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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 A published book also has a much longer shelf life than an unpublished dissertation, and will occupy a respected place on your CV or resume for years to come.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:

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From Dissertation to Book

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After many years of hard work, a dissertation is a monumental accomplishment. With so much time and effort coupled with the desire to add to scholarly discourse, many people hope to transform their dissertations into a book. Graduate writing has equipped scholars with extensive information about their discipline-specific genres, but the genre of book - and certainly a book hoping to appeal to audience outside of their field - requires new ways of writing. This page provides information and considerations aiding one’s efforts in a “publish or perish” world

Before you Begin

Many people feel the pressure of publication, especially of a book valued by scholars in your field, as they add that “Dr.” to their email signature. The truth is, book publication is still considered the standard even though many entities like the Modern Language Association (MLA) suggest moving away from a book as being the standard for tenure, instead giving articles and chapters more weight. Despite this pressure, it is highly recommended that you take some time (ideally at least a year) away from your dissertation. After dedicating so much time to such a specific topic over the past years, it can be difficult to look at your dissertation with the fresh eyes necessary to reshape it into a book without taking time away. 

Once you have taken this break and are able to greet your research anew, critically think about whether this should be a book. Trying to be objective, ask yourself if you really need a book-number of pages to convey your argument or if it would perhaps be better suited for an article or series of articles. Consider that the dissertation may actually have potential for both articles and a book. Another consideration for this choice is timeliness - articles come out much quicker whereas books can take a few years until they hit the shelves. If you think something might be old news in a few years, an article is the way to go. 

You may also consider researching subsidies. As a new author, you are a risk to your editor. Coming with funding to offset printing costs will make you less of a risk and ideally have your editor look at your proposal a little more deeply. 

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, remember to resource yourself. With workshops, grants, editors, senior scholars, and presses, you are not alone on this journey. While you may consider avoiding your committee so that your feedback is coming from fresh eyes, colleagues often have words of wisdom regarding the book-publishing process. Throughout the process, you’ll also get feedback from your editor and anonymous peer reviews. While it’s easy to get defensive, it’s important to acknowledge and value their opinions and explain your reasoning if you decide not to incorporate a suggestion. You and your editor are on a team, so you both may make compromises throughout the process. Remember - they are on your so team, so go in with a growth mindset and you’re next academic accomplishment will be more in reach. 

During the Process

Once you’ve decided that you are, in fact, going to make a book out of your dissertation, it’s time to prepare for the practicalities of this process. First, you need to figure out how you are going to make it possible for you to accomplish such a feat. Writing a book takes intense discipline, so it’s important to create clear goals and plans by considering all the steps it will take you to get to that finish line. Simple actions like scheduling protected writing time can make a huge difference in success. Perhaps you set a goal of writing one page every day. Remember that writing constructs knowledge and the act will get you closer to your final product, even if it isn’t writing that actually ends up in your book,

The process of transforming your dissertation into a book is centered around audience, so you’ll want to keep that audience at the forefront of your mind throughout the writing process. Consider very carefully who your ideal reader(s) are. There may be multiple, and that’s great. Is it scholars in your field? An “intelligent layperson” (Luey, 2004) outside of your field? Whatever group of ideal readers you end up with, review your writing from each individual perspective. People often dream of a broad audience of people outside of academia without actually seeking feedback from anyone outside of the academy. If you’re telling your editor that you believe this will appeal to a history buff outside of the academy, get feedback from someone in that group and have them note places where your writing is not clear. This generalist perspective will help you see what items like jargon are confusing or what information feels boring, increasing the chances of success for this book. 

When considering your new audience, remember that you no long need to share everything you know about your topic in this document. While you did have to prove yourself to your committee, this audience automatically assumes you are an expert, so sections that were proving you’re reliable can be ditched or significantly parsed down. This means your literature review will be significantly cut, if not deleted altogether. This is also true of methodologies unless your methodology is exceptionally groundbreaking and interesting. 

Your old audience had to listen to you - it’s part of their job description. This new audience will need to be actively reached. Even if your main goal is people in your field, to make a book broad enough to sell - which your editor is going to look for - you’ll need to write for a wider audience which may require you to let go of any anxiety about being “taken seriously in your field.” 

A book will require broadening the appeal of your topic. This can be accomplished in a variety of ways such as: 

• Humanizing your subject - this may take additional research (such as interviewing the people who make up your statistics) or be as simple as adding personal elements about your topic (such as adding personal life information that was outside of the scope of your dissertation focused on a person’s political career).
• Adding narrative elements - plot, characters, setting, your own voice, and a beginning, middle, and end that pushes the reader forward are all key to marketability.
• Finding a new angle - an angle that directly impacts your reader such as financial or navigation of a life event is going to reach a larger audience.
• Expanding the topic culturally and temporally - take a broad topic related to your subject and see the impacts and/or comparisons of contexts such as religions, race, communities, geographical region, politics, time period, etc. perhaps referencing other studies in your field.
• Justifying your topic’s value - you may hope to create a guide showing your topic’s influence in hopes of affecting mindsets, policy, and funding of stakeholders and those in power. 

While your presses’ and editors’ feedback trumps all, there are some general considerations all editors are looking for. As you walk the line between theory and narrative, you’ll want to consider items such as: 

• Transitions - does the book flow in a way that keeps the reader interested? 
• Chapter length - are the chapters similar in length? If not, what can be combined or split up? 
• Repetition - do you find places where facts, stories, or claims are being repeated? Where do those best fit? 
• Hyperquotation - do you have too many or too long of quotes? How can you reframe that information with a focus on your work? 
• Bibliography/End Notes - is this information necessary? Does your editor/press have limitations on these sections? 
• Hagiography - are you ever writing about a subject without criticism? How can you make sure your argument is balanced? 
• Tables and Graphs - Does the chart fit without having to turn the book sideways? Does it repeat what’s in the prose making it not worth the cost? Can charts be combined? 

Now That You Have a Book

While some people may not have a completed book when they submit a proposal, many have at least a large chunk written and certainly a general outline and thesis. If you do have a whole book complete, you may consider the following advice in the “before you begin” part of the process. 

