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| From Dissertation to Book (Chicago Guides to Writing, Editing, and Publishing) | 
 enlarge | Author: William Germano
Publisher: University Of Chicago Press
Discount Category: Book
Selling Price: $16.00
Buy New: $9.12
Potential Savings: $6.88 (43%)
New (26) Used (6) from $9.12
Customer Ratings:  7 comments
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 152
Shipping Weight (pounds): 0.4
Dimensions (inch): 7.9 x 5 x 0.6
ISBN: 0226288463
Dewey Decimal Number: 808.02
EAN: 9780226288468
Publication Date: April 8, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Brand new book delivered from the UK in 10-14 days.
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| Customer Comments:
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The Place to Start for New PhDs August 20, 2008
I was on the fence between which Germano book to buy, this one or "Getting it Published." I ended up getting both. Between the two, though, this is the one to start with. Not only did it demystify the process of revising the dissertation into a book, it actually has made me feel much better about my dissertation itself. It seems that most all dissertations have telltale problems and limitations; Germano is a former book editor at a scholarly press and has seen enough of them to describe them frankly and helpfully. He pegs perfectly the fundamental flaw of graduate education: what you are asked to produce for your committee is not what publishers want. I have often compared my dissertation to the books that I read and felt that it pales in comparison; Germano explains why this is though and maps out useful strategies--planning, conceptualizing, re-writing--for taking your work to the next level. After reading this, I am actually really excited to get into the revising process.
an essential guide February 15, 2008
1 out of 2 found this comment useful.
I find this book immensely helpful and practical in the day to day work of converting a dissertation into a book. I thought I knew how to write a book, but I found many useful tips and suggestions, and a wonderful sense of humor and grace in the author's advice. I recommend it highly.
 Stop Repeating and Get to the Point! August 29, 2007
3 out of 6 found this comment useful.
Blah, Blah, Blah....this book doesn't even get to the core of the help one is seeking when buying this type of book until Chapter 5 and there are only 9 chapters in the book! There is a lot of repetition. Although the price isn't bad for this type of book, it could have easily been written up in a one page checklist of all the things to do and not do. A far better resource for helping you turn your dissertation into a book is: Revising Your Dissertation; Advice From Leading Editors, Edited by Beth Luey. What Germano takes in 9 chapters to cover, Luey's book covers it in the first chapter alone and then continues to give you much more practical advice.
On another note, although I know this wasn't intentional, it surprised me to find that each time Germano used the third person, he often chose "she/her/herself" instead of using both (himself/herself). This caught my attention early on in the book because everytime the author described the author of the dissertation trying to turn it into a book, he referred to the writer as a "she" and too often the mistakes that "She" made along the way in submitting "her" non-revised disseration. Not until the end of the book Page 115 do you finally see Germano use the term "he/himself in combination with "her/herself" and in that instance it was a positive praise..."every dissertation writer should strive to be the hero of her or his own work..." I just found it interesting that the whole book saw the dissertation writer as a "She" and often making mistakes, and finally when reaching the end, the success is given to both the "He and She" or the "He" alone. I am surprised that the editor of this book didn't catch that...I suppose both were not thinking about their audience enough!
Anyways, its a fine book if you want to get your feet wet but there are better books out there that will give you the same advice but with more direction and less talk...and one positive note, even Germano, himself indicates further resources to turn to at the end of his book, including Luey's book.
 From Dissertation to Dissertation May 31, 2007
4 out of 5 found this comment useful.
As a graduate student just beginning to write my dissertation, this book was very, very helpful. Eric Foner's blurb on the back cover suggests putting it into the hands of PhD candidates at the conclusion of their doctoral defenses. I would suggest doing so at the conclusion of their general exams, when the typical dissertation errors Germano describes can still be avoided. Reading this book before writing a considerable portion of my dissertation has given me a clear set of questions to keep in mind as I move forward. It is an excellent complement to Bolker's WRITING YOUR DISSERTATION IN 15 MINUTES A DAY, which offers encouragement and writing tips unhinged from the (reasonable) obsession with turning a dissertation into a book.
 From Dissertation to Book January 15, 2007
5 out of 7 found this comment useful.
I don't see that the book contributed anything substantially different from other books on non-fiction publishing. It offered more generalizations than specific, concrete suggestions. Perhaps for graduate students and students just submitting the dissertation, this book could be helpful (It does, after all, introduce readers to the world of academic publishing); however, for those who have already begun work on the book manuscript or who have definitively made the decision (and have the support to do so), I think this book will be less helpful.
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