Essential knowledge about scholarly book publishing that every author should have. Get weekly tips on writing and publishing your scholarly book from developmental editor and publishing consultant Laura Portwood-Stacer, PhD.
Should you write your diss as a book?
Published 10 days ago • 4 min read
The Manuscript Works Newsletter
Essential knowledge on scholarly book publishing that every author should have
Hello Manuscript Workers!
Whenever I give my workshop on how to publish a book from your dissertation — in which I walk writers through what publishers are looking for in books they acquire and the reasons why your dissertation might not yet look like an appealing book in the eyes of publishers — I always get some variation of this question:
“My advisor told me to write my dissertation as a book. So I don’t have to worry about any of this stuff, right?”
Well, it depends. What did your advisor mean when they told you to write your diss as a book? Did they take the time to teach you how to write a book that publishers will actually want?
When I’ve probed these question-askers for more information, I’ve learned that sometimes “write your diss as a book” boils down to “write your diss chapters all on the same topic or using the same data set or archive instead of writing three disconnected journal articles” or “don’t include a methods or literature review chapter.” Doing those things may indeed get your dissertation to look somewhat more like a cohesive book manuscript, but still, three chapters on a single topic does not a successful book make.
In my How to Publish a Book from Your Dissertation workshop (which I’m offering for free today at noon Pacific), I share the nine key qualities scholarly book publishers are looking for, based on my decade of experience helping scholars successfully publish books based on their dissertations. You can use these nine points as a checklist to honestly assess whether your dissertation has all those qualities already or whether you might still have some work to do.
Free workshop today (September 3rd) at noon Pacific. Recording provided.
Personally, I think this set of qualities is too high a bar to set for a dissertation. And in some cases, what publishers find appealing may be at cross-purposes to what your dissertation needs to do. This is why my workshop explains not only what publishers are looking for but also why dissertations (rightfully) don’t often have it. I want my authors to understand that there’s nothing wrong with the way they wrote their diss. It’s simply that the purpose and audience of a diss is different than the purpose and audience of a published book. And that’s fine!
I know dissertation advisors mean well when they tell their advisees to write their diss as a book. They are trying to save the writer some time and effort down the road. But I find that this advice can do a disservice to dissertation writers by placing too much pressure on this document and causing negative feelings when the diss inevitably doesn’t (yet) resemble a beautiful book.
I aim to help aspiring authors shed the shame around their dissertations so they can get a clear-eyed view of the work ahead. Every first draft needs further development to be publishable. If you’ve completed a dissertation in any form, you’ve accomplished something huge (whether you tried to write it as a book or not). Take a good long moment to celebrate that.
If you’re now ready for the next step of figuring out how to get book publishers interested in your project, whatever it may have looked like as a dissertation or whether or not it began as a diss at all, I’m here to help!
Even if you can't attend my free workshop today, you can still register to get the recording, the checklist, and the other supporting materials I'll share. Do you know someone else who needs this workshop? Please forward this email!
Hope to see you soon! Keep scrolling for additional resources for scholarly authors...
This newsletter is coming to you from Laura Portwood-Stacer, PhD, professional developmental editor and publishing consultant. I help scholarly writers navigate the book publishing process with more ease and agency.
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Use my time-tested curriculum to bring structure and motivation to your book writing process. The Book Proposal Shortcut takes the guesswork out of writing an outstanding pitch for university presses and other academic publishers. Once you register for the Shortcut, you'll be eligible to join my next Book Proposal Sprint from September 8–12, a week of daily online coworking & live Q&A to help you make meaningful progress on getting your first (or next) book published.
Following the Sprint, you'll keep complimentary membership in the Manuscript Works Author Support community, a private hub for ongoing support in your scholarly book publishing journey. Inside this community you'll get honest advice about publishers, peer review, offers and contracts, as well as join live Q&A sessions with Laura Portwood-Stacer and your fellow Manuscript Works authors.
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Essential knowledge about scholarly book publishing that every author should have. Get weekly tips on writing and publishing your scholarly book from developmental editor and publishing consultant Laura Portwood-Stacer, PhD.