With the reality of budget cuts, editors are accepting fewer and fewer book proposals, making it more imperative than ever that your proposal sticks out. If you are an emerging scholar in your field, you probably won’t have the benefit of being actively sought out by publishers. This means you’ll need to do your research to find the right press and editor for you. Editors tend to have niche areas of topics they like to publish. Check out who published resources you used or check out the list of latest book releases in your field to see who is publishing work in your subject area. These are the publishers that you should propose to. 

First, make sure that you follow proposal formatting and content requirements. If you don’t, an editor may disregard your proposal due to the inability to fit within their genre guidelines. Furthermore, if you write more than they ask for, they may assume you cannot write in a concise and clear way and choose to put it in the “no” pile. Beyond this, to make your proposal attention-grabbing, you’ll want to draw them in with a title, table of contents, and abstract or first chapter that are clear, concise, and interesting to someone who may not share your natural enthusiasm for your topic. Typically, the more concisely you can get your points across, the more faith they’ll have in you as a writer. 

This also ties in with something academics may feel uncomfortable facing - this book needs to make money. Editors often look to see if their writers are able to get their point across concisely because fewer pages means less printing cost. Similarly, having low numbers of pictures, graphs, and charts, which cost more to print, can make your book feel less risky to an editor. Being upfront about what costs you anticipate and which you can avoid will help your editor calculate if this book is worth taking the risk of taking on a new voice to the field. 

Final Thoughts

The transformation from dissertation to book can be very exciting. Oftentimes, creating a broader appeal brings out engaging, compelling writing that will be more readily available to the masses. With this book, you have something to say instead of something to prove. Enjoy your new status as an expert as you get to share your unique findings with the world, moving your discipline forward. There will most likely be obstacles and frustrations along the way, but remember that you have already completed the monumental task of writing a dissertation and you are also capable of this. Best of luck on this journey!

LUEY, B. (Ed.). (2008). Revising Your Dissertation: Advice from Leading Editors (2nd ed.). University of California Press. http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/j.ctt13x1g8x

Revising Your Dissertation for Publication

While a dissertation’s in-depth research and analysis can provide a strong foundation for a book, the dissertation itself is not a book and will not be published by an academic press without substantial revisions. Some acquisitions editors are interested first books, especially if they bring new perspectives and fresh ideas to a field, while others do not often publish first books. If you are considering submitting your dissertation for publication, we recommend that you contact editors at university presses that publish in your subject area for guidance on revising your work. Many editors prefer to be involved in the early stages of this process so they can advise you on how to structure the book and your arguments to create a publishable book. Editors generally require changes in the length, content, tone, and style of a dissertation in order to produce a book that will appeal to buyers in the academic market. Read more about submitting a proposal in our Scholarly Publishing Guide .

Below are selected resources to help you revise your dissertation for publication as a book or journal article(s).

Advice from publishers

• Harvard University Press
• Palgrave Macmillan
• Rowman & Littlefield
• Taylor & Francis
• University of North Carolina Press
• Yale University Press
• Publisher Policies on using content in both a thesis or dissertation and an article (from MIT Libraries)
• From Dissertation to Book by William Germano (Lauinger Library, 4th Floor, PN162 .G37 2013)
• Revising Your Dissertation, Updated Edition : Advice from Leading Editors (updated edition, 2008) edited by Beth Luey (online; GU NetID and password required)
• From Dissertation to Book , Duke University (February 27, 2018)
• From Dissertation to Book ( full transcript ), Harvard University (December 17, 2010)
• How To Turn Your Dissertation into a Book , Yale University (April 6, 2016)
• From Dissertation to Book by Leonard Cassuto (Chronicle of Higher Education, May 30, 2011)
• From Dissertation to Published Book (lanugageandphilosophy.com report on an American Comparative Literature Association workshop)
• Give It a Rest by Laura Portwood-Stacer (Inside Higher Ed, August 6, 2019)
• The Stages of Revising a Dissertation into a Book by Amy Benson Brown (Journal of Scholarly Publishing, vol. 52 no. 2, 2021, p. 127-140) (GU NetID and password required)
• Turning Your Dissertation into a Book (University of Washington)
• Publishing your Dissertation (American Psychological Association)

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• Dissertation

How to Write a Dissertation | A Guide to Structure & Content

A dissertation or thesis is a long piece of academic writing based on original research, submitted as part of an undergraduate or postgraduate degree.

The structure of a dissertation depends on your field, but it is usually divided into at least four or five chapters (including an introduction and conclusion chapter).

The most common dissertation structure in the sciences and social sciences includes:

• An introduction to your topic
• A literature review that surveys relevant sources
• An explanation of your methodology
• An overview of the results of your research
• A discussion of the results and their implications
• A conclusion that shows what your research has contributed

Dissertations in the humanities are often structured more like a long essay , building an argument by analysing primary and secondary sources . Instead of the standard structure outlined here, you might organise your chapters around different themes or case studies.

Other important elements of the dissertation include the title page , abstract , and reference list . If in doubt about how your dissertation should be structured, always check your department’s guidelines and consult with your supervisor.

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Table of contents

Acknowledgements, table of contents, list of figures and tables, list of abbreviations, introduction, literature review / theoretical framework, methodology, reference list.

The very first page of your document contains your dissertation’s title, your name, department, institution, degree program, and submission date. Sometimes it also includes your student number, your supervisor’s name, and the university’s logo. Many programs have strict requirements for formatting the dissertation title page .

The title page is often used as cover when printing and binding your dissertation .

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The acknowledgements section is usually optional, and gives space for you to thank everyone who helped you in writing your dissertation. This might include your supervisors, participants in your research, and friends or family who supported you.

The abstract is a short summary of your dissertation, usually about 150-300 words long. You should write it at the very end, when you’ve completed the rest of the dissertation. In the abstract, make sure to:

• State the main topic and aims of your research
• Describe the methods you used
• Summarise the main results
• State your conclusions

Although the abstract is very short, it’s the first part (and sometimes the only part) of your dissertation that people will read, so it’s important that you get it right. If you’re struggling to write a strong abstract, read our guide on how to write an abstract .

