Pages

25 July 2011

Book Giveaway for Grad Students

This is not so much a draw or a contest as an offer to pass on genuinely helpful books to someone who can use them. As I've mentioned before, I attended grad school and earned a PhD. in English Literature, with a specialization in Renaissance drama and a twist of medical history. I have a handful of books from that time that I can no longer use, but which are good and helpful.

If you are a grad student, and especially if you are a doctoral candidate in the arts or social sciences, and you would like these books, I will mail them to you. Not to frown upon science majors, but these books are skewed toward the arts / social sciences side of campus, where publishing a book when you're fresh out of grad school is de rigueur these days. I will mail them anywhere in the US or Canada.

Just drop me a line in the comments on this post and include an email address that I can use to contact you. This is a first come, first served situation. I do ask that you be in grad school and planning to complete a PhD in the arts or social sciences. 


Writing Your Dissertation in Fifteen Minutes a Day: A Guide to Starting, Revising, and Finishing Your Doctoral ThesisJoan Bolker, Writing Your Dissertation in Fifteen Minutes a Day

This is the single most helpful how-to-write-a-thesis book I encountered during grad school. My copy is unmarked but a little wrinkly because I read it multiple times and possibly put it on a shelf under a leaky houseplant for a while. It saved me a lot of headaches as I worked out how to do the dissertation.






From Dissertation to Book (Chicago Guides to Writing, Editing, and Publishing)William Germano's From Dissertation to Book

Let's say you get your thesis finished and you defend it successfully and you've got your shiny PhD in hand. This book is aimed at helping you convert that project into a publishable book. My copy is in good shape with scanty highlighting throughout. In today's academic environment, where you are expected to emerge from the womb clutching your already-published book, it might help you to keep in mind the dissertation / book relationship throughout the writing process - save a little time, you know?


Getting It Published, 2nd Edition: A Guide for Scholars and Anyone Else Serious about Serious Books (Chicago Guides to Writing, Editing, and Publishing)William Germano's Getting It Published

My copy is the first edition, not the second edition pictured here. It is fairly pristine, and is about publishing your serious book once you've finished converting the thesis into a book.





The Thesis and the Book: A Guide for First-Time Academic AuthorsVarious Authors, The Thesis and the Book

Along the same lines as From Dissertation to Book, this is a collection of essays about common pitfalls and solutions as you work toward publishing your first academic volume. My copy is fairly pristine.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

these books and your honest comments make me tremble in my MFA-boots. And whenever I get trembly, I tell myself that an MFA is terminal ... even if i have the option of pursuing a phd ... but then every so often I think about pursuing it ... and well, get trembly all over again. :/

Michael Offutt, Phantom Reader said...

Thanks for commenting on Rogue Mutt's blog. I appreciate your input. It turned into quite the discussion. I knew from the start when I read it that Mutt was going to bring up Orson Scott Card on me because I read so much into his work. I respect your education. A PhD is quite impressive.

ShareThis