Questions about self-publishing a thesis/dissertation

1) Who owns the rights to the material after it's been approved?

2) What kind of rights must be sought to have it published?

2) How is self-publishing viewed by scholars?


I see that Charlie Bing, who earned a Ph.D. from Dallas Theo. Seminary, has been self-publishing his dissertation for a number of years. It's published through GraceLife Ministries.

I'm wondering if this is Ok, since the approval of the degree means the work has already been screened and endorsed by other scholars/committee.

Can someone provide some insight on this?

Thanks.

Roscoe

 

I think the author owns it. As I submit my dissertation for publication, I also pay a copyright fee.

Dissertations have, through the ages, been turned into books published by the authors for their profit.

There are two (I believe) sources for publishing your dissertation. One is through UMI. The other is www.dissertation.com, in association with www.amazon.com. I believe you're paid royalties from either source.

 

Dan Poynter is a great source of information in these matters:
http://www.parapublishing.com

 

Wow - I've met Dan several times - skydiver, lawyer, and publisher. We have a mutual interst in parachutes. Dan published a design guide written by one of the German rocket scientists who were brought to the US after WW-II.

 

Generally, self-publishing is the high-tech version of vanity publishers. If you have something worthwhile to say, it can be the quick route to getting to your intended audience, and publishers just may beat a path to your door. Even without a run-away best-seller, you can conceivably earn a modest living - particularly if you're able and willing to follow through with more of the same over your career.

The flip side of this, of course, is that academic publishing is primarily targetted for academics, not the great unwashed masses, and primarily about your latest and greatest research. Financially, you can essentially write this off as a net loss.

With the financial crisis, there have been a number of commercial and academic publishers ) pulling back and peer reviewed journals going digital, so who knows what it's going to be like in another year, much less another decade.

Sidebar: the dissertation itself is such a bizarre and unique genre, I'm not sure how much of a market you will find even self-publishing. You greatest assets, however, are that you are 1) demonstrably qualified to conduct independent, original research and 2) write it up. Making it appealing and marketable is another matter entirely.

 

You own the information, you'll get an ISBN number too. I had a handout that I used for a community ed class I taught. It got bigger and bigger and bigger- anyway- I published it through Trafford in 2004 so I could pass along the cost. Trafford is out of Canada- and I did a bare-bones package. You send a digital file and you get a book. No editing, no design, no marketing. You do it yourself. I'm not especially warm and fuzzy for them- it's just a print service.

The thing is, you essentially are paying for printing and the ISBN. If you want the publisher to do any marketing- that costs $$. I printed 150 books since 2004 (sold them all!) and am ordering 50 more this summer. I pay about $4.50 per copy and charge $10. I'm not making a living, I'm just getting my students to pay for something I previously provided for free (and it's nicely bound too!). You can publish electronic documents on Amazon's kindle for free, but I haven't explored that since it doesn't really apply to my product...so not sure how that works.

You have to decide who your market is, and how they will find out about your book. I only sell mine in my class....so there isn't anyone on this earth who would find my book in a search engine, and there isn't anyone is looking LOL. If you self-publish, you need a marketing plan and about $500.