In the table of contents, list all of your chapters and subheadings and their page numbers. The dissertation contents page gives the reader an overview of your structure and helps easily navigate the document.

All parts of your dissertation should be included in the table of contents, including the appendices. You can generate a table of contents automatically in Word.

If you have used a lot of tables and figures in your dissertation, you should itemise them in a numbered list . You can automatically generate this list using the Insert Caption feature in Word.

If you have used a lot of abbreviations in your dissertation, you can include them in an alphabetised list of abbreviations so that the reader can easily look up their meanings.

If you have used a lot of highly specialised terms that will not be familiar to your reader, it might be a good idea to include a glossary . List the terms alphabetically and explain each term with a brief description or definition.

In the introduction, you set up your dissertation’s topic, purpose, and relevance, and tell the reader what to expect in the rest of the dissertation. The introduction should:

• Establish your research topic , giving necessary background information to contextualise your work
• Narrow down the focus and define the scope of the research
• Discuss the state of existing research on the topic, showing your work’s relevance to a broader problem or debate
• Clearly state your objectives and research questions , and indicate how you will answer them
• Give an overview of your dissertation’s structure

Everything in the introduction should be clear, engaging, and relevant to your research. By the end, the reader should understand the what , why and how of your research. Not sure how? Read our guide on how to write a dissertation introduction .

Before you start on your research, you should have conducted a literature review to gain a thorough understanding of the academic work that already exists on your topic. This means:

• Collecting sources (e.g. books and journal articles) and selecting the most relevant ones
• Critically evaluating and analysing each source
• Drawing connections between them (e.g. themes, patterns, conflicts, gaps) to make an overall point

In the dissertation literature review chapter or section, you shouldn’t just summarise existing studies, but develop a coherent structure and argument that leads to a clear basis or justification for your own research. For example, it might aim to show how your research:

• Addresses a gap in the literature
• Takes a new theoretical or methodological approach to the topic
• Proposes a solution to an unresolved problem
• Advances a theoretical debate
• Builds on and strengthens existing knowledge with new data

The literature review often becomes the basis for a theoretical framework , in which you define and analyse the key theories, concepts and models that frame your research. In this section you can answer descriptive research questions about the relationship between concepts or variables.

The methodology chapter or section describes how you conducted your research, allowing your reader to assess its validity. You should generally include:

• The overall approach and type of research (e.g. qualitative, quantitative, experimental, ethnographic)
• Your methods of collecting data (e.g. interviews, surveys, archives)
• Details of where, when, and with whom the research took place
• Your methods of analysing data (e.g. statistical analysis, discourse analysis)
• Tools and materials you used (e.g. computer programs, lab equipment)
• A discussion of any obstacles you faced in conducting the research and how you overcame them
• An evaluation or justification of your methods

Your aim in the methodology is to accurately report what you did, as well as convincing the reader that this was the best approach to answering your research questions or objectives.

Next, you report the results of your research . You can structure this section around sub-questions, hypotheses, or topics. Only report results that are relevant to your objectives and research questions. In some disciplines, the results section is strictly separated from the discussion, while in others the two are combined.

For example, for qualitative methods like in-depth interviews, the presentation of the data will often be woven together with discussion and analysis, while in quantitative and experimental research, the results should be presented separately before you discuss their meaning. If you’re unsure, consult with your supervisor and look at sample dissertations to find out the best structure for your research.

In the results section it can often be helpful to include tables, graphs and charts. Think carefully about how best to present your data, and don’t include tables or figures that just repeat what you have written  –  they should provide extra information or usefully visualise the results in a way that adds value to your text.

Full versions of your data (such as interview transcripts) can be included as an appendix .

The discussion  is where you explore the meaning and implications of your results in relation to your research questions. Here you should interpret the results in detail, discussing whether they met your expectations and how well they fit with the framework that you built in earlier chapters. If any of the results were unexpected, offer explanations for why this might be. It’s a good idea to consider alternative interpretations of your data and discuss any limitations that might have influenced the results.

The discussion should reference other scholarly work to show how your results fit with existing knowledge. You can also make recommendations for future research or practical action.

The dissertation conclusion should concisely answer the main research question, leaving the reader with a clear understanding of your central argument. Wrap up your dissertation with a final reflection on what you did and how you did it. The conclusion often also includes recommendations for research or practice.

In this section, it’s important to show how your findings contribute to knowledge in the field and why your research matters. What have you added to what was already known?

You must include full details of all sources that you have cited in a reference list (sometimes also called a works cited list or bibliography). It’s important to follow a consistent reference style . Each style has strict and specific requirements for how to format your sources in the reference list.

The most common styles used in UK universities are Harvard referencing and Vancouver referencing . Your department will often specify which referencing style you should use – for example, psychology students tend to use APA style , humanities students often use MHRA , and law students always use OSCOLA . M ake sure to check the requirements, and ask your supervisor if you’re unsure.

To save time creating the reference list and make sure your citations are correctly and consistently formatted, you can use our free APA Citation Generator .

Your dissertation itself should contain only essential information that directly contributes to answering your research question. Documents you have used that do not fit into the main body of your dissertation (such as interview transcripts, survey questions or tables with full figures) can be added as appendices .

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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

From Dissertation to Book, Second Edition

Second Edition

William Germano

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How To Write A Dissertation Or Thesis

8 straightforward steps to craft an a-grade dissertation.

By: Derek Jansen (MBA) Expert Reviewed By: Dr Eunice Rautenbach | June 2020

Writing a dissertation or thesis is not a simple task. It takes time, energy and a lot of will power to get you across the finish line. It’s not easy – but it doesn’t necessarily need to be a painful process. If you understand the big-picture process of how to write a dissertation or thesis, your research journey will be a lot smoother.  

In this post, I’m going to outline the big-picture process of how to write a high-quality dissertation or thesis, without losing your mind along the way. If you’re just starting your research, this post is perfect for you. Alternatively, if you’ve already submitted your proposal, this article which covers how to structure a dissertation might be more helpful.

