publish my thesis as a book

How to... Convert your thesis into a book

This how to guide takes you through everything you need to know to convert your thesis into a book.

You can read all the information you need below, or watch this video from Books Commissioning Editor, Katy Mathers.

On this page

Consider the level of conversion.

• What are book publishers looking for

Consider the audience

• Tips for converting your thesis

What happens next?

Your first consideration when thinking about book publishing options for your thesis should be the level of conversion. You could consider the following options.

A full conversion – from thesis to book

This is a good option should your thesis be on a topic that would have wide appeal to an academic audience. A key consideration here is that the structure of a thesis is massively different to a book. Rather than starting with a hypothesis, a book should showcase a considered argument and its narrative should communicate that argument to peers in the field – demonstrating how the research has evolved into this viewpoint, and what impact it can have.

Partial conversion – using parts of your thesis in a book

Using parts of your thesis in a book usually means that you are conducting further research that might be ongoing, and might involve colleagues that might be a co-author on the project.

Partial conversion – a chapter in an edited collection

Perhaps your thesis doesn’t quite have the broad appeal for a full book conversion. In this case you might consider a chapter in an edited collection under a broader theme – this means you’re broadening the scope of your PhD research to a wider audience by collaborating with a team of contributors on an edited book. Look out for calls for chapters on relevant themes.

What are publishers looking for?

Broad (global) scholarly appeal.

• Remember your thesis is written for a handful of examiners and experts in your field and is partly there to demonstrate the expertise you have gained from your research. A book should have a much wider audience than that, and should be engaging and interesting enough to appeal to a broad section of researchers across your field (and potentially other disciplines as appropriate), and should particularly be accessible enough to engage any researcher interested in your topic of study.
• Single-country case studies won’t always translate well into a book given their focused scope, however, they would work as part of an edited collection with a broader global scope.
• A good book manuscript should focus on a coherent argument/narrative, rather than a step-by-step checklist of things you need to demonstrate in a thesis.
• You don’t need to include big sections or whole chapters on literature review or methodology, these can be weaved into the book as and when appropriate.

Development potential

• An original thesis should be regarded as the basis for an entirely new work, written with a new audience in mind.

Talking about your research and the process of working it into a book is one of the best ways to ensuring success.

Try reaching out to your immediate colleagues, and co-authors on published papers, your PhD supervisor, peers you might meet at conferences, with a publishing contact, or even online. Try asking for advice on twitter, or any professional network sites.

It is advisable to start a conversation with supervisors and other colleagues shortly after the completion of a PhD.

Once you’ve started to get a good idea of what you want to do, it’s also a great time to reach out to a commissioning editor at a publisher. They can advise on further considerations for turning your thesis into a book with a broad scholarly appeal, as well as how to fill in a book proposal form.

Following this, the next natural step is to submit a book proposal which will be considered by the publisher, often involving a peer review process.

The single most important thing to remember when converting your thesis is the audience. Your thesis is written for a select amount of examiners with specific expertise in your field and showcases your nuanced and rich expertise, which you have gleaned from your research in your particular area.

In contrast, a book should have a much wider audience and should be engaging and interesting enough to appeal to a broad section of researchers across your field, and potentially even other disciplines as appropriate.

As a book, your research should be accessible enough to engage any researcher interested in your topic of study.

• Realise which parts of your thesis are useful only to examiners. Any sections such as literature review, or extended methodology discussion should be cut or heavily amended/digested. These sections can weave in and out of your overall narrative rather than be structured separately.
• Writing style is less important for examiners, but essential for book readers. PhD examiners will read your thesis regardless of the writing style, but the writing style for book readers is essential for ensuring your research is accessible and engaging. You must be prepared to extensively re-write your thesis to retain and engage readers. This should be seen as essential rather than optional.
• Keep the big picture in mind. It’s important to take a step back while putting together a proposal, or during the manuscript writing process. Set reminders at intervals to focus on the overall narrative of the book. Is there a logical development of an argument? Does it make sense to a reader’s point of view? If not , be prepared to rethink the structure – it can be freeing to step away from a traditional thesis structure.
• Write concisely. It’s important to bear in mind the importance of the reader’s time. At all stages of the writing process you should focus on streamlining where possible and keep in mind the agreed length of the book. Books are often much shorter than theses, which by their nature contain much repetition. If you’re finding it hard to meet the agreed word limit, your writing style is likely not quite right yet for a book audience.
• Emphasise context. If your research is specialist and nuanced, with a narrow scope, try boosting its contextual implications by adding an international or inter-disciplinary context. It’s particularly useful to do this within the introductory and concluding chapters. Rounding off your book with opening and closing contextual chapters can really emphasise the place of the research within the field and showcase how it’s adding to the literature or breaking fresh ground.
• Get a third party proof-reader. Consider getting someone within your field, perhaps without the specialist knowledge relating to your PhD knowledge, and see what they think of your writing style. If they can follow your argument and find value in the work you’re presenting for the wider field, then the book has good potential. If they’re struggling, you might need to re-think the project.

Top tips for converting your thesis

• The main title of the book should position it clearly without reference to other bibliographic information, and should be as short as possible.
• Chapter titles are something people often forget, and chapter titles can sometimes be a real giveaway in a proposal that a book is based on a thesis and maybe hasn’t been revised appropriately. It’s often a comment reviewers make, and a clear sign to them that the proposal is a thesis conversion. Chapter titles can be way more dynamic in a book than in a thesis, and there’s no need to have chapters called 'methodology' or 'results'. Freeing yourself from these structured ways of thinking can be liberating, and is a good way of diverting yourself from writing in a thesis style.
• Remember that readers of the book are most interested in what your findings/argument are. Think about leading your book with the 'end' of your thesis, i.e. the results/answer to the question you were researching, rather than starting by explaining how you got there.
• You don’t need to include big sections or whole chapters on literature review or methodology, these can be weaved in to the book as and when appropriate (particularly if your research employed an innovative methodology, for example).
• A book manuscript should typically be shorter than your thesis. If you’re struggling to bring the word count down, you might need to get help with your writing style, or evaluate if you’ve cut enough “thesis-heavy” content from your work.
• Use introductory and concluding chapters to contextualise your research. This is super helpful for placing your work within the field.

To summarise

Be prepared to re-write: Having sketched out a new structure and focus, you now have to start writing all over again to create a completely new work. You should accept this as a must for success, and enjoy the creative process that comes with it.

Remove academic structuring: Ordinary readers want you to get straight to the point, Anything that sounds like "In this chapter I will argue . . ." or "In this chapter I have shown . . ." should be deleted immediately.

Audience is the most important consideration. Re-organise your writing around your new audience – remember that concise, narrative-led writing is essential.

Re-focus on the storytelling. Any background material (such as surveys of previous literature, historical background, discussions of earlier and current theories, arguments, methodology, etc.) if retained at all, should be moved from the beginning to the end of the book, or incorporated in a condensed form into the relevant sections of the main text. From start to finish, you should begin with an answer rather than a question, and your argument should be maintained throughout.

Once you’ve formed an idea for your book project, it’s a good time to talk to a commissioning editor at a publisher about submitting a proposal.

Get ready to publish a book

See a list of our book commissioning editors, along with their subject areas and contact information.

Submit your book proposal

Find out how submit a book or series proposal and what the next steps in the publishing process are.

The book peer review process

A helpful guide to our book peer review process.

• Insights blog

Turning your PhD into a successful book

Requests regularly arrive in the Author Services inbox asking for advice about turning PhD research into journal articles or books. In this guide, first posted on the  LSE Impact Blog , Terry Clague, a Senior Publisher at Routledge gives his advice and insight into what publishers are looking for when they receive new book proposals.  

Research conducted as part of a PhD is valuable. It is valuable for the researcher, who has spent countless hours carrying out the work and it is valuable to those deciding whether the research should result in the award of a PhD qualification. But can the research be valuable to broader audiences? The simple answer is yes – at the heart of many successful academic books lies research conducted as part of a PhD. 

What options to consider when turning your PhD into a book

In the majority of cases, PhD research is published in the form of journal articles. In some cases, the research is published in a book. Between either end of that publishing spectrum there is an array of options to consider when it comes to disseminating PhD research: 

Converting the entire PhD thesis into a book  requires that your thesis covers a topic of interest to a large enough audience of scholars. Whereas a thesis starts with a question, a book begins with an answer and communicates its importance in the wider research landscape, tracing its evolution and impact. 

Using parts of a PhD thesis in a book  requires that ongoing and/or collaborative research is being conducted. A book (perhaps co-authored) should be greater than the sum of its constituent parts. 

Using an aspect of a PhD thesis in an edited book  on a broader topic ensures that the research fits with related research on a similar theme. A good edited book addresses the need to broaden the scope of PhD-based research via collaborating with a team of contributors. 

Splitting a PhD thesis into several articles  for journals hedges a PhD’s bets by staking smaller amounts of the work in different locations. What is gained by this hedging may be lost in the overall narrative of the PhD research as it is unbundled. 

What publishers look for when deciding whether to take you on

The role of the book publisher is to connect authors with readers. When it comes to disseminating research originating from a PhD, this relationship is essential. It is therefore useful to consider the perspective of the publisher when considering what publication route to take. In assessing a proposal for a research-level book, a good publisher will initially ask themselves three questions: 

Is the  scope  of the research broad enough to be of interest to our readers (scholars globally)? Example

Is the  quality  sufficiently high? 

Can the work be  developed  via feedback from experts as part of the book review process to address any weaknesses? 

Post information

Related posts, insights topics.

Beyond those core questions, potential authors should also consider significant and ongoing changes to the market for academic books, notably in reader behavior. Evolution in digital technology combined with a significant increase in the amounts of available research has led to changes in the way that books are produced, published and propagated. In this environment, the key word is “discoverability”. Connecting authors to readers requires that publishers facilitate discoverability of research via various routes to ensure that potential readers are able to find books with ease. Authors can aid this process by following a few basic rules of thumb: 

The main title of the book should position it clearly without reference to other bibliographic information, and should be as short as feasible 

Chapter titles should likewise, where possible, position themselves clearly 

Chapter synopses or abstracts can be used to enhance the metadata around books

Submitting a book proposal

It is useful to start a conversation with an acquisitions/commissioning editor at an early stage toward the end or shortly after the completion of a PhD. Discussions with supervisors and other colleagues are also very useful at this stage. The next natural step is to submit a book proposal which will be considered by the publisher, often involving a peer review process. Research-level books are often published as part of an established series – an awareness of existing books in such series can be useful when it comes to framing and developing a book proposal. 

