Manuscript Makeovers: A Rhetorical Study of Revisions Made to Dissertations Turned into Books

This study is a rhetorical analysis of revisions made to the introductions of dissertations successfully transformed into monographs. The author compares parallel passages taken from six dissertation–book pairs representing a cross-section of disciplines in the humanities and social sciences. He interprets changes from dissertation to book with reference to the body of literature written for aspiring book authors by experienced scholarly editors. The author's objective is to put their editorial advice on an empirical footing by illustrating it with these texts 'grown in the wild.' His hope is that junior scholars will find the analysis instructive when they turn a revisionary eye on their own dissertations and that scholarly editors will find it useful when they prepare publishing workshops for junior faculty and graduate students.