How To Write A Dissertation: 8 Steps

• Clearly understand what a dissertation (or thesis) is
• Find a unique and valuable research topic
• Craft a convincing research proposal
• Write up a strong introduction chapter
• Review the existing literature and compile a literature review
• Design a rigorous research strategy and undertake your own research
• Present the findings of your research
• Draw a conclusion and discuss the implications

Step 1: Understand exactly what a dissertation is

This probably sounds like a no-brainer, but all too often, students come to us for help with their research and the underlying issue is that they don’t fully understand what a dissertation (or thesis) actually is.

So, what is a dissertation?

At its simplest, a dissertation or thesis is a formal piece of research , reflecting the standard research process . But what is the standard research process, you ask? The research process involves 4 key steps:

• Ask a very specific, well-articulated question (s) (your research topic)
• See what other researchers have said about it (if they’ve already answered it)
• If they haven’t answered it adequately, undertake your own data collection and analysis in a scientifically rigorous fashion
• Answer your original question(s), based on your analysis findings

In short, the research process is simply about asking and answering questions in a systematic fashion . This probably sounds pretty obvious, but people often think they’ve done “research”, when in fact what they have done is:

• Started with a vague, poorly articulated question
• Not taken the time to see what research has already been done regarding the question
• Collected data and opinions that support their gut and undertaken a flimsy analysis
• Drawn a shaky conclusion, based on that analysis

If you want to see the perfect example of this in action, look out for the next Facebook post where someone claims they’ve done “research”… All too often, people consider reading a few blog posts to constitute research. Its no surprise then that what they end up with is an opinion piece, not research. Okay, okay – I’ll climb off my soapbox now.

The key takeaway here is that a dissertation (or thesis) is a formal piece of research, reflecting the research process. It’s not an opinion piece , nor a place to push your agenda or try to convince someone of your position. Writing a good dissertation involves asking a question and taking a systematic, rigorous approach to answering it.

If you understand this and are comfortable leaving your opinions or preconceived ideas at the door, you’re already off to a good start!

Step 2: Find a unique, valuable research topic

As we saw, the first step of the research process is to ask a specific, well-articulated question. In other words, you need to find a research topic that asks a specific question or set of questions (these are called research questions ). Sounds easy enough, right? All you’ve got to do is identify a question or two and you’ve got a winning research topic. Well, not quite…

A good dissertation or thesis topic has a few important attributes. Specifically, a solid research topic should be:

Let’s take a closer look at these:

Attribute #1: Clear

Your research topic needs to be crystal clear about what you’re planning to research, what you want to know, and within what context. There shouldn’t be any ambiguity or vagueness about what you’ll research.

Here’s an example of a clearly articulated research topic:

An analysis of consumer-based factors influencing organisational trust in British low-cost online equity brokerage firms.

As you can see in the example, its crystal clear what will be analysed (factors impacting organisational trust), amongst who (consumers) and in what context (British low-cost equity brokerage firms, based online).

Need a helping hand?

Attribute #2:   Unique

Your research should be asking a question(s) that hasn’t been asked before, or that hasn’t been asked in a specific context (for example, in a specific country or industry).

For example, sticking organisational trust topic above, it’s quite likely that organisational trust factors in the UK have been investigated before, but the context (online low-cost equity brokerages) could make this research unique. Therefore, the context makes this research original.

One caveat when using context as the basis for originality – you need to have a good reason to suspect that your findings in this context might be different from the existing research – otherwise, there’s no reason to warrant researching it.

Attribute #3: Important

Simply asking a unique or original question is not enough – the question needs to create value. In other words, successfully answering your research questions should provide some value to the field of research or the industry. You can’t research something just to satisfy your curiosity. It needs to make some form of contribution either to research or industry.

For example, researching the factors influencing consumer trust would create value by enabling businesses to tailor their operations and marketing to leverage factors that promote trust. In other words, it would have a clear benefit to industry.

So, how do you go about finding a unique and valuable research topic? We explain that in detail in this video post – How To Find A Research Topic . Yeah, we’ve got you covered 😊

Step 3: Write a convincing research proposal

Once you’ve pinned down a high-quality research topic, the next step is to convince your university to let you research it. No matter how awesome you think your topic is, it still needs to get the rubber stamp before you can move forward with your research. The research proposal is the tool you’ll use for this job.

So, what’s in a research proposal?

The main “job” of a research proposal is to convince your university, advisor or committee that your research topic is worthy of approval. But convince them of what? Well, this varies from university to university, but generally, they want to see that:

• You have a clearly articulated, unique and important topic (this might sound familiar…)
• You’ve done some initial reading of the existing literature relevant to your topic (i.e. a literature review)
• You have a provisional plan in terms of how you will collect data and analyse it (i.e. a methodology)

At the proposal stage, it’s (generally) not expected that you’ve extensively reviewed the existing literature , but you will need to show that you’ve done enough reading to identify a clear gap for original (unique) research. Similarly, they generally don’t expect that you have a rock-solid research methodology mapped out, but you should have an idea of whether you’ll be undertaking qualitative or quantitative analysis , and how you’ll collect your data (we’ll discuss this in more detail later).

Long story short – don’t stress about having every detail of your research meticulously thought out at the proposal stage – this will develop as you progress through your research. However, you do need to show that you’ve “done your homework” and that your research is worthy of approval .

So, how do you go about crafting a high-quality, convincing proposal? We cover that in detail in this video post – How To Write A Top-Class Research Proposal . We’ve also got a video walkthrough of two proposal examples here .

Step 4: Craft a strong introduction chapter

Once your proposal’s been approved, its time to get writing your actual dissertation or thesis! The good news is that if you put the time into crafting a high-quality proposal, you’ve already got a head start on your first three chapters – introduction, literature review and methodology – as you can use your proposal as the basis for these.

Handy sidenote – our free dissertation & thesis template is a great way to speed up your dissertation writing journey.

What’s the introduction chapter all about?

The purpose of the introduction chapter is to set the scene for your research (dare I say, to introduce it…) so that the reader understands what you’ll be researching and why it’s important. In other words, it covers the same ground as the research proposal in that it justifies your research topic.

