Hi all,

I was wondering if anyone could offer their thoughts or advice on my current situation? The details are below, but in essence I'm asking how you guys think publishing a thesis as an entire book compares to publishing chapters separately as journal articles, in the field of arts/ humanities?

I finished my literature phd last year and submitted a book proposal to have it published as part of a relatively new book series by a respected academic publisher in my field. I was delighted to receive an acceptance of my proposal, however the publication offer requires me to pay a 'subvention' towards the publication costs. I fully expected this, as I am aware that it is now common in my field, and the publisher is well respected so it is not a case of 'vanity' publishing. The problem is that, while the publisher suggested that most students in my position are able to get thesis publications funded by their department, my former university have informed me that there is no money available for this. I am currently out of academia (though am hoping publishing will allow me to keep that door open for the future), and it will be difficult for me to finance this myself, so I'm beginning to wonder whether it would be better to try to publish my chapters as separate journal articles instead, rather than investing in the book project. I didn't submit any chapters to journals during my phd, as I had always had in mind to try to get it published as a book.

Thanks a million for any thoughts you care to share!

In Law School, it is normally better to publish that PhD as a book rather than papers, if one wishes to do a postdoc.

In humanities a book is normally regarded more highly than individual journal papers, but papers - if enough of them - can be a good substitute.

I'm a bit concerned by your publisher asking for a subvention. Make 100% sure that this isn't quasi vanity publishing, as many academic publishers are. For example I know one ex PhD student at my department who had her PhD thesis published by a German academic press, which is very dodgy, and little more than vanity publishing in the way they operate (I'm not going to say the name for legal reasons, but there's tons out there on the web). So this book publication carries very little weight with academics who know enough.

Assuming your publisher is really bona fide I think you need to weigh up the cost of the subvention versus potential gain. It could certainly help you get an academic post in future. Is that worth it enough?

Alternatively ditch the publishing contract and go for papers. But be warned these will take ages to produce, and may not all succeed. Academic journal publishing is a very slow and difficult process. It could take some years for you to see the full results. With a bona fide publisher you might be better off paying up-front for the publishing and see results fast.

Good luck!

In my case, as I had already published several articles, my aim was to publish my PhD thesis as a book. I was looking for a reputable publisher, expecting my thesis to be peer reviewed and I did not want to pay a penny. I approached four publishers: the first, refused to send it for a peer review and wanted me to pay for compiling an Index and would only publish in a soft cover and I rejected. The second publisher sent it for peer review and it was rejected but I did not get any feedback as to why. The third publisher, two reviewers rejected it and the third approved of it based on me submitting a book proposal, but the publisher rejected. In case of a third publisher, two reviewers wanted by thesis to be published but the third rejected based on a paragraph comment that there was nothing new in my thesis.. From those who were in favour of publication, one of them was an expert in the subject and I received a valuable comments for improvements and which I did. I am now writing a second book based on a different subject.

From the perspective of the REF, papers are better.