Preparing your final manuscript for book publication 

Following a review process, the publisher’s editorial board would give final approval to proceed, following which a book contract would be issued. Armed with publisher and review feedback, the author can then proceed to produce a full manuscript based on their PhD research. Each book is different, but there are numerous key aspects to consider when preparing a final manuscript for book publication. Above all, never lose sight of the audience:

A thesis is written for examiners, a book for scholars in general . Anything that is useful only for examiners (e.g. literature review, methodology discussion) should be cut or heavily amended/digested. 

Examiners will work through text regardless of the writing style, book readers will not . Therefore, it is likely that extensive re-writing will be required to retain and engage readers. 

Take a step back . Think about the overall narrative of the book and be prepared to rethink the structure – this can be liberating! 

Value the reader’s time . Streamline where possible – theses by their nature contain much repetition. Keep in mind the agreed length of the book. 

Contextualize . If research is of a narrow scope, add international or inter-disciplinary context, particularly within the introductory and concluding chapters.

Sharing your research  

Finally, talking about your research and the process of working it into a book can be an essential ingredient to its success. This can be done with your immediate colleagues, at conferences and with a publisher. It can also be done online – with  social media a useful tool  to tap into wider networks as well as to test ideas out. 

Further Reading

European University Institute (Undated) –  From PhD to Book   Germano, W. (2005) –  From Dissertation to Book   Thomson, P. (2011) –  Can I Get a Book From My Thesis   Thomson, P. (2013) –  Turning Your PhD Into a Book   Veletsianos, G. (2016) –  Social Media in Academia , Routledge 

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How to Turn Your Dissertation Into a Book: A Step-By-Step Guide for New Authors

Whether you are just starting graduate school, writing your dissertation, or the proud recipient of a recent Ph.D., you may be thinking about turning your dissertation into a published book. There are many reasons why this might be a good idea. In some fields, a published scholarly book is a preferred method for presenting a comprehensive view of pivotal research. A book gives you the space to discuss details, complications, connections, and ramifications in a way that is not possible in a journal article. In these fields, a well-reviewed book gives you instant credibility when applying for faculty positions, tenure, and related positions. A published book also has a much longer shelf life than an unpublished dissertation, and will occupy a respected place on your CV or resume for years to come.

In other fields, good dissertations are expected to produce one or more published journal articles, and many tenured faculty at top research institutions never publish a book. In these fields, publishing a book may still be an asset for those pursuing a traditional academic career, and can be a great way to transition into other careers such as science communication, education, or public policy. So if turning your dissertation into a book is something you are considering, here are some steps to get started.

Step 1: Identify your audience

Publishers are businesses that make money by selling books. This is true of "trade" publishers that sell books for the general public, and "academic" publishers that sell books primarily for students and scholars. Therefore, in order for a publisher to consider publishing your book, there must be a sufficiently large audience to buy your book. This audience will strongly influence how you organize and write your book, and may cause your book to be massively different from your dissertation. After all, the purpose of a dissertation is to show that you are knowledgeable about your field of study, and have made a significant contribution to it. In contrast, the purpose of a book is to serve a need for the reader.

Some dissertation topics may work well as required reading for college and university courses. In that case, you need to identify the types of courses that would be appropriate (e.g. courses in sociology that cover gender identity), and develop an understanding of how many students take such courses. For example, you might find that almost all colleges in the California State system have a sociology department. At California State AnyTown, there are 20,000 undergraduate students, and 400 students a year take a sociology course that focuses on gender identity. Other dissertation topics might appeal to people in specific professions (e.g. people who work with children who suffer concussions), and you might look at the number of people in relevant professional organizations (e.g. associations for coaches or pediatric nurses). At the other end of the spectrum, you might imagine a book that appeals to a fairly wide audience (e.g. a book that addresses recent events linked to gender identity, or a broader discussion of concussion in youth sports). For these books, the intended audience may be harder to define, so you can estimate its size in the next step.

Step 2: Identify competing books

Once you have identified a potential audience, you need to familiarize yourself with the books they are reading. Your book will be competing with these books, so you need to determine how your book will fill a gap for this audience. Here you have the opportunity—and the obligation—to read widely in your intended niche. If this opportunity doesn't excite you, do not try to write a book for this niche. The process of writing a good book is laborious and time consuming, so if you are not interested in exploring similar books for what works and what doesn't, you will not enjoy writing your own book for this category.

As you identify and read competing books, you should pay attention to the topics that they cover, and how the author writes about these topics. Consider whether the text is instructive or narrative, what details are included, how the text is organized, and whether visual aids such as photographs, diagrams, or tables are included. Also find out when the book was published, how long it is, how much it sells for, and how many copies have been sold (or at least what its Amazon sales rank is).

You may find books that are very similar to your book, or that are different in significant ways (such as the specific topic) but that have characteristics you want to emulate (e.g. a good strategy for presenting technically challenging research to a broad audience). As you gain a good understanding of related books, you'll need to develop a list of 3-10 books that will compete with your book. You will use this list to support two points:

• Books similar to your book have been successful with your intended audiences; and
• Your book fills an unmet need for this audience, so they will buy it.

That unmet need might be a more recent book that incorporates new knowledge, or a book that takes a different approach to a question that has already been addressed.

This survey of related books will also help you plan your book. If you find that multiple books already exist for your intended topic, you may need to shift your emphasis so that your book offers something new. If you find that there are few successful competing books, it may be that your intended audience is too small, and that you need to shift your emphasis to fit into a more productive niche.

Step 3: Create an outline for your book

Once you have an intended audience, an excellent understanding of successful books in the same category, and an idea for how you can fill a need in that category, you can start planning your book in detail. Put together an outline, starting with the major topic for each chapter, and thinking about how the overall theme will progress through the entire book. Even for a purely academic book, there must be an overall arch to your story.

While it may be tempting to slip into the same mindset that you used for planning and writing your dissertation, remember that the purpose of your book is to serve a need for the reader. So rather than focusing on your specific research contributions (which is essential for a dissertation), focus on what the reader needs to know. To facilitate this mindset, it may be useful to put away your dissertation for a bit (assuming that it is already complete) and focus on other projects. Then revisit your dissertation topic when you have fresh eyes and a better understanding of what would be useful for your intended audience.

As you flesh out the details for each chapter, set a target word count and think about any images or tables that should be included. Keep in mind that book publishers must pay for every page, image, and footnote to be edited, prepared, and printed. Books that are only available electronically still have most of these per-page expenses. Therefore, use successful books in your category as a guide for how long your book should be, and how many images should be included. Color images also add significantly to the production costs .

As you are preparing your outline, you will likely reach a point where you are unsure if the details of your plan will work. Then it is time to write.

Step 4: Write a sample chapter

If you want a publisher or agent to consider your book, you will typically need to submit a sample chapter or two. You may be asked to submit your first chapter or your "best" chapter, so I recommend starting with your first chapter and making it excellent.

While there are many different approaches to successful writing, one common theme is that the first draft is usually terrible. So write the first draft of your first chapter and let it be terrible. Then read and revise, and repeat. As you are writing and revising, I recommend regularly taking time to read some of your competing titles. How do they deal with some of the challenges you are facing? Are their approaches successful or can you envision a better way?

As you write your first chapter or two, you may find that you need to revise your outline. Pay attention to what you can effectively cover for your audience in the space available.

Step 5: Identify appropriate publishers or agents

Once you have a strong plan and a sample chapter or two, you need to identify potential publishers. Start by looking at your list of competing titles, and learn about those publishers. Also talk to colleagues who have published books, and ask if they would be willing to put you in contact with their publisher or agent. The process can be quite complicated, and for a comprehensive guide I recommend The Essential Guide to Getting Your Book Published by Arielle Eckstut and David Henry Sterry. Many publishers also post guidelines for potential authors on their websites. For most publishers, you will need to show that you understand your audience and competing books, and provide a detailed book outline and convincing sample chapter.

Here is an infographic that breaks down all of these major points:

Oxford University Press's Academic Insights for the Thinking World

How to turn your PhD thesis into a book

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Learn more about the world of academic publishing—from open access to peer review, accessibility to getting published—with our Publishing 101 series on the OUPblog.

• By Sam Bailey
• June 6 th 2024

As an OUP editor who has also completed a PhD, one of the most common questions I am asked is how to turn a thesis into a book. My only-slightly-flippant answer is don’t .

Rather than a revision of their PhD, I would encourage first-book authors to treat their fledgling monograph as a brand-new project.

In a 2015 interview for Vogue , Ursula K. Le Guin spoke about revising Steering the Craft , her classic handbook for aspiring fiction writers, for the twenty-first century. ‘It’s substantially the same book,’ she says, ‘but almost every sentence is rewritten.’ This oxymoron draws attention to the slippery distinction between the work of revising and the work of rewriting. Far from being a distinct undertaking with a separate purpose, revising often shades off into rewriting by an almost imperceptible degree.

For former doctoral students, this is no bad thing. A PhD thesis and an academic monograph have entirely different purposes—trying to turn the former into the latter via a process of revision can feel like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole.

At the most basic level, a thesis is a document written to pass an exam and to prove the writer’s skill as a researcher. In keeping with this purpose, it is written for a readership of two or—if we’re being generous—three people: your pair of examiners and your primary supervisor. More people will likely read parts of your thesis, although they are not the target readership. A monograph, on the other hand, is written to communicate important and useful research to the widest possible specialist readership. Each of the two documents’ purposes is entirely different, and everything about their construction must feed into that purpose, or they are not doing their job very well.

Before you begin

It’s worth pausing to think whether your thesis needs to become a monograph to advance your career. In certain disciplines, a couple of peer-reviewed research articles in reputable journals is just as, if not more, advantageous than a monograph with an equally reputable publisher.

There’s also the effort-to-reward ratio to consider; turning two thesis chapters into research articles may be less time consuming than turning your entire thesis into a monograph. Besides, having some disciplinary journal publications to your name is going to make a publisher far more interested in your first book, which can now be based on new research unrelated to your thesis. I am reminded of Pat Thomson’s sage advice that ‘ all PhDs can generate some refereed journal articles. But not all PhDs have enough in them to become a book.’

Turning your PhD thesis into a monograph should not be seen as the default course of action, so carefully consider the alternatives before embarking upon this route. But if you still want to, here are a few things you should consider:

Authorial voice

With your PhD in the bag, you have proven your skill as an academic researcher. Congratulations!

Your authorial voice should now feature more prominently in your writing and your own original interpretation should be prioritised over the views of your predecessors. This approach is very different to writing a thesis, where your interpretation must be couched in quotations from secondary sources. You no longer need to provide an audit trail to such a great extent, and monographs feature far fewer secondary quotations—especially long block quotations—than are commonly found in theses. Similarly, the number of secondary citations should be significantly reduced to only cover essential reference points. The spotlight should be firmly on your original ideas and your discussion of primary sources, with far fewer words devoted to quoting and evaluating the contributions of others.

