CCT Alum Offers Advice on Thesis Publication

PUBLISHING YOUR THESIS
Christine Quigley

           Congratulations on submitting your thesis and earning your degree! Now, put away your Turabian in favor of The Chicago Manual of Style... With a little revision and research, you should be able to publish your thesis as a book. I worked for Georgetown University Press for sixteen years, published five books with McFarland & Co., then wrote a thesis and earned my master's degree from CCT. Here's my advice, in a few small nutshells:

Prepare the manuscript

            If your thesis is a short one, it may make a better journal article. But if it is 150 pages or more, it would make a suitable scholarly monograph. The Chicago Manual will be invaluable in converting your dissertation to a book manuscript stylistically (a book manuscript does not start with an abstract, for instance, and must be double-spaced throughout, not excepting notes or long quotes as allowed in your thesis). If it reads too much like a thesis (very narrow focus, passive tone, explicit methodology, and extensive quotations and footnotes), you may also need to revise it editorially – either cosmetically or a complete overhaul. If you need guidance, consult Handbook for Academic Authors by Beth Luey. If you still find the task too daunting and can afford to do so, a freelance editor will be happy to help you.

Compile a short list of potential publishers

            The most likely publisher to consider your work will be a university press or commercial scholarly publisher that publishes books in your field. You will find all U.S. Publishers cross-referenced by subject area in a book called Literary Marketplace – just ask for the “LMP” at the reference desk of any library. I always suggest coming armed with the names of the publishers of books you have used and admired during your thesis research. Once you have compiled your list, check their websites for guidelines for submitting a proposal (also called a prospectus) and be sure to follow them.

            You may have received, like I did, an unsolicited inquiry from VDM Publishing House. This is a legitimate offer – VDM is not a vanity press. But, like ProQuest, it operates on a print-on-demand model. Guidance from West Virginia University reads, “[S]tudents who would normally publish a monograph of their thesis or dissertation for promotion and tenure purposes should rely on more traditionally accepted / peer reviewed publishers within their respective fields for publishing opportunities.” VDM maximizes efficiency by interacting almost exclusively by e-mail and through an on-line system. I found them unresponsive to the suggestion that they consider publishing some of my longer related papers in the same volume and to my question about the need to seek permission to reproduce the photographs I had used in the thesis. If you choose this option, the onus of preparing a ready-to-print file is on you. You are asked to prepare the cover of the book (using a template) and its interior (formatting to their specifications) within their four-week deadline. I decided against it.

Send out proposals

            Send a query letter (1 p.) and proposal (2-5 pp.) to the appropriate acquisitions editors of the publishers you have identified. Beware that “thesis” is a bad word among publishers, mainly because the writing style is so academic and the topic so narrow that they project the target audience to be too small to merit the expense of printing and marketing the book. So rework your abstract to summarize your subject, include your table of contents and the introduction or a sample chapter, indicate what makes your manuscript unique and which books it will compete with, stress the areas of your research that would appeal to a general audience, let them know the length and any special features (photographs or figures, for instance), tell them a little about yourself (include your c.v., if appropriate), and let them know that you are ready to send (or to e-mail or upload) the manuscript upon request. Mentioning that you have followed the Chicago Manual of Style will show that you are serious about meeting their needs in order to get your work into the hands of scholars. Do mention in the cover letter that you are simultaneously submitting the proposal to other publishers, if that is the case. Confirm that you will obtain permission from the copyright-holders to reproduce any long quotes, photographs, etc., that you plan to include. Let them know that the thesis was made available on-line (and formally copyrighted, if so) through ProQuest, but that you have made substantial revisions to it since then. And assure them that you will be able to supply electronic files of the entire text in addition to a hard copy of the manuscript.

            Allow a couple of months for their responses before following up by mail or e-mail. You will surely receive some rejection letters, but among them may be the letter from the publisher of your choice demonstrating serious interest in your manuscript, followed by an offer to publish it! If you want more advice, see one of the following books: Getting Published: The Acquisition Process at University Presses by Paul Parsons, Getting It Published: A Guide for Scholars and Anyone Else Serious About Serious Books by William Germano, or Publish, Don't Perish: The Scholar’s Guide to Academic Writing and Publishing by Joseph M. Moxley. But don't consult them as a means of procrastination. Becoming a published author is not as hard as you think.