What goes into the introduction chapter?

This can vary slightly between universities and degrees, but generally, the introduction chapter will include the following:

• A brief background to the study, explaining the overall area of research
• A problem statement , explaining what the problem is with the current state of research (in other words, where the knowledge gap exists)
• Your research questions – in other words, the specific questions your study will seek to answer (based on the knowledge gap)
• The significance of your study – in other words, why it’s important and how its findings will be useful in the world

As you can see, this all about explaining the “what” and the “why” of your research (as opposed to the “how”). So, your introduction chapter is basically the salesman of your study, “selling” your research to the first-time reader and (hopefully) getting them interested to read more.

How do I write the introduction chapter, you ask? We cover that in detail in this post .

Step 5: Undertake an in-depth literature review

As I mentioned earlier, you’ll need to do some initial review of the literature in Steps 2 and 3 to find your research gap and craft a convincing research proposal – but that’s just scratching the surface. Once you reach the literature review stage of your dissertation or thesis, you need to dig a lot deeper into the existing research and write up a comprehensive literature review chapter.

What’s the literature review all about?

There are two main stages in the literature review process:

Literature Review Step 1: Reading up

The first stage is for you to deep dive into the existing literature (journal articles, textbook chapters, industry reports, etc) to gain an in-depth understanding of the current state of research regarding your topic. While you don’t need to read every single article, you do need to ensure that you cover all literature that is related to your core research questions, and create a comprehensive catalogue of that literature , which you’ll use in the next step.

Reading and digesting all the relevant literature is a time consuming and intellectually demanding process. Many students underestimate just how much work goes into this step, so make sure that you allocate a good amount of time for this when planning out your research. Thankfully, there are ways to fast track the process – be sure to check out this article covering how to read journal articles quickly .

Literature Review Step 2: Writing up

Once you’ve worked through the literature and digested it all, you’ll need to write up your literature review chapter. Many students make the mistake of thinking that the literature review chapter is simply a summary of what other researchers have said. While this is partly true, a literature review is much more than just a summary. To pull off a good literature review chapter, you’ll need to achieve at least 3 things:

• You need to synthesise the existing research , not just summarise it. In other words, you need to show how different pieces of theory fit together, what’s agreed on by researchers, what’s not.
• You need to highlight a research gap that your research is going to fill. In other words, you’ve got to outline the problem so that your research topic can provide a solution.
• You need to use the existing research to inform your methodology and approach to your own research design. For example, you might use questions or Likert scales from previous studies in your your own survey design .

As you can see, a good literature review is more than just a summary of the published research. It’s the foundation on which your own research is built, so it deserves a lot of love and attention. Take the time to craft a comprehensive literature review with a suitable structure .

But, how do I actually write the literature review chapter, you ask? We cover that in detail in this video post .

Step 6: Carry out your own research

Once you’ve completed your literature review and have a sound understanding of the existing research, its time to develop your own research (finally!). You’ll design this research specifically so that you can find the answers to your unique research question.

There are two steps here – designing your research strategy and executing on it:

1 – Design your research strategy

The first step is to design your research strategy and craft a methodology chapter . I won’t get into the technicalities of the methodology chapter here, but in simple terms, this chapter is about explaining the “how” of your research. If you recall, the introduction and literature review chapters discussed the “what” and the “why”, so it makes sense that the next point to cover is the “how” –that’s what the methodology chapter is all about.

In this section, you’ll need to make firm decisions about your research design. This includes things like:

• Your research philosophy (e.g. positivism or interpretivism )
• Your overall methodology (e.g. qualitative , quantitative or mixed methods)
• Your data collection strategy (e.g. interviews , focus groups, surveys)
• Your data analysis strategy (e.g. content analysis , correlation analysis, regression)

If these words have got your head spinning, don’t worry! We’ll explain these in plain language in other posts. It’s not essential that you understand the intricacies of research design (yet!). The key takeaway here is that you’ll need to make decisions about how you’ll design your own research, and you’ll need to describe (and justify) your decisions in your methodology chapter.

2 – Execute: Collect and analyse your data

Once you’ve worked out your research design, you’ll put it into action and start collecting your data. This might mean undertaking interviews, hosting an online survey or any other data collection method. Data collection can take quite a bit of time (especially if you host in-person interviews), so be sure to factor sufficient time into your project plan for this. Oftentimes, things don’t go 100% to plan (for example, you don’t get as many survey responses as you hoped for), so bake a little extra time into your budget here.

Once you’ve collected your data, you’ll need to do some data preparation before you can sink your teeth into the analysis. For example:

• If you carry out interviews or focus groups, you’ll need to transcribe your audio data to text (i.e. a Word document).
• If you collect quantitative survey data, you’ll need to clean up your data and get it into the right format for whichever analysis software you use (for example, SPSS, R or STATA).

Once you’ve completed your data prep, you’ll undertake your analysis, using the techniques that you described in your methodology. Depending on what you find in your analysis, you might also do some additional forms of analysis that you hadn’t planned for. For example, you might see something in the data that raises new questions or that requires clarification with further analysis.

The type(s) of analysis that you’ll use depend entirely on the nature of your research and your research questions. For example:

• If your research if exploratory in nature, you’ll often use qualitative analysis techniques .
• If your research is confirmatory in nature, you’ll often use quantitative analysis techniques
• If your research involves a mix of both, you might use a mixed methods approach

Again, if these words have got your head spinning, don’t worry! We’ll explain these concepts and techniques in other posts. The key takeaway is simply that there’s no “one size fits all” for research design and methodology – it all depends on your topic, your research questions and your data. So, don’t be surprised if your study colleagues take a completely different approach to yours.

Step 7: Present your findings

Once you’ve completed your analysis, it’s time to present your findings (finally!). In a dissertation or thesis, you’ll typically present your findings in two chapters – the results chapter and the discussion chapter .

What’s the difference between the results chapter and the discussion chapter?

