It occurred to me that many folk with a recently finished PhD or some other significant piece of research, must wonder whether to publish it as a book. Now my second monograph has moved to the revision stage, I thought I’d share a few thoughts on the process.
Everyone will arrive at this point with different prior experiences. In my case, I’ve written in a variety of formats and contexts. All writing experience is useful, even if you have to adopt different styles and protocols.
- 30+ short stories for The People’s Friend
- Serial for The People’s Friend (short stories and serial both great experience in telling a story, building a character, and writing to be understood.)
- Countless book reviews
- Blogging
- Magazine articles
- Journal articles
- 20k word BA dissertation
- 60k word MA dissertation
- 100k word PhD dissertation, which became a
- First monograph (= scholarly book)
So, here I am, revising the draft of my second monograph. And it’s different. It’s like swimming – eventually you take off your armbands, do a few lengths of the pool, and at some point, head for the sea. I can’t talk about writing a non-academic book, but I can certainly outline what’s likely to happen with a scholarly one.
- You pitch your book idea to a suitable publisher. They’re likely to want chapter abstracts, a sample chapter, and an indication of the likely audience. Also some kind of literature review, proving the need for a book like yours to fill the gap.
- Your pitch goes to peer reviewers. It may well take a while to get a response. They’re busy academics, after all.
- They may suggest changes. Assuming the reviewers’ reports are generally favourable and recommend publication, you finally get a contract – and a deadline to finish writing the book.
- Months pass. You get the book written and submitted – and then you wait. The full manuscript now gets reviewed, and eventually you receive the email you’ve been half-dreading. Changes may be suggested.
- You respond to their reviews and indicate what you’re going to change. (Or perhaps, you will decide not to change something that you can defend just as it is!) With a second or subsequent book, these folk are the closest you’ll get to the kind of advice your tutors/doctoral supervisor offered – try to receive it gratefully and graciously, unless you really feel misunderstood!
- You then wait for the go-ahead to make the agreed revisions, and agree a new deadline. It’s Scheduling Time! My calendar for the rest of 2023 is all mapped out.
- I do know what will come next! The copy editor will be let loose on it. I’ll get to see and agree to the suggested edits, usually just small matters of style, or inconsistencies. Meanwhile, I will either have to produce an index, or pay an indexer.
- A cover is agreed on. My book is part of a series, so there may not be much choice here.
- The exciting part is when it’s just about ready to go to press; you are notified of the publication date, and can start planning that book launch.
And then – if it hasn’t happened already – someone utters the dreaded words,
“And what’s your next book going to be about … ?”
Unknown, interested well-wisher
Karen McAulay, Musicologist 