Randall Stephens
[Cross posted at Religion in American History.]
I liked it when the AHA met in NYC last year. Better yet, this year it’s in sunny San Diego, a nice break from the cold, snow, slush, and raging swine flu of New England. (And I forgot to bring my wetsuit.)
I spent part of Thursday reconnoitering the area and meeting with various friends in the profession. I also had a chance to sit down with Susan Ferber, executive editor, Oxford University Press, and pose a few questions about publishing.
In the video embedded here I ask her about what she looks for in a proposal and what she thinks about the recent boom in religious history. I also ask her about the matter of converting a dissertation into a book. I was reminded of a piece that appeared in the Chronicle nearly two years ago: “Goodbye to All That” by Rachel Toor. A former editor, Toor summed up a meeting she had with a friend who wondered how her dissertation would fare when submitted to a press:
Wanting to be helpful, and, since I was no longer an editor constantly on the prowl for potentially promising manuscripts, I gave her my honest opinion: Who would be interested in a book like this?
I pointed out that, even in the way she described it to me, she was using coded language, jargon that would be a big flashing red light to warn off anyone outside of her particular academic discipline. What publisher, I asked, was going to want a book on a topic unknown to most people, especially if there was no underlying argument or theoretical framework?
Ultimately, what I wondered was whether anything in the dissertation was worth turning into a book.
I'm not always the most fun lunch date.
True enough. Ferber’s remarks, by contrast, are positively cheerful. So take heart, your dissertation may have a ready audience as a book. Just think carefully about readership and how best to frame your argument.
Blog Archive
Popular Posts
-
Randall Stephens It takes a certain temperament to be a historian. For example, you have to, at least on some level, enjoy rummaging throug...
-
Philip White Despite the company’s recent price increases, the decision to split its DVD delivery and streaming businesses and the lamentabl...
-
Jonathan Rees Today's guest post comes from Jonathan Rees, professor of history at Colorado State University - Pueblo. He's the auth...
-
Randall Stephens Jean de Venette (ca. 1308-ca. 1369), a Carmelite friar in Paris, wrote about the horrifying devastation brought on by the ...
-
Our first post comes from Heather Cox Richardson , professor of history at UMass, Amherst. Richardson is the author of a number of books on...
-
Heather Cox Richardson On May 24, 1844, Samuel Morse sent his famous telegraph message, “What hath God wrought?” from the U.S. Capitol to hi...
-
History blogging is delicate proposition. I typically look for a topic which is sufficient to fill 3-5 paragraphs with perhaps that many lin...
-
Randall Stephens I regularly browse the Library of Congress's Prints and Photographs Division for pictures to illustrate essays, forums...
-
Heather Cox Richardson One hundred and fifty years ago this weekend, 75,000 Union and about 38,000 Confederate troops massed near Sharpsburg...
-
. This from a dear friend and colleague: The History Department at San Diego State University would like to announce its fundraising efforts...