While these two chapters are similar, the results chapter generally just presents the processed data neatly and clearly without interpretation, while the discussion chapter explains the story the data are telling  – in other words, it provides your interpretation of the results.

For example, if you were researching the factors that influence consumer trust, you might have used a quantitative approach to identify the relationship between potential factors (e.g. perceived integrity and competence of the organisation) and consumer trust. In this case:

• Your results chapter would just present the results of the statistical tests. For example, correlation results or differences between groups. In other words, the processed numbers.
• Your discussion chapter would explain what the numbers mean in relation to your research question(s). For example, Factor 1 has a weak relationship with consumer trust, while Factor 2 has a strong relationship.

Depending on the university and degree, these two chapters (results and discussion) are sometimes merged into one , so be sure to check with your institution what their preference is. Regardless of the chapter structure, this section is about presenting the findings of your research in a clear, easy to understand fashion.

Importantly, your discussion here needs to link back to your research questions (which you outlined in the introduction or literature review chapter). In other words, it needs to answer the key questions you asked (or at least attempt to answer them).

For example, if we look at the sample research topic:

In this case, the discussion section would clearly outline which factors seem to have a noteworthy influence on organisational trust. By doing so, they are answering the overarching question and fulfilling the purpose of the research .

For more information about the results chapter , check out this post for qualitative studies and this post for quantitative studies .

Step 8: The Final Step Draw a conclusion and discuss the implications

Last but not least, you’ll need to wrap up your research with the conclusion chapter . In this chapter, you’ll bring your research full circle by highlighting the key findings of your study and explaining what the implications of these findings are.

What exactly are key findings? The key findings are those findings which directly relate to your original research questions and overall research objectives (which you discussed in your introduction chapter). The implications, on the other hand, explain what your findings mean for industry, or for research in your area.

Sticking with the consumer trust topic example, the conclusion might look something like this:

Key findings

This study set out to identify which factors influence consumer-based trust in British low-cost online equity brokerage firms. The results suggest that the following factors have a large impact on consumer trust:

While the following factors have a very limited impact on consumer trust:

Notably, within the 25-30 age groups, Factors E had a noticeably larger impact, which may be explained by…

Implications

The findings having noteworthy implications for British low-cost online equity brokers. Specifically:

The large impact of Factors X and Y implies that brokers need to consider….

The limited impact of Factor E implies that brokers need to…

As you can see, the conclusion chapter is basically explaining the “what” (what your study found) and the “so what?” (what the findings mean for the industry or research). This brings the study full circle and closes off the document.

Let’s recap – how to write a dissertation or thesis

You’re still with me? Impressive! I know that this post was a long one, but hopefully you’ve learnt a thing or two about how to write a dissertation or thesis, and are now better equipped to start your own research.

To recap, the 8 steps to writing a quality dissertation (or thesis) are as follows:

• Understand what a dissertation (or thesis) is – a research project that follows the research process.
• Find a unique (original) and important research topic
• Craft a convincing dissertation or thesis research proposal
• Write a clear, compelling introduction chapter
• Undertake a thorough review of the existing research and write up a literature review
• Undertake your own research
• Present and interpret your findings

Once you’ve wrapped up the core chapters, all that’s typically left is the abstract , reference list and appendices. As always, be sure to check with your university if they have any additional requirements in terms of structure or content.  

Psst... there’s more!

This post was based on one of our popular Research Bootcamps . If you're working on a research project, you'll definitely want to check this out ...

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20 Comments

thankfull >>>this is very useful

Thank you, it was really helpful

unquestionably, this amazing simplified way of teaching. Really , I couldn’t find in the literature words that fully explicit my great thanks to you. However, I could only say thanks a-lot.

Great to hear that – thanks for the feedback. Good luck writing your dissertation/thesis.

This is the most comprehensive explanation of how to write a dissertation. Many thanks for sharing it free of charge.

Very rich presentation. Thank you

Thanks Derek Jansen|GRADCOACH, I find it very useful guide to arrange my activities and proceed to research!

Thank you so much for such a marvelous teaching .I am so convinced that am going to write a comprehensive and a distinct masters dissertation

It is an amazing comprehensive explanation

This was straightforward. Thank you!

I can say that your explanations are simple and enlightening – understanding what you have done here is easy for me. Could you write more about the different types of research methods specific to the three methodologies: quan, qual and MM. I look forward to interacting with this website more in the future.

Thanks for the feedback and suggestions 🙂

Hello, your write ups is quite educative. However, l have challenges in going about my research questions which is below; *Building the enablers of organisational growth through effective governance and purposeful leadership.*

Very educating.

Just listening to the name of the dissertation makes the student nervous. As writing a top-quality dissertation is a difficult task as it is a lengthy topic, requires a lot of research and understanding and is usually around 10,000 to 15000 words. Sometimes due to studies, unbalanced workload or lack of research and writing skill students look for dissertation submission from professional writers.

Thank you 💕😊 very much. I was confused but your comprehensive explanation has cleared my doubts of ever presenting a good thesis. Thank you.

thank you so much, that was so useful

Hi. Where is the excel spread sheet ark?

could you please help me look at your thesis paper to enable me to do the portion that has to do with the specification

my topic is “the impact of domestic revenue mobilization.

You are here

Completing Your Qualitative Dissertation A Road Map From Beginning to End

• Linda Dale Bloomberg
• Description

Addressing the key challenges facing doctoral students, this text fills a gap in qualitative literature by offering comprehensive guidance and practical tools for navigating each step in the qualitative dissertation journey, including the planning, research, and writing phases. Author Linda Dale Bloomberg blends the conceptual, theoretical, and practical, so that the book becomes a dissertation in action—a logical and cohesive explanation and illustration of content and process. The Fifth Edition includes a greater focus on how qualitative traditions or genres can encompass a critical social justice agenda, and this broader coverage allows the book to have wider application for dissertation work within the constantly evolving field of qualitative inquiry. This edition also addresses some significant changes in the field that have come about since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, impacting how to conduct dissertation research both ethically and credibly by adopting new and innovative methods and approaches. A greater focus on ethics, rigor, researcher positionality, and reflexivity is highlighted and interwoven throughout. The companion website with multiple supplementary instructive materials to support the book is available at:  edge.sagepub.com/bloomberg-qualitative-5e

See what’s new to this edition by selecting the Features tab on this page. Should you need additional information or have questions regarding the HEOA information provided for this title, including what is new to this edition, please email [email protected] . Please include your name, contact information, and the name of the title for which you would like more information. For information on the HEOA, please go to http://ed.gov/policy/highered/leg/hea08/index.html .

