American Studies thesis publication, advice/thoughts?

[SanDiegoHistory1]

Good morning,

 

After a time visiting the site - I finally end up writing my first post after my PhD defense.

 

My field is American Studies, and having successfully defended I have an offer to publish my thesis (in English) from a reputable French publisher (I did my graduate work in France).

 

They would like to publish essentially "as is" with only minor modifications/corrections. While the offer is exciting, that means publishing a very academic text (French academic works are highly structured and pretty formal) that will have a limiting effect on readership, I'm sure.

 

While I think my disseration could make a good book, the window for publishing at present doesn't leave the time for a substantial rewrite... So the question is, do I seize the occasion to get this first book publication, and then do a genuine rewrite into a more generalist publication for later on?

 

Many thanks for your thoughts!

[poliscar]

Good morning,

 

After a time visiting the site - I finally end up writing my first post after my PhD defense.

 

My field is American Studies, and having successfully defended I have an offer to publish my thesis (in English) from a reputable French publisher (I did my graduate work in France).

 

They would like to publish essentially "as is" with only minor modifications/corrections. While the offer is exciting, that means publishing a very academic text (French academic works are highly structured and pretty formal) that will have a limiting effect on readership, I'm sure.

 

While I think my disseration could make a good book, the window for publishing at present doesn't leave the time for a substantial rewrite... So the question is, do I seize the occasion to get this first book publication, and then do a genuine rewrite into a more generalist publication for later on?

 

Many thanks for your thoughts!

Where do you foresee your career heading, geographically speaking? Do you intend to stay in France, and if so, would this publication be helpful for you there in terms of promotion & tenure? If the answer to both of those questions is yes, I'd say to go ahead and accept the offer. 

If you hope to work outside of France I would be a bit more careful. In a French or Romance Studies department such a book would probably count towards tenure, but in an American Studies department (or another field, say History or English), in which scholarship is primarily conducted in English, it probably wouldn't be recognized in relation to the labour involved. Some departments might count it as the equivalent of an article or two, but I can't necessarily see it being given the same weight as a monograph published by an english university press. I would also be wary about publishing it now and then working towards what you term a "genuine rewrite." You'd probably be toying with copyright issues there, and even outside of that, UPs can be pretty anal about publishing work that is already available in a published form. In that context, you'd be hard-pressed to find someone willing to publish a book when an earlier version already exists in book form. 

In a North American context, and to a lesser-extent a British context (I can't speak to a European context), you're probably best off pushing for a book contract with a university press. If you can, publishing a chapter or two in article form can be helpful in this case, particularly if the journals in question are notable in your field.