Turning a masters thesis into a book?

[Kalyke]

Hi, I am presently in the middle of a "capstone" Master's paper that is turning into something that may make an interesting book with more of an advice-book voice, and a chucking of the Academic paper verbosity.
I would like to rip it up, add more, add personal touches and stories, but use the research and basic writing (with editing towards a general audience).

It would be a small book, maybe 150 pages.

Has anyone done this? I feel that you have to do a lot of research to write a non-fiction book anyway. I might as well try to get more mileage out if this.

A similar book would be "The Gift of Failure" by Jessica Lahey. It has something of the same vibe. It is directed to teachers and parents, and the main question it asks is why the arts are eliminated in school systems when they actually build areas of the brain, and so many other benifical roles in the child's future (creative thinking, self-relience, experimentation, resilience to mention a few).


The word count is at 11,038 so far.

 

[Siri Kirpal]

Sat Nam! (literally "Truth Name"--a Sikh greeting)

Haven't done it myself. But it sounds worth a try.

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal

 

[Old Hack]

That's a very short word-count.

Very few non-fiction publishers would consider something so short. And it's harder to turn academic papers and theses into books for trade publishers than you'd think: the writing styles are so different. But it has been done.

 

[Kalyke]

Old Hack
That's a very short word-count.

Very few non-fiction publishers would consider something so short. And it's harder to turn academic papers and theses into books for trade publishers than you'd think: the writing styles are so different. But it has been done.



I don't see too many self-help books out there that are Stephan King sized door stoppers. And I think that any person who writes well can re-write an APA style book to a folksy chatty style. My graduate advisor already knows I write more in a magazine style than a scientific style. I would think that using actual facts, threading in personal experience, and the stories of others who I will interview later, should bulk it up to 250 pages at least, about 50K words. The word count is short now because I am still working on it.

It seems that typical non-fiction is about 70,000 to 80,000 words. I have many areas that can be expanded. My paper focuses more on the brain science of learning, but there are more areas that I can go into.

Also, I could self publish through Amazon or something like that (like everyone else).

 

[clek25]

I say why not? If it's a subject that interests you and you're passionate enough about to it continue to write it and bulk it up a little to make it publish-worthy, I don't see a reason not to go for it.

 

[Old Hack]

It would be a small book, maybe 150 pages.

[snipped]

The word count is at 11,038 so far.

That's a very short word-count.

I don't see too many self-help books out there that are Stephan King sized door stoppers. And I think that any person who writes well can re-write an APA style book to a folksy chatty style. My graduate advisor already knows I write more in a magazine style than a scientific style. I would think that using actual facts, threading in personal experience, and the stories of others who I will interview later, should bulk it up to 250 pages at least, about 50K words. The word count is short now because I am still working on it.

It seems that typical non-fiction is about 70,000 to 80,000 words. I have many areas that can be expanded. My paper focuses more on the brain science of learning, but there are more areas that I can go into.

Also, I could self publish through Amazon or something like that (like everyone else).

I was commenting that 11,000 words is not enough. (The page-count is immaterial.)

Don't "bulk it up" with anything. You need every word to count. You're in dodgy territory including stories of people you've interviewed: you will need to collect releases from all of them, and disguise them in some way. It's common to combine several interviews into one, or to use the interviews as guidance to create fictional subjects, just to protect their privacy and your copyright.

Note that few publishers would be interested in a self-help book about "brain science" unless the author has a significant platform: by that I mean the author would need to be a recognised expert in the area, and have solid experience of helping people resolve their issues in this area. If this is your Masters thesis then you're probably not there yet, in terms of finding a trade publisher--although it's not impossible.

 

[Kalyke]

The information is common and can be found in any biology textbook. But, I understand. It's never worth taking risks.

