Revising your PhD dissertation for book publication involves adapting both content and style. Following are some quick tips about what to keep in mind:
- The aim of the book. Now you are making a contribution to the scholarship. The book should be more succinct and focused than your dissertation.
- The audience. Your monograph will address an academic audience, but don't forget that your topic may have a broader appeal --keep jargon in check.
- Title of the book and titles of chapters should be clear and succinct. Think of key words for a Google search, e.g.
- The chapters should be organized logically and show the progression of the research and argument. They should be somewhat even in length.
- Frame the book with a brief introduction and conclusion (no need to explain the state of the discipline, e.g.)
- Keep the bibliography manageable by removing references that are not strictly necessary.
- Remove any material that will identity the book as a PhD thesis, such as chapters on methodology and literature review.
- Keep notes in check. Remove unnecessary footnotes and integrate as many as you can within the text.
- Avoid lengthy quotations --they may entail permission issues and break the narrative.
For more detailed guidelines, please read Download Author Guidelines_Revising your PhD
If you have any questions, or would like to submit a proposal or discuss a project, please contact
Marie-Claire Antoine
Acquisitions Editor, Politics & International Relations
mantoine@continuum-books.com