Literature review

To put it simply, a monograph shouldn’t have one. Building on the previous point about authorial voice, the literature review is the prime example of providing an audit trail that simply isn’t expected in a monograph. Remove it! Then, in its place, summarise in one or two pages the most important through-lines found in that literature that are of direct relevance to your arguments. Your readers will assume you’ve done your homework (that was the PhD thesis) and you only need to introduce them to the secondary sources that are essential to following the argument of your monograph. For example, if your work is interdisciplinary and you’re pitching the book to a publisher’s disciplinary list, you might need to summarise the key findings of a particular school of thought from outside the list’s ‘home’ discipline.

Unlike a PhD thesis, a monograph needs to sell copies. Even not-for-profit university presses are required to break even, and a publisher won’t take a chance on a monograph unless they consider it a safe investment. It is down to you to convince them that there is a market for your work and that you write in a way that effectively captures that readership. You must be certain of your book’s selling points and ensure they are effectively communicated in your book proposal and woven into every section of your draft manuscript or writing sample.

One example: publishers are increasingly asked to think about how ‘adoptable’ someone’s book project is, meaning: can we picture it being assigned as required reading in undergraduate or postgraduate courses? For this to be the case, individual chapters should be concise and able to be assigned as standalone reading. Jargon should be kept to a minimum. Anything even slightly tangential should be cut.

Pat Thomson says that converting your PhD thesis into a monograph is ‘a time to hone your writing craft’. What she means by this, I think, is that you have the opportunity and responsibility to learn how to become a better communicator. Your PhD examiners are obliged to read your thesis no matter how engaging they find it, whereas if the readers of your monograph find it unengaging, they will simply stop reading. Academic writing can be so much more than dry, expository prose, and this is a time to stretch your creative writing muscles in a way you weren’t able to do while writing your thesis. Le Guin’s Steering the Craft provides some narrative techniques and writing exercises to help you do this.

Where to begin?

My advice would be to begin at the end. The conclusion of your PhD thesis probably contains your most valuable insights, most useful innovations, and most compelling answers to the all-important questions of ‘so what?’ and ‘why should anyone care?’. These diamonds in the rough can form the building blocks of a monograph that should be thought of not as a revision of your thesis, but as a brand-new project that builds upon your previous research. This new project can draw from some of the most exciting parts of your thesis, though it should be more than just repackaged doctoral research. And it will be far more attractive to a publisher, not to mention enjoyable to write.

Featured image by Element5 Digital via Unsplash .

Sam Bailey (he/him), Senior Associate Editor, Humanities, Oxford University Press

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Turning Your Dissertation into a Book

Interested in publishing your dissertation as a book? You will likely need to revise it extensively so it will appeal to a wider audience and compete in the literary marketplace. Here are some guidelines to help you in this process.

• Allow plenty of time!
• The review process can easily take up to a year, as it entails a peer review of your manuscript, potential revisions, further peer review and then approval.
• The editing process can easily take a year to a year and a half as it entails copyediting, design, typesetting and proofreading, preparation of the index, printing and binding.

Dissertations differ from books in several ways

• Dissertations are highly specialized, while books are geared to general readers.
• Dissertation audiences are usually fewer than 100 readers — books are about 500 or more, in general.
• In a dissertation, the author’s authority must be proven; in books, it is assumed.
• Dissertations contain extensive documentation (to prove authority), while books document to credit sources and help the reader.
• Dissertations can run long; books are often far shorter.

Elements that make a good book

• A concise, memorable and intriguing title that includes essential key words
• Clear and effective organization
• A succinct introduction
• Illustrations that enhance the text
• Sections that are meaningful either alone or as part of the total book
• Navigational aids, such as chapter titles, running heads, subheads, notes, bibliography, index
• A voice (relationship of author to reader) that functions like an invisible tour guide or creative storyteller, and avoids sounding like a lecturer at a podium

The revision process

• Forget your dissertation. Forget your committee.
• Clarify your modified topic and audience.
• Determine how to present it in a dynamic way.
• Remove unnecessary references to yourself.
• Delete conspicuous chapter intros and summaries.
• Make style parallel in chapter titles, captions, chapter openings and closings, subheads.
• Revisit the introduction and conclusion.
• Remove unnecessary notes; condense or combine others.
• Eliminate most cross-references.
• Cut unnecessary examples and data.
• Make chapter openings strong, clear, and inviting.
• Add definitions of jargon, foreign terms, biographical and historical dates.
• Brainstorm several possible titles and subtitles.
• Tighten prose.
• Use active verbs.
• Begin and end sentences with words you want to emphasize.

The Chicago Manual of Style . 15th ed. (2003). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

German, William. (2005).  From dissertation to book . Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Harmon, Eleanor, et al., ed. (2003).  The thesis and the book: A guide for first-time academic authors. 2nd ed . Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

Lucy, Beth, ed. (2004).  Revising your dissertation: Advice from leading editors . Berkeley: University of California Press.

by Lorri Hagman, executive editor, University of Washington Press

Research Guides

Submit and publish your thesis.

• The Graduate Thesis: What is it?
• Thesis Defences
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• Making Thesis Accessible
• Thesis Embargo
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• Your Rights as an Author
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• Creative Commons Licenses for Theses
• Turning Thesis into an Article
• Turning Thesis into a Book
• Other Venues of Publication

Turning Your Thesis into a Book

“A dissertation is a report, a book tells a story”

Turning a thesis into a book means more than simply printing and binding your thesis as is. Neither will it be a quick touch up or superficial revision. Your book manuscript will likely mean a substantial rewrite of your thesis. Consider the following aspects that will need to change:

Your audience

The audience for the thesis is mainly your committee whereas for a book it may be fellow researchers, professionals working in the field, policy makers, educators, or the general audience. The majority of your readers will be less familiar with your topic than was your supervisor and will be more interested in the bigger picture than in the methodological details.

A book has a different purpose from a thesis. A thesis is meant to demonstrate your mastery of the subject and research process. A book is an opportunity to discuss the implications of your research to the larger community. The way you define an audience for your book will directly affect its goal and vice versa.

The structure of your thesis

A book’s structure will be different from that of a thesis. You will need to thoroughly re-order your work into chapters. In particular, the Literature Review and Methodology sections would be shortened drastically or incorporated into the introduction. Copious footnotes typical for a thesis could be transformed into stories.

The voice you use for a book is different from the academic voice in your thesis. You will want to edit out the academic jargon, complex sentences, lengthy paragraphs and passive voice. Be ready to show your own voice and clearly say what you think.

When looking to publish a book you would normally follow these steps:

Select a press

Start by selecting a press that would be a good fit for your topic and audience:

• Look at your own bookshelf - where have authors published on similar topics?
• Check presses’ lists in your subject area
• Consider academic vs commercial publishers
• Get in touch with acquisition editors at the presses you are looking at to check if your idea will be of interest

Prepare your book proposal

• Think of your proposal as a pitch that communicates the book’s value in terms of content and your value as the subject matter expert
• Problems or pain points that the book addresses
• How the book addresses these pain points and what value it provides to the reader
• A proposed title
• Market research evidence that there is a need and niche for the book
• Contents page
• A proposal can be submitted to more than one press. Once you get a book deal, commit to that press and discontinue negotiations with other presses.

Negotiate and sign the contract

• The Understanding and Negotiating Book Publication Contracts from the Authors Alliance is a great resource for all questions related to book contracts.

Other tips from book publishers

• Having an article published from your thesis may be a good starting point to get a book deal. However having too many chapters published may be a turn off for a press that looks for original content.
• Consider the timing of publication for your academic career. It takes a while for a book to be written, published, distributed and read. If you would like to proceed with an academic career upon graduation and have reviews of your published book ready for inclusion in your tenure portfolio, you will want to start looking into publishing as soon as possible.

Additional resources on converting your thesis into a book:

• Harman, E. (2003). The thesis and the book: A guide for first-time academic authors. Toronto: University of Toronto Press ( Print | Electronic )
• "Working on a book project? What I wish I knew…" - recording of the April 2021 webinar and presenters' book proposals
• Writers’ How To Series by the Writers’ Union of Canada
• See writing guides for creative non-fiction
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How to Turn your Dissertation into a Book

You finished your dissertation and want to turn it into a book? Then don’t let the revision process scare you – we've got you covered with helpful tips and tricks on the way.

This post is part of a series, which serves to provide hands-on information and resources for authors and editors.

After years of hard work on their dissertation, more than a few Early Career Researchers consider turning their PhD research into a monograph. While this is great to reach a whole new audience, the process of getting there can seem complex and daunting at first.

But we’re here to help!

The first and most essential step is to decide whether your dissertation should become a book at all. For many scholars this is a no-brainer, especially in the humanities and the social sciences, where the publication of books is crucial for getting professional recognition, climbing up the career ladder, and eventually gaining tenure.

Your dissertation could also be published in the form of one or several journal articles. Or something you just want to upload on a university server and be done with.

However, let’s say that you do want to convert your thesis into a publishable book, here are the general steps of this exciting undertaking:

• Find your match
• Build your confidence
• Get down to the nitty gritty
• Pitch your work
• Respond and revise

1. Find Your Match

The process of revising a dissertation goes hand-in-hand with the search for the right publishing house. The question what kind of book you want or need will influence your choice. Vice versa, the publisher shapes what kind of book you will be rewarded with.

Publishing with an established publisher is still considered as a sign of quality. They take care of things like quality control and peer review, and they select their titles carefully, so they fit their lists. This also means the books will sell better. Moreover, and most importantly: a publisher makes your work visible, be it online, in catalogues, on conferences, book fairs, or by distributing your book among libraries and universities.

Are you looking for the right press to publish your academic work? Find out here whether De Gruyter might be the right partner for your project!

Ask yourself this: Where do you want to see your book? Where have your favorite publications been published? Browse bookshelves, and visit book exhibitions at conferences . Talk to editors, approach them, ask for their conditions; check websites.

But whilst you do all of that: Please never submit to more than one publisher at the same time. Wasting editors’ time is frowned upon and doesn’t bode well for future publication with the house.

2. Build your Confidence

Once you decided on which press would be a good choice (from university presses, independent academic publishers, trade publishers etc.), there are a couple of things you need to take into consideration.

First and maybe most importantly: Be kind to yourself. Acknowledge what you have already accomplished. This has been a huge effort, and you have earned every right to be proud of yourself! Then, get to work.

Be prepared to invest time and nerves into reworking your dissertation. Focus on what you have already done, and build from there.