 

[paqart]

I have a contract to publish my PhD thesis (96,000 words) as a book. Your word count is less than some of the chapters in my thesis--not that your subject needs so many words, but 10,000 is less than some of the longer journal articles. The way I see this, you are talking about writing a book, and to do so you will utilize your thesis research. That said, I wouldn't describe it as converting the thesis, because with such a low word count, you may as well write an outline from scratch, tip in the data where appropriate from the thesis, then make a proposal (the proposal will be 20,000 words). After that, try to get an agent. If the agent gets you a contract, then write the rest.

 

[Cyia]

What font, pt. size and margins are you using? Because this:

It would be a small book, maybe 150 pages.

Doesn't hold with this:

The word count is at 11,038 so far.

Using a broad average of 250 words per page: 150 pages * 250 word = 37,500 words, not just over 11,000.

Is the 150 your projected finished page count? Are you padding with photos or illustrations?

Something's not adding up in the most literal of mathematical senses.

 

[chompers]

I understood it to be a work in progress, currently at 11,038 so far, and estimated to be 150 pages once completed.

 

[Kalyke]

Very obsessed with word count here, not so much with ideas. No one even asked what it was about. Just word count, margin width, (secretarial stuff). Who cares. Why pick a little detail apart like that? If it gets good I can write 300-400 pages. (All with citations). I have only started.

I wanted to go small because Kindle self-published books are often small.

 

[Old Hack]

Very obsessed with word count here, not so much with ideas. No one even asked what it was about. Just word count, margin width, (secretarial stuff). Who cares. Why pick a little detail apart like that?

We care, that's who.

It's not just "secretarial stuff", it's all pertinent to your question.

The word-count and page-count you gave don't work, unless you've formatted the book incorrectly--which would cause problems for you later, whether you were going to self publish or trade publish. We're not "pick[ing] a little detail apart", we're trying to work out what's wrong here and help you to make it right.

It wasn't clear from your previous posts that your book was unfinished. So yep, the extent mattered because at the length you gave, it would not be publishable by a trade press.

If it gets good I can write 300-400 pages. (All with citations). I have only started.

I wanted to go small because Kindle self-published books are often small.

"If it gets good"? I would hope it's already good. Because if not, it doesn't matter how short it is, or how cheaply you sell it, it's not going to do well for you, and might turn into a bit of a millstone if you write anything else.

Kalyke, you don't have to listen to us, or take our advice--even though it's clear we know a lot more about writing and publishing than you seem to do. But please don't be resentful and argumentative when the good people of AW don't give you the answers you were hoping for. It's not appropriate.

 

[veinglory]

If you tell someone you are making a car the size of a bread box, they don't care much about the horsepower and upholstery. Even management non-fic, which is super-short, normally exceeds 30,000 words.

 

[Fruitbat]

So, you've got information from your master's thesis and you want to use it in a book for laypeople, right?

How to answer your questions gets a bit complicated from the start because an early usual fork in the road is deciding whether you want to self-publish or try for an agent/trade publisher. You'd go about it differently, depending. You can just write it and worry about all that later but it would probably be a lot more work for you.

If you self-publish, you can do it however you want, of course. But then it's an uphill battle to get much notice or many sales. Writing more than one book on the topic helps, as does getting some related articles published or starting a website. (Or, if you just want to write it up and let it fly, then move on to other things, that's up to you as well).

An agent/trade publisher usually wants a proposal for nonfiction books, not a completed manuscript. If you already had the completed manuscript, you'd mention it in your proposal. But they may want you to re-do it with their input, which would mean you'd wasted a lot of effort. They might think a different slant on it would sell better or who knows what... Other things matter more then, to get that foot in the door with them, like book length, advanced credentials, etc.

If you want to go the trade route, it would probably increase your chances if you could get a PhD in the field to be co-author or write a forward. (That would also probably help your sales if you self-published it).

IMO it would be good to get on it right now, while the info. is fresh in your mind and your enthusiasm is high.

Your research of similar books is a good place to start, either way, to see what there is and isn't much public interest in, what's already been done, etc. A relatable writing style is a great plus imo.

Good luck.