How to turn your dissertation into a book

Unfortunately a dissertation alone counts for very little in the academic career field. It helps you graduate, shows your published and that's about it. Many people want more than this simple outcome. This is why I always recommend taking the next step and turning your dissertation into a book. Now while many people take the traditional publishing route, I teach others to self publish their dissertations considering the following tips.

1.  A dissertation is not a book. Overall with your dissertation this is where you begin to articulate ideas and concepts that will eventually turn into your book. But it takes a lot of revising, and restructuring. You can NOT copy and paste this. Your book is where you have a chance to go more in depth for your readers.

2. Determine who your ideal reader is. Your reader is no longer the committee so your job is to appeal to your ideal reader NOT the dissertation committee any longer. The problem with dissertations is it is a often a lot of explaining and stats. Your reader will want to connect with you and be a part of the conversation and story. So have to do more than share information. You have to make it transformational.

3. Pay attention to your writing style. Dissertations are very formal intentionally, but you will need to change your tone and style to make it more "book like". One strategy I used when working on turning my dissertation into a book, was reading other books that were similar in subject. This helped me determine creative ways to deliver the information to my new ideal reader.

4. Do not try to match the page length. Long gone are the days where people read 300 page books. People want books they can digest easily. In addition, academic publishing places are going out of business and therefore those still in business are under pressure to keep their costs down. Part of this means they are publishing shorter books and in turn they found that readers actually are okay with this.

5. Be patient. Turning your dissertation into a book is not just a copy and paste. It will require a lot of editing and reviews to make it "book ready" so do not assume this is something that can be done in one sitting. You must be prepared to take your time with this project, this also ensure's you're putting your best work out into the world.

Overall, transforming your dissertation into a book will be a long process, but it’s beyond  doable.  In fact, I highly suggest going after it. You did research that the world needs to see, hear and learn more about. This is a great way to ensure the research isn't in vain.

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