Remember, a book is not a dissertation. You do not need to convince anyone anymore that you are the expert and that you have done your reading. The reader of your book trusts that you are, and that is why they bought it.

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3. Get Down to the Nitty Gritty

• Envision your audience. This will help you give your dissertation a makeover.
• Your viva was probably a while ago, so lots of new and interesting research has been published since then that could potentially influence your work. Do the reading.
• Go over your literature review and see what is not needed anymore for your argument. Do not quote other people as much – the reader wants to know what you think. The reader of your book is also not hugely interested in all of the methodologies out there. Tell them what you used and why, but cut everything else.
• Tell the reader in the introduction what the book’s central argument is. What is your contribution to the field? What’s new? In the conclusion, tell them what the consequences are. What difference do your findings make? How do they help the field?
• Try to stay close to the 100,000 word threshold (=300 pages), including notes. Keep the manuscript sleek, limit the apparatus. Try to have chapters of equal lengths.
• Sure enough, images are nice and often help the reader get a sense for the text, but do not forget that you have to clear rights for most of them, and get all the technicalities for print sorted.
• Use simple wording. Be on point. Always remember your audience needs to understand you, and not all of them are experts.
• Go easy on the footnotes: Resist making them a container for all of the brilliant thoughts that don’t quite fit in the flow or argument of your book. If a remark doesn’t belong in your text, it might not belong in your book altogether.

Bear in mind: With a dissertation, you have something to prove. With a book, you have something to say.

4. Pitch Your Work

After revising, you need to prepare a pitch: Sell your book! Let the publisher know why your research is important and how it changes the field. What’s the unique selling point of your book, what sets it apart from others?

To get started, check the publisher’s website. Usually there is a proposal form hidden away somewhere. Try to find information on the submission process and/or a personal contact. Follow the guidelines, and write an e-mail to the responsible Acquisitions Editor.

Indicate that you are familiar with the scope of the publisher’s list. Maybe you know of a book series of theirs, where your work might fit in. Let them know you did your homework, and that you are invested. Describe how your book complements other titles in the series and why it would be a great fit.

Learn more about book proposals in our blog post “How to Write an Academic Book Proposal: 6 Questions for Laura Portwood-Stacer” .

Be concise. Your proposal should demonstrate not only that you are an expert on the topic, but that you can condense and synthesize what you know, that you can share it concisely, and that you can present your research in a way that is stimulating and thought-provoking.

Usually, the more material you send, the better. Being able to read a sample chapter of the dissertation, in addition to the proposal, makes it much easier for the publisher to get a sense about the writing style of an author, who is still unknown to them.

5. Almost There! Respond and Revise

After you submitted, and heard back from the editor of the press, you can relax a little. Your manuscript is now either under consideration with the editor or already sent out for external peer review. This might take a while.

Chances are, when you hear back from the editor the next time, the reviewers will have criticized parts of your manuscript and are asking for improvements. Hence, you will need to get back into the text once again. This can be a hard moment, but remember: you are so close now! Revise one last time and at the end of the road, you might already see the light of your shiny new author contract.

Good luck – you got this!

If you are interested, check out this related blog post

[Title image by hanna grace via Unsplash]

Rabea Rittgerodt

Rabea works as Acquisitions Editor at De Gruyter. She is specialized on 19th & 20th century social, cultural, and global history. You can follow her on Twitter via @RabeaRi .

Sophie Wagenhofer

Sophie Wagenhofer works as Senior Acquisitions Editor Islamic & Jewish Studies at De Gruyter.

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Scholarly Publishing

• Introduction
• Choosing Publishers - Considerations and risks
• Thesis to book?
• Vanity Publishers
• Presenting and publishing at conferences
• When choosing a journal
• Journals selection/ evaluation
• Open Research guide
• UOM Researcher publishing support
• Author Profiles

My thesis to a book?

• Quite frequently early career researchers are approached to consider publishing a thesis as a book. If you intend to publish your thesis in this way considerable editing and reformatting will be required first.
• Often examiners’ reports suggest publishing options.
• Books published by print-on-demand and vanity publishers may often not be eligible for categorising as an A1 (authored) book for internal institutional auditing purposes.
• If you are approached by a publisher please refer to our  What if you are approached by a publisher? Consider asking some of these questions  section.
• Also consider contacting the  faculty or liaison librarian  for your discipline to explore options and considerations further.

Is re-purposing of text acceptable?

Israel, M. (2018, January 20). Self-plagiarism? When re-purposing text may be ethically justifiable. Research Ethics Monthly . https://ahrecs.com/research-integrity/self-plagiarism-when-re-purposing-text-may-be-ethically-justifiable

Mark writes up some tips for those considering re-using text that they have previously published.

Roig, M. (2016). Recycling our own work in the digital age. In T. Bretag (Ed.), Handbook of academic integrity (pp. 655–669). Springer.

Miguel helps to define self-plagiarism within science and scholarship and review its common forms - duplicate publication, augmented publication (when a dataset is republished with additional observations), salami publication (creating two or more publications from the same study), and text recycling (re-using substantial parts of your own previously published publications). He discusses the reader-writer contract and some scenarios of re-use in books (e.g., new editions, re-using portions of chapters from one book to another, from journal articles to book), , conference presentations (e.g., presented at more than one conference, conference presentation to journal article) and doctoral dissertations and theses (e.g., dissertation/thesis to publication, publications to dissertation). He explains why authors should be concerned about re-using previously published work.

Vanity publishers

Vanity publishers are publishing houses which charge authors to have their works published without the selection criteria usually used in hybrid publishing models.  Protect your future academic credibility and ensure maximum prospects for future publishing of your work in credible journals by carefully evaluating the credibility of these publishers BEFORE accepting any offers. Refer to our Choosing publishers section in this guide.

Torres, M.R. (2012, June 24). Advice: Dissertation for sale: A cautionary tale [Blog post].  Retrieved from http://www.chronicle.com/article/Dissertation-for-Sale-A/132401/?cid=wb&utm_source=wb&utm_medium=en

• << Previous: Choosing Publishers - Considerations and risks
• Next: Presenting and publishing at conferences >>
• Last Updated: Aug 27, 2024 12:27 PM
• URL: https://unimelb.libguides.com/Scholarly_publishing

9 Effective Tips for Publishing Thesis As a Book

While they may look alike, a thesis is not a book! The process of publishing thesis as a book is different right from its conception to completion. Created with an intent to target a specific audience, a thesis differs from a book in multiple aspects. Although your thesis topic would surely be relevant to your field of study, it perhaps, can be of interest to a wider audience. In such a case, your thesis can be turned into a book .

In this article, we will shed some light on the possible ways of publishing your thesis as a book .

Table of Contents

What is the Difference Between a Thesis and a Book?

Researchers spend years working on their thesis. A thesis focuses on the research conducted, and is thus published as journal articles . However, in some cases, it may also be published as a book for a wider readership. While both thesis and book writing require effort, time, and are equally longer versions of documents, they are different in several ways.

• A thesis always begins with a question or hypothesis. On the other hand, a book begins with a series of reflections to grab the reader’s attention. To a certain extent, it could be said that while the thesis starts with a question, the book starts with an answer.
• Another major difference between the two is their audience. The content of a thesis, as well as its format and language is aimed at the academic community. However, since the book is written with an intent to reach out to wider audience, the language and format is simpler for easy comprehension by non-academic readers as well.
• Furthermore, thesis is about documenting or reporting your research activities during doctorate; whereas, a book can be considered as a narrative medium to capture the reader’s attention toward your research and its impact on the society.

How to Turn a Thesis into a Book?

The structure of your thesis will not necessarily be similar to the structure of your book. This is primarily because the readership is different and the approach depends on both the audience as well as the purpose of your book. If the book is intended as a primary reference for a course, take the course syllabus into account to establish the topics to be covered. Perhaps your thesis already covers most of the topics, but you will have to fill in the gaps with existing literature.

Additionally, it may be so that you want your book to be a complementary reference not only for one course, but for several courses with different focuses; in this case, you must consider different interests of your audience.

The layout of most thesis involve cross-references, footnotes, and an extensive final bibliography. While publishing your thesis as a book , eliminate excessive academic jargon and reduce the bibliography to reference books for an ordinary reader.

Key Factors to Consider While Publishing Your Thesis as a Book

• Purpose of the book and the problems it intends to solve
• A proposed title
• The need for your proposed book
• Existing and potential competition
• Index of contents
• Overview of the book
• Summary of each book chapter
• Timeline for completing the book
• Brief description of the audience and the courses it would cover

With all of this in mind, here are 9 steps to successfully turn your thesis into a book .

9 Steps to Successfully Publish Your Thesis as a Book!

1. Establish Your Target Audience

Based on the topic of your thesis, determine the areas that may potentially rise interest in your book’s audience. Once you establish your target audience, figure out the nature of book they would like to read.

2. Determine the Objective of Your Book

Reflect on the scope of your book and the impact it would have on your target audience. Perhaps it can be used as a textbook or supplementary for one or more courses. Visualize what the reach of your book may be; if it is a book with an identified local market, an interest that arose in your educational institution, which can be traced to other similar institutions, or if it can have a national or even international reach.

3. Identify Your Competition

Find out which books are already on the market, what topics they cover, what problems do they solve, etc. Furthermore, ask yourself what would be the advantage of your book over those that already exist.

4. Define the Structure of Your Book

If the book is written as part of a curriculum, use that program to define its structure. If it covers several programs, make a list of topics to focus on individually and sequence them in an order based on educational criteria or interest for the potential reader.

5. Identify Potential Publishers

Search for publishers in your country or on the web and the kind of books they publish to see if there is a growing interest in the book you are planning to develop. Furthermore, you can also look at self-publishing or publishing-on-demand options if you already have a captive audience interested in your work.

6. Plan a Schedule

Based on the structure of your book, schedule your progress and create a work plan. Consider that many topics are already written in your thesis, you will only have to rewrite them and not have to do the research from scratch. Plan your day in such a way that you get enough time to fill in technical or generic gaps if they exist.

7. Follow a Writing Style

The writing style depends on the type of book and your target audience. While academic writing style is preferred in thesis writing, books can be written in simpler ways for easy comprehension. If you have already spoken to an interested publisher, they can help in determining the writing style to follow. If you’re self-publishing, refer to some competitor books to determine the most popular style of writing and follow it.

8. Incorporate Visual Aids

Depending on the subject of your book, there may be various types of visual and graphic aids to accentuate your writing, which may prove lucrative. Give due credit to images, diagrams, graphical representations, etc. to avoid copyright infringement. Furthermore, ensure that the presentation style of visual aids is same throughout the book.

