2 Writing and Publishing Your Book
low cost; but they have a short shelf life and limited capacity for an evidence-
based argument. Although a blog can be disseminated quite easily, the author’s
authority becomes diluted by commentary if, indeed, the author’s name
remains attached as the blog passes from device to device. Live presentations
are constrained by time limits and the size of the auditorium, but they encour-
age give-and-take with the audience. Journal articles garner more respect and
allow more space for argument and evidence, although even flagship journals
seldom reach beyond their home discipline.
A book has more presence than any of these platforms. It makes a bigger
splash and generates a wider, longer-lasting wake. The physical heft of a book
is obvious. Whereas journal articles run to 10,000 or 12,000 words, nonfiction
books average between 70,000 and 120,000 words, with books in the sciences
and social sciences falling in the lower end of this range and books in the
humanities in the upper end.
A book has more intellectual heft. Instead of a reaction to the headlines, it
is an extended argument with supporting evidence, the product of reasoning
and analysis. Its slow gestation from inspiration through research and writ-
ing to publication allows its author’s thoughts to mature. It offers the insights
of an expert. For this reason, a book remains relevant long after editorials
vanish. Recognizing the enduring value of scholarly books, publishers are
now converting their backlists, including titles published decades ago, to dig-
ital formats in order to keep them available.
For you, writing a book could propel your career to the next level by bring-
ing you far-reaching, long-lasting recognition as the expert on your topic. A
book gives your work more exposure than articles in specialty journals because
a publisher has a vested interest in marketing it broadly, attracting as many
customers from as many diff erent fields as possible. A book has a price tag;
but in addition to information, it offers the experience of a lengthy conversa-
tion with an expert. It is this experience that keeps a book fresh and appealing
for several years.
Turning now to your current project, you can evaluate its suitability for
publication as a book using four interrelated criteria: 1) methods, 2) evidence,
3) scope, and 4) context. I want to clarify that this is not a manual for revising
a dissertation. The term revision misleads. Developing a book from a disserta-
tion manuscript often requires not merely a careful housecleaning but a thor-
ough remodeling. It may require altering the blueprints, knocking down
walls, and uprooting plumbing in order to expand the foundations, raise a
new framework, and build afresh. Nonetheless, if you’ve recently finished
your dissertation and you hope to publish your research as a book, please keep
reading. In the following pages, we’ll evaluate the current shape of your proj
ect and discuss the design of those new blueprints.