For assistance with your order: Please email us at [email protected] or connect with your SAGE representative.

SAGE 2455 Teller Road Thousand Oaks, CA 91320 www.sagepub.com

Supplements

I wish I had known about this fantastic book early in my dissertation process. I came across it in chapter 4, and it rescued me. It gave me a clear idea of what I needed to work on and helped me refine my chapter 3 drastically. It is very informative, structured, detailed, and has a road map for you.  Honestly, this book became the best resource I had, and I cannot emphasize enough how vital it was for me to finish my dissertation. Highly recommended.

I had the privilege of having Dr. Bloomberg as my dissertation chair, and I can testify that this book is truly a roadmap to completing your dissertation. This updated edition provides student-friendly tables and figures with examples to support your dissertation journey. The companion website also provides resource templates that will save time and guide you through every step of completing your qualitative dissertation from beginning to end.

I cannot recommend this book enough. Dr. Bloomberg's writing style is accessible, practical, and organized, as well as inspirational and motivating. This book provided conceptual guidance to me as well as hands-on checklists and examples to ensure my research methods and writing were aligned, clear, and concise. This updated fifth edition continues Dr. Bloomberg's focus on relevance and applicability with information guiding research post-pandemic, as well as continuing to push the envelope of cutting-edge qualitative design. This should be on the shelf of every qualitative researcher--student or practitioner!

Dr. Bloomberg has given qualitative researchers the practical map needed to reduce intimidation and empower students to succeed. When I supervised doctoral students, the first advice I gave to new mentees was: buy this book . This new edition updates the material and references, and is revised for added clarity. The book is written in a straightforward, jargon-free manner that students find reassuring. Helpful tables, checklists, and worksheets tame the chaos of the research process. The overall message of the book is: you can do this.

This is an excellent resource for doctoral dissertation students wanting a step-by-step formula to help them on their qualitative dissertation journey.  The book is easy to navigate, informative, and easy to read. New to this edition is a chapter on ethics and rigor: the clarity of discussion and depth of information on trustworthiness, rigor, ethics, the Belmont Report, and the challenges amid and after the COVID-19 pandemic, is exceptional.

I would have been lost in the process and given up my doctoral journey if had not found this book. This straightforward, comprehensive, well written road map helps researchers, both naïve and experienced, to reach their destination in a timely manner. The author uses scholarly language that is not overly complicated, and there are templates, checklists, reflexive questions to guide and model each step of the dissertation process. In the fifth edition includes more focus on reflexivity, positionality, inclusion, ethics and trustworthiness. A ‘must have’ for doctoral students.

Great resources, easy to read and implement

The comprehensiveness and clarity of the text and supporting resources.

This is a great book for students who often feel very uncertain about qualitative research and if it is good enough. This book offers guidance and normalises any uncertainty and emphasises the role that the researcher plays in qualitative studies.

• The focus throughout is on conceptual understanding as it relates to the practical aspects involved in navigating the dissertation process.

The concepts of rigor and ethics; both of which are integral to qualitative research are interwoven throughout, to ensure a focus on issues pertaining to power, positionality, criticality, and reflexivity.

Throughout all chapters, the importance of maintaining alignment among all elements of the dissertation is reinforced in order to ensure methodological congruence and, therefore, maintain high academic standards.

  Because reflection and reflexivity are cornerstones of qualitative research, each chapter of Part II includes a set of reflexive questions to stimulate critical thinking and reflection.

  The author acknowledges that there are often institutional and/or program-related differences in requirements vis-à-vis the dissertation content, structure, and process. Where appropriate, possible instances of differences in the content and structure of the dissertation are flagged so that students are aware of these.

 The dissertation process can be conceptualized as a journey, and the metaphor of “road maps” is carried throughout the book.

Additional road maps in the form of quality assessment checklists, which are provided for each chapter of Part II.

A set of annotated resources for further reading and exploration are presented at the end of each chapter for referral to additional cutting-edge and relevant literature and research.

A comprehensive checklist of all the activities and tasks that constitute the entire dissertation process is provided.

Sample Materials & Chapters

Chapter 1. Taking Charge of Yourself and Your Work

Chapter 2. Gearing Up

For instructors

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Trapped in dissertation revisions?

From dissertation to book: advice for future authors, published by steve tippins on june 8, 2020 june 8, 2020.

Last Updated on: 29th August 2022, 08:28 am

Many PhD students believe that turning their dissertation into a book is a great idea. I’ve even run into some people who are counting on recouping some of the costs of their program by turning their dissertation into a book and selling it.

The first question I ask them is, “How many dissertations have you ever purchased?” There is a market for some research, but the way academics are trained is to get the article through a journal. If they want, they can get access to your dissertation through a library. 

In order for a book to sell, it must be both accessible to a wide audience and be likely to sell a large number of copies (enough for the publisher to make a profit).

The point is, your dissertation alone is not the same as a book. Turning your dissertation into a publishable, marketable book is a massive undertaking. It essentially means starting the writing process over from Page 1. It is possible to do, and in some cases may be beneficial. But it’s not easy.

From Dissertation to Book: Should I Turn My Dissertation Into a Book?

There may be a market for taking what you’ve done and and turning it into a topic of broader appeal. However, you will have to “de-academify” it, or rewrite it in a way that’s accessible to people outside of academia.

Going from dissertation to book entails changing it from the format of a dissertation into a series of chapters and readable sections for the general public. This means a complete rewrite.

Finding a Publisher for Your Dissertation-To-Book

Even more important than rewriting is finding a publisher that will publish your book. Even if your rewrite is accessible and engaging, it’s still important that the book be marketable to enough people that the publisher will make a profit. 