9. Review Your Draft

Your supervisor and the advisory council review and refine you thesis draft. However, a book must be proofread , preferably by someone with a constructive view. You can also use professional editing services or just go ahead with an excellent grammar checking tool to avoid the hassle.

Do you plan on publishing your thesis as a book ? Have you published one before? Share your experience in the comments!

good article

Hello. Nice to read your paper. However, I fell on your article while browsing the net for the exact opposite reason and I think you can equally give me some insights. I am interested, as I earlier said, on how to transform my book into a thesis instead, and how I can defend it at an academic level. I am writing a research work on financial digital options trading and have done a lot of back testing with technical analysis that I explain, to rake thousands of dollars from the financial markets. I find the technical analysis very peculiar and would like to defend this piece of work as a thesis instead. Is it possible? Please you can reply me through e:mail thanks

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Turning Your Thesis Into A Book

Tips and tricks to rewrite for a different type of reader, from Teresa Pitt, a legendary former Senior Commissioning Editor and Publisher with MUP.

MUP occasionally publishes books that have begun their lives as theses and academic research projects.

Some recent examples include Susan Carland's Fighting Hislam, Glenn Morrison's Songlines and Faultlines and Rebe Taylor's Into the Heart of Tasmania .

But rewriting a thesis is not simply a matter of making revisions to existing text. Here are some tips and tricks to help turn your thesis into a book (or perhaps a manuscript you can submit to publishers –  including us ).

An original thesis should be regarded as the basis for an entirely new work, written with a new audience in mind. This new work will address intelligent general readers who seek to be provoked, engaged, intrigued and/or seduced into reading your book. General readers do not expect you to prove to them how thorough your research has been, or how many other texts you have consulted. They simply want to know what you have found out and what you think about it.

The most important tasks in rewriting a thesis are to:

Remove all academic scaffolding

In a thesis, the examiners expect you to explain what you are setting out to do, and how you are going to go about doing it, before you actually do it. Then, after you have done it, you are required to restate or summarise your methods, findings and conclusions.

In a book, these preliminaries and wrap-ups are superfluous. They get in the reader's way, become repetitive and obscure the impact of the real subject matter. They also take up valuable space. The Abstract and Introduction that are both essential in a thesis are not needed in a book. Neither are the usual chapter Introductions and Conclusions.

Ordinary readers want you to get straight to the point. Thus, anything that sounds like "In this chapter I will argue . . ." or "In this chapter I have shown . . ." should be deleted immediately.

Reorganise the material

When writing for the general reader, you should introduce the most arresting, intriguing, or unusual aspects of the work the heart of the matter immediately.

The background information and theoretical discussions should come later. As a rule of thumb, start from the particular, and work to the general, rather than the other way around. In journalism, the rule for any story is always to "grab the reader's attention" in the first paragraph – indeed, in the first sentence. It may seem strange to compare a serious academic work with a newspaper story or article, but in fact the best serious non-fiction writers follow a similar principle.

The most interesting, arresting or unusual parts of the story or argument should come first to attract the interest of the general reader, you can go back later to provide the necessary background and interpretation.

Refocus clearly on the heart of the story

You need to "pick the eyes" out of your thesis. That is, you must decide what the most interesting or important issues or themes are, and concentrate on these, ruthlessly discarding the more peripheral material. Background material for example, surveys of previous literature, historical background, discussions of earlier and current theories, arguments, methodology, etc. if retained at all, should be moved from the beginning to the ends of the book, or incorporated in a much-condensed form into the relevant sections of the main text.

Remember you are writing now for non-specialist readers. You must be aware both of what you want to tell them and of what is going to catch and retain their attention.

Reduce the scholarly apparatus

Most theses have a enormous number of footnotes and an exhaustive bibliography, all designed to impress your examiners with the breadth and depth of your research. Having successfully impressed them, you now need to cut or condense your notes ruthlessly, and to reduce your bibliography to a reasonable size. Keep only what will be genuinely useful to an ordinary reader.

Any discursive or explanatory notes should either be incorporated back into the text or deleted altogether. Notes should be restricted to sources only, and should be turned into endnotes rather than footnotes.

Rewriting and new writing will be necessary. Having sketched out a new structure and focus, you now have to start writing all over again to create a completely new work.

As you rewrite you must move firmly away from the usual impersonal, abstract academic style. This means hunting down and expunging instances of:· academic jargon (find a way of expressing the concept in plain English, especially the first time you introduce it):

• long, complex, convoluted sentences (no sentence should contain more than two ideas, which should be expressed as directly as possible)
• inordinately lengthy paragraphs (break your paragraphs up as much as possible and vary them between, say, three and twenty lines)
• abstract nouns (use concrete nouns wherever you can) the passive voice (don't say "Similar observations were made by Johnson and Smith"; say "Johnson and Smith made similar observations")
• the third person used for yourself (don't say "In the present writer's opinion"; say "I think").

You must learn to address your writing as directly as possible to an imagined non-specialist reader, using a natural, personal, and unpretentious voice and using plain English. Audience awareness the sense of a real, actual person to whom you are talking/writing is one of the most useful communication skills you can develop.

Try to imagine, as you write, that you are talking about your work to an intelligent, educated friend over the kitchen table or in the pub. Your friend is in another field altogether and knows little or nothing about your particular speciality, but is curious to know more about what you do. You would talk to this friend in quite a different way than you would write for your examiners. It is this friendly, straightforward, conversational style that you need to develop.

A number of academics who have become successful writers for a general audience have gained great benefit from joining a writing class in order to develop their writing skills, to enhance their audience awareness, and to unlearn the unfortunate writing habits instilled during their academic training. Courses in creative writing and non-fiction writing are widely available, and we recommend you give this option serious consideration.

Kevin Brophy's Explorations in Creative Writing would be an excellent place to start.

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How to Turn Your Thesis into a Book

Table of contents, introduction.

The transition from researcher to author can seem daunting, but turning a thesis into a book offers significant rewards. Publishing a book allows you to share your research with a broader audience beyond academia. It also helps establish your authority and expertise in your field.

A book enhances your brand and opens speaking opportunities, consulting engagements, and career options. However, writing a book requires reevaluating how to convey your ideas to non-specialist readers best. You must shift to a more accessible writing style and think creatively about crafting a compelling narrative arc.

For academic researchers, the thesis often represents the culmination of years of study in a specialized field. However, researchers can turn their thesis into a published book rather than let it collect dust. This allows them to reach a much wider audience with their ideas and establish themselves as authorities in their subject.

Books have a permanence and legitimacy that other mediums lack. While journal articles may have more prestige in academia, books make research accessible to mainstream readers. They have the potential to educate the public, shape dialogues in a discipline, inspire future scholarship and impact real-world practice. By publishing a book , researchers greatly amplify the influence of their thesis.

Yet, transitioning from researcher to author involves more than copy-pasting a thesis. It requires adapting to a completely different style of writing. Academic writing prioritizes precision, empirical rigor, complex language, and speaking to a niche audience. Books aimed at general readers use clearer prose, compelling narratives, and real-world stories and structure content more thematically.

Beyond making an original contribution to academic literature, publishing a book version of your thesis can provide career advantages and personal satisfaction. Turning a thesis into a book dramatically expands your audience and visibility. While only committee members may have read your thesis, a published book makes your ideas accessible to students, practitioners in your field, policymakers, journalists, and interested lay readers. This establishes your reputation as an authority on the topic.

With an academic book on your resume, opportunities for speaking engagements, consulting jobs, teaching roles, and media commentary will likely arise. Your work may even influence legislation or real-world applications of your research. On a personal level, adapting your writing style, finding your narrative voice, and connecting with readers can be deeply fulfilling. After spending years on specialized research, being able to articulate your insights to the public is incredibly rewarding.

Understanding Your Audience

When transitioning from writing a thesis to writing a book, it is crucial to recognize that the audiences differ significantly. Academic writing is geared towards a specialized scholarly community familiar with theory, methodology , and disciplinary conventions. In contrast, writing a trade book targets a more mainstream readership looking for an accessible and engaging narrative. As an author, you must identify who your new readers are and what kind of content would appeal to them.

Academic writing utilizes discipline-specific jargon, an impersonal tone, extensive literature reviews, and a rigid structure to establish authority on a narrow topic. Trade writing uses plain language, anecdotes, humor, and a flexible narrative style to captivate nonspecialist readers on a more universal theme.

Becoming an adept storyteller enables your specialized material to crossover to mainstream audiences. Master cliffhangers, plot twists, character development, and other devices to immerse readers. Share amusing anecdotes and clever turns of phrase to add flair. Stimulate imagination through vivid scenic descriptions. Pose thoughtful discussion questions to encourage critical reflection. Building rapport with readers amplifies the book’s real-world influence.

Adapting Thesis Content for a Book

Transforming a thesis into a book requires re-evaluating and restructuring the content for a more narrative-driven approach. Academic writing tends to be dense and technical, while general readers expect an engaging story and relatable concepts. As an author, you must balance retaining scholarly rigor and making the ideas accessible.

While academic texts impress with jargon and complex concepts, the general public loses interest quickly. As an author, focus on explaining ideas using everyday language. Define terminology and provide illustrative examples wherever possible. Break down complex arguments into step-by-step logic that is easy to follow. Quote outside experts to reinforce your points. Include stories and anecdotes to humanize the research. However, it upholds standards of intellectual rigor by substantiating claims and highlighting study limitations.

Personal perspectives allow readers to connect with the author and material more deeply. Share what motivated your research questions and discuss memorable moments from collecting or analyzing data. Describe conversations with study participants that illuminated key insights. Use examples from your own life to illustrate broader concepts. Occasional touches of humor also help. Such anecdotes breathe life into academic subjects. However, ensure that any personal information shared is appropriate and relevant to the discussion.

Crafting a Compelling Narrative

Academic writing often focuses solely on facts, theories, and data analysis. While important, this approach rarely captivates readers outside one’s field. Storytelling techniques offer a solution—they provide structure, conflict, and resolution to make the content more compelling. For instance, case studies allow researchers to frame their work around a specific person or organization, adding a human element. Techniques like foreshadowing, flashbacks, and cliffhangers also heighten narrative tension. Applying story arcs to research gives readers a reason to care beyond factual accuracy.

Weaving in real-world examples brings sterile academic concepts to life. For example, an economic treatise could profile a small business owner grappling with rising inflation. This puts a human face on monetary policy debates. Case studies also showcase how theories operate in specific organizational contexts. Infographics, photos, diagrams, and other illustrations make complex ideas more understandable. Using relatable examples and visuals helps concretize abstract arguments for non-specialist readers.

