For me, it wasn’t the proposal stage of turning my dissertation into a book that was tricky, but the rewriting. My book is very similar to my dissertation, particularly when it comes to the broad structure. I thought this meant it would be a relatively quick and easy exercise. But, it was harder than I anticipated because the writing was good enough for examination, but not for wider publication. It wasn’t a total rewrite but a shift in emphasis and expression.
What follows are my tips based on my experience from an arts and humanities perspective…
#1: Signpost Differently: Signpost your Argument
Writing a successful PhD means you need to signpost original knowledge. A book is not a PhD dissertation. What you are now signposting is your argument, so consider if your reader can take certain things for granted rather than slapping them around the face repeatedly. I kept using the phrase ‘in the space above’ to emphasise my argument in one chapter, but it became annoying for the reader. Repetition works in a dissertation but it doesn’t work well in a book.
That said, your introduction needs a few paragraphs where you signpost the significance or timeliness of your work. This is particularly important if you are working within the UK’s REF context, as it helps make the case for your book’s research excellence. You may also want to include a few lines in each chapter about the significance and rigour of your work. What you don’t have to do is demonstrate the ‘originality’ of every single new point. You are the expert now, own it!
2: Literature Review Differently: Incorporate Rather than Dump
The easy bit is axing your literature review: be gone! What was tricky for me was that I had mini-lit reviews at the start of each dissertation chapter as a way of setting up each chapter’s theoretical framework and demonstrating that I’d done the reading. In the book, this meant careful restructuring and integration of only the material that was absolutely necessary. Rather than presenting all that material up-front, I had to work out what was needed at the beginning each chapter to theoretically underpin it, and what literature needed to be incorporated into the body of the text. The benefit was that this helped make my points more clearly, concisely and persuasively.
#3: Be More Definitive: Be the Expert
Remove all those bits where you anxiously bolstered your argument and justified your approach. eg I jettisoned why I wasn’t using dance theory and instead made the case for an approach that drew on histories of female exercise and physical culture.
There were times in the dissertation where my writing took a little too long to make a point because I had to demonstrate I had read everything and considered every approach e.g. when explaining the reasons for the demise of vaudeville. In the book I confidently summarise the situation, without discussing the ins and outs of different arguments in detail, as it doesn’t serve my discussion.
But, this tip isn’t just about truncating information it is also about owning expertise. It’s about avoiding hedging language and passive voice. Instead of writing ‘it is hard to know’, I would assert ‘my analysis suggests’ (hedging), and rather than saying ‘in this chapter’ (passive voice), I claimed my role in the work by stating ‘in my chapter.’
#4: Edit by Thinking About What you Need to KEEP
This was a tip from my PhD supervisor. Your book is not a dissertation thesis, so do you need all the information you included to fulfil the criteria of your research degree? Think about what needs to be there and be bold in cutting.
#5: Edit for Conciseness (and keep returning)
The work I wrote first in my PhD needed the most editing because it was the most meandering. I found it helpful to do a first pass of editing each chapter, I then gave the work some time and space, before editing again; each time I was able to cut more sentences and trim more words.
#6: Update, Update, Update
For me, updating the argument with new material was a way of trying to regain interest in work that felt done. I needed to find a slightly different engagement with the work to complete it as a book. As my research is broadly historical, turning it into a book meant finding some new primary resources, adding a couple of new case studies and updating the text using recently published secondary literature. (Remember: you don’t have to incorporate everything, just what is relevant).
So, beyond research, what does that mean practically?
If you’re reading this before you have signed a contract: just submit it! Your book needs to demonstrate up-to-date research, which means you need to incorporate any new literature. I delayed submitting my book proposal for over a year because I was worried about it being perfect. It doesn’t need to be perfect, it needs to be good enough. Writing the actual book then took me almost two years. It’s worth bearing in mind you may need to fit your writing around other projects, employment, and responsibilities. This kind of timeline is not unusual, so make sure you factor in sufficient time for each chapter in your project plan. I was lucky to be in academic employment at the time, but if you’re not, it can be more difficult to find the time to edit your manuscript.
#7: Talk to People About Your Work
Talking to someone who hasn’t encountered your work before can help you see it through fresh eyes. One friend helped me understand that my research was doing something interesting I hadn’t realised! This led me to reconceptualise the significance of my work and improve its framing for a broader readership in the book’s introduction.
#8: Spark Your Readers’ Imaginations and Take Them on a Journey
Think about the hook. Your reader has lots of competing draws on their time, so how does your writing reel them in and keep them interested when they could be doing something else? You write your thesis to pass an examination. It has to be methodical and the prime reader of it, your examiner, has to read it; your prose can get away with being a little stilted. An idle reader needs to be given a reason to read-on rather than stare vacantly out the window… Think about capturing your reader’s imagination: pique their interest, gently take their hand and lead them on a journey.
My research journey post-PhD was about learning how to write anew for book chapters and journal articles in an engaging manner.For instance, this meant thinking about how I could help my reader imagine performance spaces more vividly by walking them into their seat in each different venue.
#9: Activate Your Network for Feedback (but be Considerate)
I was really lucky to have a lovely group of peers around me. I couldn’t have written my book without their insights. I would rewrite a chapter and send it to a friend who I thought might be interested in the subject matter and then wait for their thoughtful and insightful feedback. (Be mindful of other people’s deadlines and develop an honest relationship with your friends about whether it is practical for them to take on the unpaid labour of helping you within your deadlines).
#10: Take Heart
Rewriting your dissertation into a book is hard. Academics I respect have told me it is one of the books they found hardest to write because it is hard to assess work that has been rewritten so many times for a different purpose. I am taking heart from the fact that the next book must be easier…
Biography
Kate Holmes is an independent researcher and Open Access Librarian. Her first monograph was Female Aerialists of the 1920s and early 1930s: Femininity, Celebrity & Glamour, which was nominated for the 2022 Theatre and Performance Research Association David Bradby Monograph Prize and the Circus Historical Society’s 2023 Stuart Thayer Prize. Kate uses multiple approaches ranging from spatial performance practices to theories of how bodies process movement. Her research primarily focuses on the embodied experience of being an audience member at aerial performances of the past and present. For more information on her research, see her Bristol Research Portal and ORCID profiles.