Self Publishing

The simplest publisher to convince is yourself. You can self-publish and do the marketing on your own. Many traditional publishers do minimal marketing anyway. However, be aware that without a strong grasp of how to market a book, you may only sell a few dozen copies (or less). Many self-published books go almost completely un-read. 

There are many services that can help you self-publish and even market a book. However, there is an upfront cost and there is still no guarantee that you’ll make an income from it.

Traditional Publishing

A traditional publisher will pay you an advance upfront, so your income will be assured. However, it may be difficult to find a traditional publisher willing to take on your projet. You’ll have to market your book to the publisher and show them that there will be sufficient demand for them to take your book on.

How are you going to help them sell enough books to make it worthwhile? This is the question that you must answer. How can you show them that you have connections with enough people to have a built-in market for the book? That might mean having 10,000+ people in your network (social media, email list, or other networks) that you’ll be able to market to.

Another thing that you’ll have to show them is that you’re a credible expert. Fortunately, having completed a dissertation on the subject you’re writing about should establish your expertise.. 

Giving Up Control

It’s also important to be aware that when a publisher takes on a book, they may have ideas about what should be included in the book and what may not. So you may have to give up some control over the material. However, it may be worth it if the publisher can guarantee a wider audience and allow your material to get out in the world, and they take care of the upfront costs of publishing.

Shifting Focus

When you wrote your dissertation your goal was to answer your research question(s). It was not to solve a problem or change the world. While that question may be interesting, you might find a better market if you can turn your results into something that might help solve a problem or change the world. Essentially, you’ll have to broaden your scope.

From Dissertation to Book: How to Turn Your Dissertation Into a Book

Recognize the Scope of the Project

First, it’s important to recognize the large scope of the project you’re taking on. Writing a book is no small feat, even for someone who has already written a dissertation. Also, realistically evaluate your chances of getting your book published. Has a publisher already expressed interest? Will you be pitching publishers you don’t know? How much of a market is there for your topic? Have other books on the topic been published?  These are all important questions to consider.

Read Recently Published Books Related to the Subject

This will help you get a picture of how people are approaching your subject for a general audience. Also, when you submit a book proposal, you will have to list comparable works, so this will help you get an idea of which books you’ll want to include. Finally, doing this will help you see how the books are organized and what the tone is, giving you a head start for your own outlining and writing process.

Read Books About Writing and Publishing

Equally important is to have a solid understanding of the book writing and publishing process. I recommend William Germano’s classic, From Dissertation to Book . However, don’t stop there. WIlliam Zinsser’s On Writing Well is exceptional and should be required reading for anyone who puts words down on paper.

Un-Learn Academic Writing

In order to take your research project from dissertation to book, you’re going to have to un-learn all of the academic writing skills you just perfected. For example, you can (and should) use things like contractions and parenthetical phrases when writing a book for non-academic purposes. 

The average reader may not want to know that Scrum, Scrum, and Scrum (2014) said something tangentially related to what you’re doing. They don’t need to know what the P-value is. You’ll have to shift both the focus and style of your writing. The type of granular detail that’s required in a dissertation is rarely acceptable in a piece of nonfiction written for the general public.

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Talk to People About Your Topic

Talk to somebody else about your dissertation. Have a third person outline what they would want to know about that topic. Talk it through casually with multiple people. This will help you get out of the academic mindset and into the mindset of communicating with the public.

Presenting on or teaching about your research can also help you get a better grasp of how to communicate to people about it. Teaching helps to “crystalize” the concepts you’ve lived with for so long into something you can communicate easily.

Make an Outline

Make an outline and write the first chapter. Show it to people who will give honest feedback, especially those with expertise in writing and English. The first concrete step in the process of going from dissertation to book is to organize your research in a way that’s accessible to a broader, non-academic audience. 

Create a Proposal

Most nonfiction books are sold to a publisher before they’re completely written. Usually, this means submitting a proposal along with two or three chapters. Consult an expert for more information about submitting a proposal.

Be Engaging

it’s important to differentiate between what your committee wants when writing your dissertation and what a publisher wants when writing a book. Karen Kelsky of The Professor Is In says, “Presses are not interested in “solid scholarship.”  They are interested in products that sell.  Products that sell have to be differentiated from the competition–ie, they have to be exciting, new, and different.” She goes on to say, “Write with style and flair.  Just because you *can* write clunky, graceless prose in academia, and get away with it, doesn’t mean you *should.*  Be provocative.  Be original.  Be incendiary.”

Get an Editor

Think about finding an editor who edits popular nonfiction manuscripts, as opposed to an academic editor . It’s kind of like hiring a translate to put your work from one language into another.

Even if you’re used to writing for a general audience, the process of writing a dissertation may actually change how you write. It’s always a good idea to get an editor’s eyes on the manuscript to weed out habits that fit well for academia but not for the general public.

From Dissertation to Book: Should You Publish Your Dissertation as an Academic Article?

You should publish it as an academic article first, before you publish it as a book. If you have aspirations within academia, publications in peer-reviewed journals will be much more beneficial for your career than a publication by Simon and Schuster. 

The other dissertation-to-book option is to write a textbook. You don’t have to “translate” as much from academia. However, you would have to do a lot more research–your textbook has to be much broader than the scope of a single dissertation. And you’ll still have to show the publisher that there’s a market, and why yours is better than those that are already out there. 

Help Turning Your Dissertation into a Book

For anyone who intends to go from dissertation to book, the support of an experienced coach and scholar can be invaluable. My Academic Career Coaching services can help you turn your dissertation into a book and jumpstart your academic career.

Steve Tippins

Steve Tippins, PhD, has thrived in academia for over thirty years. He continues to love teaching in addition to coaching recent PhD graduates as well as students writing their dissertations. Learn more about his dissertation coaching and career coaching services. Book a Free Consultation with Steve Tippins

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Writing Your Dissertation: The bestselling guide to planning, preparing and presenting first-class work Paperback – April 1, 2000

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• Publisher ‏ : ‎ How To Books; 3rd edition (April 1, 2000)
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