Writing Style and Tone

The shift from formal academic writing to a more conversational and engaging tone is key when adapting a thesis into a book for a general audience. Academic writing is often dense, technical, and aimed at a narrow group of experts. In contrast, trade nonfiction requires an accessible writing style that feels like a conversation with an intelligent friend sharing hard-won knowledge.

When academics write books for general readers, they must consciously work to transform their formal thesis prose into a more relaxed yet authoritative style. Sentences should generally be shorter and less complex. Technical jargon should give way to clear explanations and vivid examples. The text may directly address the reader through second-person narration and rhetorical questions.

While academic writing seeks an objective, impersonal tone, trade nonfiction benefits from revealing glimpses into the author’s experiences, passions, and personality. The strategic use of anecdotes about the writer’s intellectual journey in a candid first-person voice makes the book more approachable and involving for readers.

That said, professional decorum must be maintained while allowing one’s voice to emerge. Too much informality risks undermining the writer’s scholarly credibility. A thoughtful, nuanced take on the subject matter, with careful qualifying statements where needed, reminds readers that this is still an expert guiding them through complex terrain.

Occasionally, the author might consciously decide to retain some technical terminology where no equivalent plain language substitute exists or adequately conveys the precise meaning. In such cases, clear definitions should be supplied the first time such a term is introduced. The glossary can also be utilized for convenient reference.

By emphasizing quality over quantity of information and spotlighting the most critical insights from the thesis, scholarly authors can craft books that inform and enlighten readers without overwhelming them. The art lies in judicious simplification without distortion of meaning.

How to Turn Your Thesis into a Book: Navigating the Publishing Process

Exploring publishing options.

The traditional publishing route involves signing with an academic or trade publisher. This option benefits the publisher’s distribution networks, marketing capabilities, editorial services, and imprint credibility. However, competition is fierce, with low acceptance rates.

Self-publishing offers greater control and faster time-to-market, enabled by print-on-demand technology. Platforms like Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing make self-publishing accessible. The downside is that marketing and distribution remain the author’s responsibility.

Understanding Literary Agents and Academic Presses

Preparing your manuscript for publication.

Before submitting your manuscript to publishers or self-publishing, it is crucial to ensure it is polished and ready for publication. This involves careful editing and proofreading to eliminate any errors or inconsistencies. It is also important to format your manuscript according to the publisher’s guidelines or industry standards. Creating a visually appealing and well-structured book will enhance its professionalism and appeal to readers.

Creating a Book Proposal

When submitting your manuscript to publishers, it is common practice to include a book proposal. This document provides an overview of your book, including its subject matter, target audience, market potential, and competition analysis. It is also important to highlight your qualifications and expertise as the author. A well-crafted book proposal can help publishers understand the value and marketability of your book.

Marketing and Promotion

Navigating the publishing process can be challenging, but with careful planning and consideration, turning your thesis into a book can be a rewarding experience. By understanding the publishing industry landscape, preparing your manuscript effectively, and implementing effective marketing strategies, you can increase the chances of your book reaching a wide readership and making a meaningful impact in your field.

We have delved into how to turn your thesis into a book that melds creative storytelling with scholarly acumen. It is a transformative act that extends the reach of your rigorous academic efforts to inform, engage, and inspire a general audience. The endeavor presents an opportunity to refine your ideas, solidify your expertise, and broaden the dialogue within and beyond your field. The thesis-to-book transition requires critical adjustments in writing style, narrative construction, and audience engagement. It demands that complex ideas be distilled without diluting their significance, enabling readers from various backgrounds to glean insights and appreciate the depths of your research. At once a scholarly and creative pursuit, reshaping a thesis into a book offers academics a wider platform for influence. It allows a work that might otherwise remain within the confines of academic circles to educate, affect public discourse, and potentially guide policy and practice. Upon successful publication, seeing your work in book form is not simply an act of personal accomplishment but a contribution to the collective repository of knowledge that charts new paths for understanding and innovation. Whether navigating traditional publishing avenues or embracing the autonomy of self-publishing, the meticulous effort to produce and promote a book is an adventure with unique challenges and rewards. The act of persevering through these stages is a testament to the importance you place on the dissemination of knowledge. Ultimately, transitioning your thesis into a book is more than a mere reformatting of academic work; it is a sharing of passion, a conversation extended to curious minds, and a beacon for those seeking to delve into your study’s essence.

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• May 17, 2023
• United Nations Institute for Training and Research
• Experiences , Motivational , Publishing , Thesis and Dissertation

Two years and two months. That’s how long it took to turn my PhD thesis into a book. Let me talk about the two – year journey it took to turn the dissertation into a book, including the rejections and edits to get to this stage.  

I was awarded my PhD on the Arab Spring in 2020. I used some time to visit Saudi Arabia and published an article drawing on my thesis. By the time I returned, COVID-19 had started in the UK and Boris Johnson announced lockdown. The priority thus became mental health for me and for many of my friends, family and colleagues. I thus focused on my new job as lecturer at the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) before approaching university presses.

I had made a list of certain presses and while most replied with praise of my manuscript, I was also told that the market on the Arab Spring was saturated. I then turned to another press where I’d had more contact. This press was positive to adding my manuscript on the Arab Spring to their series. The editor seemed very enthusiastic. After sending in the proposal I waited for some months. After contacting the editor and receiving no response I decided to move on. COVID-19 has affected workload for so many editors and I do not blame the editor for lack of contact but a decision had to be made. I approached another academic publisher. What happened next would be of huge help to the final book.

The new publisher decided not to go ahead with publication. However, the manuscript still went through peer review. Under advice from a colleague, I requested the comments. The next month was spent rewriting and restructuring the manuscript in response to very useful feedback. It was also such feedback that encouraged me to keep trying and to insert personal growth stories from Jordan and Saudi Arabia (including being arrested).

After sharing my proposal with a colleague, I contacted Palgrave Macmillan . This time, it was a strong yes and I was rewarded with a book contract.

The process of turning the thesis into the book from Palgrave.

Because I had received extensive feedback from other publishers’ peer review, there was little editing required to meet Palgrave’s requests. The peer reviewer from Palgrave had mentioned changes that by then I had already made, including   removing the theory and method chapter and merging them with other chapters and   removing a suggested addendum. Originally, I had considered including the article on my time in Saudi Arabia during COVID as an extra item but the reviewer felt that it may affect the overall holistic feel of the book and its coherence.  

These above changes were the main edits needed that had already been done. Once I submitted the changed manuscript to Palgrave, I received a contract to sign electronically and was assigned a wonderful editor, Supraja Ganesh. From there, I was tasked with creating an index for the book, which would contain all significant elements the book covered so that researchers could easily find required information for their own research. The creation of an index is often an author’s responsibility and can take time, but once major edits are made there is less of a rush to complete it. With the final manuscript delivered, I then provided a 300-word blurb and began to secure endorsements for the book. Often, reviewers who have enjoyed the book may be willing to write a short sentence of critical praise that will appear on the front page of the book but also be used for marketing on the book webpage, Amazon, Waterstones, Barnes & Noble and anywhere else the book is sold. I quickly secured endorsements from various established scholars across the US and the UK as I had repeated contact with them through previous publications and activities during my time in the Middle East or during my PhD.  

Finally, from signing the contract to the release of the book it took four months, with a launch date of September 2022. I was thrilled to hold a physical copy of the book sent to me by October 2022. Publishing what was actually my second book (the first was based on my MA thesis regarding private military companies) was certainly an accomplishment and allowed me to revisit my PhD at a time when I was lecturing on the same theoretical concepts for my work with the United Nations. It also helps as a media commentator to keep publishing on events in my field. Not only is my work mentioned during my TV appearances but each book becomes its own platform for promotion of what I love: research and political analysis.

To summarise:  • Time to do the PhD and write the thesis: 3 years.   • Time to start a PhD and be awarded: 4 years.   • Time from being awarded a PhD, being told by contacts that the thesis should be a book and getting a book contract: 2 years and 2 months.   • Time from signing the contract to the book’s release: 4 months.  

Build your network while doing your research so you can market your book. The point is this, to all PhD students: you can do it.  

Nicolai Due-Gundersen

Mixed Methods PhDs: An Applied Guide

Are you thinking about using mixed methods (both quantitative and qualitative data) in your PhD? This article guides you through different ways of doing mixed methods PhD research, from proposal writing to collecting and analysing data. It emphasises the importance of rigor in mixed methods research and how to achieve this.

To Be or Not To Be (a Reviewer 2): Should I Review Articles as a PhD Student?

For the wheels to continue turning in research, we need reviewers. Although often a thankless endeavour (littered with Reviewer 2 jokes), acting as a gatekeeper for the integrity of your research field remains vital. As a PhD student, you may find the process of reviewing a manuscript pretty novel, but a reviewer request email may enter your inbox in the near future. This article guides you through the pros and cons of reviewing articles.

‘Stairway to Lecture’: A Roadmap to Progress from PhD to Lecturer

Landing a lecturing role after a PhD can be difficult, and rejection is commonplace. To lower the chances of rejection, it is important to focus on your career planning and gain experience as early into your PhD as possible. Therefore, if you are serious about becoming a lecturer, here are four things you can start doing now.

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How do I convert my PhD dissertation so that it can be published as a book?

I have just completed a PhD by research, which I think has some merits in being available as a book (This is, of course, my personal opinion). The research cuts across several fields (e.g. sociology, public policy).

I am wondering what I need to do to take the next step.

In particular:

How do you turn an academic piece like the dissertation (which is written for the examiners) into a book (which is for the general public)?

How do I find publishers who specialise in my field?

• publications

• 11 Have you asked your advisor about this ? Much like "Don't walk. Run", this could serve as a generic answer for so many questions here :) –  Suresh Commented Jan 9, 2013 at 4:38
• 3 What are your goals for publishing. Do you want to make money? Do you want it to count towards tenure? Do you want it to educate the general public? Promote your research? –  StrongBad Commented Jan 9, 2013 at 13:01
• I want to promote my research to (1) make it widely available and (2) to get some kudos for my CV. Unsure how these two goals could be reconciled. –  Javeer Baker Commented Jan 9, 2013 at 23:12
• 3 I mean, a PhD dissertation is written for the examiners (with detailed referencing) but a book to educate the public has a more relaxed and reader-friendly style (i.e. less referencing details etc.). –  Javeer Baker Commented Jan 9, 2013 at 23:21
• @JaveerBaker if you start your comments with an @, like I did here, the person will receive a notification. I would say that books for the public don't have a more relaxed referencing style, they just have less detail that needs to be referenced. –  StrongBad Commented Jan 10, 2013 at 9:22

4 Answers 4

Why do you want the book?

