{"id":1154,"date":"2023-05-31T17:30:34","date_gmt":"2023-05-31T17:30:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/english\/?p=1154"},"modified":"2023-06-13T11:38:28","modified_gmt":"2023-06-13T11:38:28","slug":"from-phd-thesis-to-monograph-tips-for-editing-your-first-book","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/english\/from-phd-thesis-to-monograph-tips-for-editing-your-first-book\/","title":{"rendered":"From PhD Thesis to Monograph: Tips for Editing Your First Book"},"content":{"rendered":"

Heather Hind is a Lecturer in English Literature with research interests in Victorian literature and material culture. She is currently turning her PhD thesis into a monograph. In this post, the second in our series on the PhD and beyond, she shares her hints and tips for getting started with this process.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Motivation<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

“Steppingstones across the River Aire, Gargrave<\/a>” by\u00a0Tim Green aka atoach<\/a>\u00a0is licensed under\u00a0CC BY 2.0<\/a>.<\/p><\/div>\n

Why do you want to publish a book? And how, in broad terms, do you want to go about it? These questions are worth asking yourself early on. Perhaps you see a monograph as a steppingstone in an academic career. Or maybe you want to disseminate your research to a wider audience. Or publication might be a personal goal. Quite likely, your reasoning is a combination of all of these and more.<\/p>\n

There are alternatives to the book route, such as publishing your research via academic journals or public-facing media outlets. In any case, practical life matters need to be factored in too. The post-PhD period can be tricky in terms of employment, access to resources and mentoring, and time.<\/em>Even if you plan to lightly edit your thesis, the timeline from writing your proposal through to seeing your book being published can be surprisingly lengthy \u2013 not to mention busy and uncertain.<\/p>\n

My best advice is to keep in mind a clear sense of your motivation for publishing your book, and to create a realistic editing schedule. For me, that has meant being more ambitious than I initially intended with my revisions (because my motivation is academic impact) and assigning plenty of time to do them (acknowledging that I have other demands on my time).<\/p>\n

Proposal<\/strong><\/p>\n

The next step, after deciding to publish your book, is to get a proposal and sample chapters in order. I\u2019d highly recommend checking out Laura Portwood-Stacer\u2019s Manuscript Works Archive<\/strong><\/a>. <\/strong>Laura is the author of The Book Proposal Book<\/em> and her website contains guidelines, templates, prompts and all kinds of proposal-writing information.<\/p>\n

The broad questions I found useful to think about while writing my proposal, and working out the new shape and emphasis of my monograph, were:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. What new perspective\/s will my book offer?<\/li>\n
  2. What ideas does it connect, or what story does it tell?<\/li>\n
  3. How might it inform and influence my field and discipline?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Initial edit <\/strong><\/p>\n

    First, remove any thesis-y phrasing and heavy-handed signposting, such as \u2018In this thesis\u2026\u2019. Next, revise or cull your footnotes and any extraneous references. One of my PhD supervisors advised me to \u2018wear my learning heavily\u2019 in the thesis or, in other words, include plenty of references to show the full breadth and depth of my reading and research. While your monograph should be detailed and well-researched, it doesn\u2019t want quite the same \u2018heaviness\u2019 as a thesis. During this initial edit, pay extra attention to the clarity of your writing and flow of your argument. As with your footnotes and references, consider cutting any tangential sentences or paragraphs. It\u2019s a good idea to make space for new material before it\u2019s written, rather than adding and adding to an increasingly baggy monster of a manuscript.<\/p>\n

    Content and structure<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/a>

    “Hot Air Balloon Inflating<\/a>” by\u00a0ajagendorf25<\/a>\u00a0is licensed under\u00a0CC BY-NC 2.0<\/a>.<\/p><\/div>\n

    Next, you might rethink your monograph\u2019s overall content and structure. Your examiners\u2019 reports can be very useful here! You may well plan to cut as well as add material, though identifying areas to expand\u2014whether to include unused thesis research or new post-PhD developments\u2014can make for a major selling point in a book proposal. I have heard that some publishers want to see an entirely new chapter for the monograph, though another approach (which I\u2019ve adopted) is to add sections of new material to your existing chapters.<\/p>\n

    You might also consider restructuring your chapters so that they make more sense (or are more marketable) as a book. For example: would splitting your chapters up into shorter ones help to guide your reader through the material with more ease? Is there a current or emerging topic that you might engage with in a new chapter or sub-section? Can you retitle your chapters (or overall book) to appeal to a wider audience?<\/p>\n

    With these points in mind, I found it helpful to reread some monographs that I admire to reflect on what works well, especially in terms of structuring the introduction and conclusion.<\/p>\n

    Academic writing guides <\/strong><\/p>\n

    These can also be sources of inspiration. Helen Sword\u2019s books<\/a> on academic writing are excellent and she also has some free writing tools and videos<\/a>. Here are two more resources I\u2019ve found helpful for writing and editing:<\/p>\n

    The Thesis Whisperer<\/strong><\/a> \u2013 This site is useful for thesis writing pointers as well as general academic writing tips.<\/p>\n

    Publish Not Perish \/ Jenn McClearen<\/strong><\/a> \u2013 A newsletter with a back catalogue of posts that includes tips on all aspects of academic writing.<\/p>\n

    Valuable tips<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Picking up on my earlier point about recognising the pressures of the post-PhD period, here\u2019s the advice I\u2019ve found most helpful.<\/p>\n