you.
What you should also know:
- As the book’s title indicates, The Book Proposal Book helps you prepare a proposal to submit to your target press(es). Like with The Dissertation-to-Book Workbook, you will still need to revise your book’s manuscript independently.
- The advice provided is for pitching your project to scholarly publishers in the US, rather than mainstream commercial presses.
Additional resources:
On her website Manuscript Works, Laura Portwood-Stacer offers webinars, workshops, and courses related to various aspects of the book publishing process. Some are free (e.g., How to Land a Scholarly Book Contract), others paid (the 6-week online Book Proposal Accelerator course). You can find out what’s available here.
From Dissertation to Book
Author: William Germano
Year published: 2005, 2013 (revised)
Length: 184 pages
Who this book is for: Soon-to-be or recent PhD graduates who are thinking of transforming their PhD dissertation into a scholarly book.
What is great about the book:
- Genaro’s book contains advice, but is written in a way that – certainly compared to The Dissertation-to-Book Workbook and The Book Proposal Book – is reflective more so than a step-by-step guide for publishing your PhD dissertation.
- If you are determined to turn your PhD into a book no matter what, you will find the most practical advice in chapters 5 to 8 (“Reading with an Editor’s Eyes,” “Planning and Doing,” “Getting into Shape,” and “Making Prose Speak”).
- Three short checklists (Dissertation vs. Book; Things Not to Do; Manuscript Basics) in the appendix are also helpful.
- Some quotes for inspiration:
- “If you’re going to succeed as a professional scholar, you need to become a planner, too.”
- “A wise dissertation director once counselled a naïve graduate student that the dissertation would be the last piece of his student writing, not his first professional work.”
What you should also know:
- The author is very frank in his advice and also states what not everyone will want to hear, e.g., “Some dissertations simply cannot be revised into a book.”
- Genaro’s self-stated goals for his book is “to help you find the best outlet for your doctoral work and – much more important – to help you become a better scholarly writer,” so I would recommend reading it for achieving the latter.
Additional resources: None that I am aware of.
Revising Your Dissertation: Advice from Leading Editors
Editors: Beth Luey and Sanford G. Thatcher
Year published: 2004 (original edition), 2007 (revised)
Length: 280 pages
Who this book is for: Mainly PhD graduates who want to transform their dissertation into a book. However, the authors state that other groups of individuals may also find it useful. This includes students who haven’t yet started the dissertation writing process or are even just beginning their studies, and those who have finished their PhD, but are debating whether to publish their dissertation at all, or those want to turn it into several articles rather than a book.
What is great about the book:
- Revising Your Dissertation consists of two parts, one focusing on “Rethinking and Revising” and the second addressing “Disciplinary Variations.” The latter covers social sciences, sciences, and the arts in dedicated chapters, plus regional books and professional publishing. Some of the essays are written by acquisition editors and provide particularly valuable insight from that perspective.
- Because of the way it is written, this isn’t a book you need to read cover to cover. You can focus on the sections that are relevant to you.
What you should also know:
- Revising Your Dissertation contains 11 essays written by different authors. While the authors cover topics that are all relevant to revising a dissertation, the essays – particularly those in the “Rethinking and Revising” section – can feel a little disjointed. There is also some overlapping advice.
- Some chapters use fabricated examples, rather than real ones.
- The book was last updated in 2007. While a lot of the advice remains valid, academia and the publishing landscape have changed since then.
Additional resources: None that I am aware of.
The Thesis and the Book: A Guide for First-Time Academic Authors
Editors: Eleanor Harman, Ian Montagnes, Siobhan McMenemy, Chris Bucci
Year published: 1976 (original edition), 2003 (second edition)
Length: 176 pages
First published in 1976, The Thesis and the Book is probably one of the oldest guides for converting a dissertation into a scholarly book. While the original edition’s “antiquated references and gender-exclusive language made it something of a museum piece” (Harrison), an updated and somewhat improved edition from 2003 exists. I haven’t read The Thesis and the Book myself, but if you are curious about it, you can purchase an electronic version directly from the publisher’s website. However, with many more recent publications to choose from in the Dissertation-to-Book genre, my recommendation would be to skip this one.
Additional Resources for Preparing Your Proposal and Understanding Book Publishing
Princeton University Press’s Book Proposal Development Grants
These grants, which are part of the Princeton University Press’s “commitment to equitable and inclusive publishing,” match scholars from diverse backgrounds with book coaches that provide support during the early stage of the book publishing process. They are awarded twice a year, “with particular disciplines and groups specified for eligibility each cycle.”
Life Cycle of a Book
Highly insightful illustrations from several university presses on the book publishing process. Also check out Ask UP’s blog posts on book publishing.
The Key Book Publishing Paths
This chart – created and regularly updated by Jane Friedman – provides an overview of paths to publish (not just scholarly) books. If you don’t know anything about how publishing works, start here.
And Some Final Thoughts
These books are only some of the resources available to help you transform your PhD dissertation into a book and pitch it to a publisher. They will be particularly useful if you are happy to work independently. If you are looking for feedback on your book manuscript or proposal or want someone to hold you accountable, joining a workshop, or hiring an editor for one-on-one support may be preferable. Whatever option you choose, remember that there’s no need to do it all by yourself.