• For prestige?: publishers who contact you, don't do any review and charge high prices will only increase your prestige to those that don't know them (and these are probably not those you want to impress).
• For dissemination?: why not just put the pdf available (as was already recommended)?. Those who are interested will find it, those who are not will probably not buy a PhD thesis
• For money?: I doubt you will really make much out of it.

My recommendation: put it as a pdf on your website / your school's dissertation repository. If you see that lot's of people download it, consider an improved version as book.

• 2 In many disciplines (especially the humanities), it is still obligatory to publish a monograph in order to get a PhD. Although, there is shift to cumulated PhD theses with articles in peer-reviewed journals, sociology, at least in Continental Europe, still values monographs. –  non-numeric_argument Commented Aug 14, 2013 at 9:50
• These questions are very important and I suggest they be considered. In my field, a book published by a shady publisher would only make you look worse as an academic. –  Behacad Commented Sep 21, 2014 at 18:25
• -1 In my field it is very uncommon not to have one's PhD thesis transformed into and published as a book. It is also quite important to have the book published by a highly-regarded publisher. –  henning no longer feeds AI Commented Jun 19, 2015 at 15:25

Your first question is quite tricky (to answer and to do). It depends on what you mean by "the public". A version for academics needs little change from a thesis. For students you need to consider how to highlight what can be learnt from your work. For the general general public, you'll have to start thinking about rewriting perhaps quite a bit, keeping your language accessible and building a narrative. As I am in a different field, perhaps some or all of this is already a part of your thesis.

The second question is simpler, who publishes the books that you read for your thesis?

If your university does not require you to publish your dissertation as a book, I would be very reluctant to invest the time needed to get your dissertation published. I would put the PDF of your dissertation on your own website, making it available to everyone who wants to look at it. I would spend the time needed to rewrite your book on writing more peer reviewed articles. Either by publishing chapters from your dissertation, or by doing new research. I think publications are more important than a book, especially for someone like you who still has only a few publications.

As a partial answer, Springer used to publish (theoretically) outstanding PhD thesis in Mathematics in its 'Lecture notes in Mathematics' as research monograph. However I do not know how many of the published volumes are Phd thesis. Definitely a (math) thesis requires a lot of polishing and rewriting before publishing.

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Turning Your PhD Thesis Into a Book

"A book is what happens later, once you’ve grown past the dissertation,” said Dominic Boyer, a Cornell University Press series editor, “when one argument rises out of the analytics and becomes something on which you can build an intellectual agenda. Books are driven by arguments, not by constellations of analytics. But the only way to get to a good argument is to experiment and fail a lot in the dissertation and post-dissertation process” ( as cited in Hughes, 2018 ).

Before we discuss the steps of transforming your thesis to a book, there are some things to consider beforehand to ascertain whether going down that route is your best option. Since PhD work is often specific in scope, there are different factors to consider before publication. Depending on the scope of your topic, you may want to look into just using a few parts of your dissertation in a book, or you may want to collaborate with other researchers in the field to contribute to a collection of research in that field or topic. If your aim is to publish your PhD work into a full-length book, however, then there are different considerations to have in mind. These are things that a potential publisher would also be looking at, with the main aim to connect the author’s work with their readers. The relationship between writers and authors and the connection they may have are what publishing companies value. The first question would be whether the book would be of interest to a broader audience in the context of the specific publisher. Then, publishers would consider if the work’s quality is high, especially if the publisher’s audience is made up of scholars, researchers, and experts in the field. Finally, since a research thesis requires peer review and detailed analysis of its findings and conclusions, a similar process is to be expected for the book. That is why the publisher will be asking whether the work can hold up to the demands of a review by researchers and experts in the field ( Elsevier, n.d. ).

To start with, you will need to consider your audience. If you are publishing a book, you must know who you are directing your work to. “You need to jailbreak your research from the library and make it accessible to the largest potential audience,” said Hamideh Iraj (n.d.)., an MA in Information Technology who turned her master’s thesis into a book. “First, ask yourself who this wider audience is and why they would be interested in your research. They might be industry leaders, managers, researchers, students, university professors, or self-learners. To make your research accessible to them, you might need to reconfigure the main theme of your thesis.” After determining who you want your audience to be and reconfigure your thesis into a central theme that fits that audience, you will need to find a publishing house that specifically serves this audience.

Now that you have found an appropriate publishing house, you’re going to have to write a book proposal. You will need to contextualize by adding international or interdisciplinary context, if the research is of narrow scope, especially in the introductory and concluding chapters (Clague, 2017). A book proposal will, according to writer Tanya Golash-Boza, “briefly [contain] 1) a summary of the book that outlines the main argument, 2) a one-paragraph summary of each chapter, 3) a timeline for completion of the book manuscript, 4) a brief description of the target audience and potential classes for course adoption, and 5) the competing literature. Usually, these are short documents” ( as cited in Hughes, 2018 ).

Also, you will need to keep an eye out for predatory publishing mills, since not all publishers will have your best interests at heart. A good predictor would be if the publisher asked for the information mentioned above. It is more likely that they are legit publishers if they did. It is also noteworthy to mention that anyone who promises to publish your thesis book proposal without any changes is highly suspect. You should seek out legitimate academic publishers and you need to position yourself to have them find you. Although some publishers use institutional repositories, such as college directories, to find potential books, you can take initiative by nudging the process along. This could be done by engaging with people at conferences and mentioning the idea or starting a blog.

Things to keep in mind when finalizing a book are the factors that make a good book: 1) A concise and memorable title that uses keywords will help make the book intriguing. 2) Since the number of readers of a book are greater than dissertation readers, the more general your topic is, the more engagement you will get. 3) In a dissertation, you authority as an author must be proven, but as a book writer, it is assumed. Make sure to play that advantage. 4) While dissertations usually contain extensive documentation to prove authority, books document to credit sources and help the reader. 5) Keep in mind that dissertations can run long, but books are often far shorter ( Hagman, n.d. ).

eContent Pro offers both editorial services , such as copy editing & proofreading, and publishing services that include libraries and open access organizations, university presses and commercial publishing houses and academic and research individuals. By using eContent Pro’s services, you can be confident that you are well-equipped to turn the dissertation that you had put so much time and invaluable effort into a successful book that will propel your professional and academic career to great heights.

To learn more about eContent Pro, visit the website here or email [email protected].

• Clague, Terry (2017, August 1). “A thesis is written for examiners, an academic book for scholars in general” – the basics of writing a book from your PhD. LSE Blog. https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2017/08/01/a-thesis-is-written-for-examiners-an-academic-book-for-scholars-in-general-the-basics-of-writing-a-book-from-your-phd/
• Elsevier (n.d.). Converting your PhD Thesis into a Book in Five Steps Elsevier. https://scientific-publishing.webshop.elsevier.com/manuscript-preparation/converting-phd-thesis-into-book-five-steps/
• Hagman, Lorri (n.d.). Turning Your Dissertation into a Book. University of Washington Graduate School. https://grad.uw.edu/for-students-and-post-docs/core-programs/mentoring/mentor-memos/turning-your-dissertation-into-a-book/
• Hughes, Joanna (2018, Dec. 18). Five Tips for Turning Your PhD Thesis Into a Book. Keystone PhD Studies. https://www.phdstudies.com/article/five-tips-for-turning-your-phd-thesis-into-a-book/
• Iraj, Hamideh (n.d.). Guest Post: How to Turn Your MA or PHD Thesis into a Popular Book. The Scholarpreneur. http://thescholarpreneur.com/guest-post-how-to-turn-your-ma-or-phd-thesis-into-a-popular-book/

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This acclaimed Netflix fantasy series is based on a book trilogy worth your time 

If you love fantasy but haven’t watched A Discovery of Witches yet, hear me out. The series, headlined by Teresa Palmer and Matthew Goode, is riddled with supernatural creatures, magic, politics, and history, with a forbidden romance at the center. And it is adapted from a book series by Deborah Harkness.

What is A Discovery of Witches about?

In 2011, Harry Potter and Twilight were sparking a rise in the reading of fantasy and supernatural beings stories. Author Deborah Harkness, who is also a historian of medicine and science, used her knowledge of the occult, alchemy, and history to write her first fiction novel, A Discovery of Witches . She followed it up with two more books— Shadow of the Night and The Book of Life , together known as the All Souls trilogy. Harkness has written a companion novella about events before the trilogy. A fourth novel in the series has also been released in July 2024.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Deborah Harkness (@debharkness)

The story was set in a world where several manner of supernatural beings co-existed in society, and had a governing council of their own—the Congregation, composed of members of each species. As is the case in any society, there were class wars, oppressive laws, and a bunch of evil people who always disturbed the peace.

Amidst all this is Diana Bishop, a Yale professor of history of science (like the author) who hides her magical abilities. Until one day, while studying a manuscript at the Bodleian Library at Oxford University, the book unlocks her latent magical powers. When she realizes she is being pursued because of what she has set in motion, she is helped by a centuries-old vampire called Matthew Clairmont, who is running a lab to study why there’s been a decline in supernatural species, particularly his kind. 

As a forbidden romance brews between the two—interspecies mating is prohibited—there’s also threat looming over their heads, as Diana’s past, present, and future collide, threatening to upend the Congregation and the precarious peace it has kept for centuries.

The TV series 

In 2018, Sky Studios brought forth a series that adapted the All Souls trilogy for the screen. In A Discovery of Witches , Teresa Palmer played Diana Bishop while Matthew Goode played the vampire Matthew Clairmont. The cast also included Edward Bluemel, Aiysha Hart, Owen Teale, Malin Buska, Louis Brealey, Alex Kingston, Valarie, Pettiford, and Lindsey Duncan, amongst others. The acclaimed series satisfactorily completed telling the trilogy’s story in three seasons and ended in 2022. 

The complete All Souls series in order

1. a discovery of witches (published: 2011).

The first book in the All Souls series, A Discovery of Witches begins with Diana Bishop’s latent magic being awoken when she touches the pages of the lost manuscript Ashmole 782 at the Bodleian Library. It draws other witches, vampires, and daemons to her. That’s how vampire and biochemist Matthew Clairmont is drawn to her too, but soon enough the two begin a forbidden romance while those threatened by it and Diana’s discovery close in on them, spelling danger.

2. Shadow of Night (Published: 2012)

In Shadow of Night , as their enemies close in on them in the present, Diana and Matthew time-walk into the past to Elizabethan London chasing after the missing Book of Life manuscript, and trying to find someone who can help Diana understand her magic so that she can take them back to their time. 

