Is Your Dissertation a Pit That Doesn’t Let You Come Out?

There is pin drop silence around me. It is justified and accountable, for I am in the process of writing my dissertation. Before I found myself in this situation, I was harsh enough to mock at those people who told me it was the most painful part of their academic journey. I often wondered, how painful could it be?  My perspective was that all that a dissertation calls for is to pen down all you have learnt over the years.  Writing always gives you guaranteed results vis a vis experiments as by the end of the effort, positively there is something constructive to produce. This was a third person’s view and with this perspective I always looked forward to taking up a smooth ride towards writing my dissertation.

Is this giving you a good laugh? I will let you have one. I have done that n been there too!

By now you   must have estimated and understood how awfully wrong I was. I was just not wrong but horribly, terribly and awfully wrong. After I ventured into writing my dissertation, there was not any end to writing. I had spent hours writing and I could further continue to write for days and weeks and still have lots to write about. To add to my misery, my supervisor sends me back my drafts with red ink dripping from them. How demotivating could that be? I am surely progressing, at a turtle’s pace, slowly and gradually!  A few of my chapters are written and up for approval with the supervisor.  I keep waiting for more and more changes to be done and don’t know for how long this vicious circle would move along.

I feel as if I am not different from anyone who has fallen into a pit and is finding it difficult to climb out.  The only change or difference here is that I chose to jump into the pit rather than by accident. I assumed a pit to be a pond from where I could successfully swim out like a fish.

I  do suggest to all those  who feel similar, do not lose hope and trust your potential and capabilities. It is a slow journey but a sure success if you bring in consistency and discipline in your effort. Do not shy  away to seek help from  reliable and experienced sources. It surely simplifies the hurdles and keeps the spirits high. Good Luck!!

A lot of PHD scholars, when they finish their research wish to convert their thesis into a book. However, more than often they are not aware of the publishing process. For the first time publishers, there are a few steps that they need to follow compulsorily in order to smoothly go ahead with the publication process.

Write the prospectus of the book: it may sound very challenging; however a book prospectus is not that complex a document. There are certain important components of a book prospectus.

• The main argument of the book in a summative format
• The paragraph summary of each chapter
• A time frame within which the manuscript would be completed
• Detail of the target audience in accordance with the content of the book
• The similar genre of literature that is available.

All this information does not need to use a lot of pages. These are short documents where information needs to be put in a concise manner.

Submit the prospectus of the book: It is a good idea to send the prospectus of the book to many publishers, as many as possible. It is often possible to find the precise requirements of the publishers online and usually some of them ask for two sample chapters.

Submission and review of the manuscript/book: After your prospectus gets approved, you have to submit your manuscript in a stipulated time period. After having submitted the manuscript, it usually comes back in a time span of one to twelve months. Sometimes the wait for the review looks very long and may get frustrating.

The contract offer: On the basis of the review, the press decides to take a decision regarding the manuscript. In the best possible scenario, it may offer the contract or it may ask to revise the prospectus again as per the suggestions of the review committee. If the proposal is completely not suitable to the press they may decline the offer altogether. You need to search and approach another publisher in the case. In case the contract is signed, all the negotiations take place at this stage regarding the expenses related to the index, pictures, royalty, date and place of release etc.

Revision and Copy Editing: The manuscript is revised on the basis of the suggestions made by the review committee and finally it goes to the copy editor for proofreading. When the copy editor sends you the changes, you revise it according to the changes.

In the Press and on the shelf: Printing takes a couple of months and finally the book is available for sale.