It’s not going to be easy because this is a time period where Matthew had a family and a life at court in service of Queen Elizabeth, with as many friends as enemies. What’s more, he wasn’t the same Matthew Diana knew and loved. It was a time when practicing magic was frowned upon, and witches were being persecuted. Navigating all of the politics, family secrets, and deathly traps laid in their path tests Diana and Matthew’s relationship, as they try to locate the elusive manuscript that will alter their future forever.

3 . The Book of Life (Published: 2014)

The third book in the series, The Book of Life , brings Diana Bishop and Matthew Clairmont back to their present time; Diana having learned that she is a weaver—someone who creates her own magic spells—at the feet of the witch Goody Alsop, and Matthew having learned a few things about his own life back in the day. However, their return is marred with tragedy as shadows of the past and present come together to threaten not just their life but also that of their unborn children.

As their world teeters on the brink of destruction and inevitable death, Diana and Matthew must use all their knowledge and power to defeat their enemies and resolve the situation to prevent magical species from certain extinction. 

4. Time’s Convert (Published: 2018)

In 2018, Deborah Harkness came up with a companion novella titled Time’s Convert, that follows the life of Matthew Clairmont’s vampire son Marcus McNeil, a young surgeon during the American Revolution and given the choice of immortality. It draws a parallel to Marcus in present day, as the girl he loves, Phoebe, is about to embrace immortality as well, and the juxtaposes the challenges Marcus faced with what he and Phoebe are faced with in present day.

5. The Black Bird Oracle (Published: 2024)

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If you thought the All Souls series was over, I’ve got some good news for ya! It looks like Deborah Harkness is not done telling Diana Bishop’s story just yet! She has come out with a fourth book in the series, titled The Black Bird Oracle , which was published in July 2024.

According to the book’s official synopsis, the Congregation wants to now test the magic of Diana and Matthew’s Brightborn twins, Pip and Rebecca, to ensure they’re not a threat. Worried that her kids might be spellbound like her, Diana decides to accept help that has been offered to her from an unexpected source—a great-aunt she didn’t even know existed. Diana, now under the tutelage of a family member and a powerful witch, Gwyneth Proctor, confronts her family’s dark history and discovers new thresholds of her own power.

A Discovery of Witches is one of the many shows from the AMC slate to be added to Netflix in August 2024. So now’s the perfect time to watch the series and read the books!

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From bestselling novels to unpublished manuscripts, what is the secret to literary success?

Social media, celebrity book clubs and the conglomeration of publishing houses all make publishing tricky to navigate for writers old and new.

You might think releasing 20 books — including four American Girl books — carries some weight in the publishing world. Yet, Kathryn Reiss still has four books, including a thriller for adults, in her repertoire that remain unpublished.

Reiss, an associate teaching professor in creative writing at Northeastern University’s Oakland campus , has made her name writing suspense novels for kids and teens; she published her first novel, “Time Windows,” in 1991 after writing it while on a Fulbright Scholarship in Germany. But she’s bumped up against a wall when trying to branch outside her niche.

“(Publishers) have to think they can market it,” Reiss said. “So if I want to do an adult book, or if I want to do some literary fiction that’s not a typical Kathryn Reiss suspense novel … they go ‘Well, how will we market that?’ You almost get stuck.”

Creative writing is an art, but writers face the same problem many artists do: how they can create something they like that people will also want to buy. Like any other business, book publishers want to sell a good product that they can easily market, Reiss said. But this makes it hard for writers to break out of their shell, if they can even break into the industry at all.

“For a new writer, you have to prove to them you have a very marketable book,” Reiss said. “What people don’t understand is once you’ve had a book published, it doesn’t mean you’re a shoo-in for your next book. It means your publisher will look at your next book. 

“You have a one-up on someone who hasn’t published anything, but it isn’t a given. They have to think they can market it. … Publishers are really about making money. They care about their readers, but they want to sell books at the end of the day. That’s what they’re in the business to do.”

Lesser-known authors have a hard time

Public figures like Prince Harry will automatically generate intrigue and sales when they write something. Popular authors like Colleen Hoover and Emily Henry are also guaranteed hitmakers. 

But debut or lesser-known authors find they have a harder time. In 2021, there were only 15 novels by debut authors on the New York Times’ list of best-selling hardcover fiction books . Of these, 10 were celebrity authors or were part of a celebrity book club and benefited from the endorsement.

The evolution of publishing has created this scenario. In his recent book, “Big Fiction,” Dan Sinykin explores how publishing has changed since the 1960s when book publishers began conglomerating and becoming more corporate. The publishers of mass market books were acquired and larger publishers took over, focusing on sales over everything else. This led to the creation of “best-selling” authors who could churn out hit after hit.

Book production increased in the 2000s when publishing shifted from manual to digital production, added Juliana Spahr , an English professor at Northeastern’s Oakland campus. Making a book became a faster and cheaper endeavor and publishing houses went from publishing a few thousand fiction titles a year to churning out tens of thousands.

Publishing more books increases the odds

Both small and large presses alike started publishing more books to increase their odds of producing a commercial hit that would offset the costs of their other works, Spahr said. At the same time, major New York publishing companies continued to gobble up smaller presses. “The Big Five” remaining companies now have a stranglehold on the publishing world.

“They’ve had control for many years over major media things like the New York Times Book Review,” Spahr said. “It’s a very different landscape. … Publishing has always been hit or miss. Nobody knows what’s going to hit. So for larger publishers, it often made sense for them to publish more titles hoping that one of them will subsidize the costs of the other titles and a bestseller. There’s no more first books. It’s really hard.”

It also makes it harder for new titles to stand out.

“The internet is a wonderful thing,” Reiss said. “But it means there’s just so much out there all the time. You can’t keep up with new books. It’s not just the 10 big publishers with their 20 new books. So much is just coming out all the time.” 

There’s also the pressure to follow publishing trends. Spahr said certain topics and genres like vampire novels or romantasy (romance-fantasy) or books dealing with race have become popular at certain times and it can be hard for writers who work outside those trends.

‘I was as edgy as Jello’

Tanita Davis , who earned a master of fine arts from Northeastern’s Oakland campus and studied under Reiss, had published several books when she had a breakout hit with “Mare’s War,” a young adult historical fiction novel about two girls who find out their eccentric grandmother was in the African American battalion of the Women’s Army Corps during World War II. “Mare’s War” won Davis the Coretta Scott King Award and a nomination for the NAACP Image Award. 

But Davis found her editor had a different vision for her work going forward, wanting her to write something along the lines of “The Hate U Give,” Angie Thomas’ best-selling young adult novel about a young Black girl who sees her friend killed by a police officer.

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“My editor at the time kept saying ‘We want you to be an edgy writer,’” said Davis, who is Black. “I was as edgy as Jello. I felt like a lot of what people were looking for was a certain type of Black character. Part of being a writer for me was wanting to express my own thoughts. Not everybody has the same experiences or can write believably about the things and there are myriad experiences of Blackness in America, (just like) there’s nearly a myriad of experiences being an American.”

Davis ended up leaving that editor and finding another who lets her write in a way that she says is more true to herself. Her recent work has been middle grade novels, with her latest, “The Science of Friendship,” coming out this month.

Davis said many agents and editors look for “comp titles.” These are other books (or other types of media) that are similar to the one being pitched; the idea is to give editors and agents an idea of how to market a new work and whether there’s a demand for it.

“The regrettable part of publishing is that it’s always looking for something that is echoing something else,” Davis said. “It’s always the next thing, and similarities are what sells and so people always say when you write your pitches, you want to say something that is like ‘Mean Girls’ meets ‘The Devil Wears Prada.’ Publishing always reacts better if they look at it and say, ‘OK, that was a really high-grossing movie, so I will feel comfortable looking over this project.’” 

How to break outside existing molds

This makes it difficult, though not impossible, for writers to pitch works that break outside existing molds. Reiss’ daughter, Isabel Strychacz , followed in her mother’s footsteps and turned her thesis from her undergraduate from her time at Northeastern’s Oakland campus into her debut novel, “Starling,”   a young adult novel with fantasy, sci-fi and romance elements woven together. Her second novel, “House of Thorns ,” which is advertised as being “in the vein of The Haunting of Hill House” comes out this month.

But Strychacz’s experience selling her books is different from her mother’s first brushes with publishings. When Reiss published her first book in 1991, marketing was done by the publishing house and writers weren’t expected to get involved, she said. Instead, publishers would put out lists of their new titles each season. Authors would have events and signings. There’d be interviews and reviews in the local paper or on TV.

Strychacz said there’s now an understanding that writers will promote their work on social media, creating a “brand” through their posts.

“It’s almost not even mentioned because they’re just expecting that you will,” she said. “You can do as much as you want … but it’s definitely something I’ve had to think about. The reality of the industry is that like everyone wants their book to do well, so that they get another book deal and just the reality is that to do that, you almost have to be on social media to some degree and it always helps to be active in marketing your books.” 

Agent system isn’t as powerful

TikTok especially has been noted for its effects on book sales. Colleen Hoover’s novel “It Ends with Us” became a New York Times bestseller and made her a household name years after it came out, thanks to users promoting it on TikTok.

In addition to facing fewer publishing options, there’s also fewer direct paths to getting published, Spahr added. People who wanted to write literary fiction would get a master of fine arts degree and their program adviser would connect them with their literary agent who would place the student’s work at a publishing house. 

Now, Spahr said, the agent system isn’t as powerful and there are many writers competing for a few representatives working the market. Over the years, Reiss has taught noted writers like Nina Lacour and Aiden Thomas. But she’s struggled to place anyone she’s taught with her agent.

“Whenever I speak at conferences, people always have this question of ‘How did you break into publishing?’ That’s what everybody who wants to be a writer wants to know, as if that will be the magic key for them,” Reiss said. “Living in Germany, writing a book because I had nothing else to read, that’s not the way you’re going to break into writing. There isn’t one way.”

Erin Kayata is a Northeastern Global News reporter. Email her at [email protected] . Follow her on X/Twitter @erin_kayata .

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Chemical Communications

Chiral bifacial indacenodithiophene-based π-conjugated polymers with chirality-induced spin selectivity.

Novel optically active π-conjugated polymers having a chiral bifacial indacenodithiophene backbone were synthesized by Suzuki-Miyaura cross coupling polymerization with benzothiadiazole comonomer. The obtained C 2 -chiral polymers form amorphous thin films on HOPG and exhibit good chirality-induced spin selectivity with spin polarization of 30~60%.

• This article is part of the themed collection: ChemComm 60th Anniversary Collection

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S. Li, F. Ishiwari, S. Zorn, K. Murotani, M. Pylnev, K. Taniguchi and A. Saeki, Chem. Commun. , 2024, Accepted Manuscript , DOI: 10.1039/D4CC03292F

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