Category Archives: academic book

blogging – don’t lose control of your content

In the last couple of weeks I’ve had cause to think about blogging – again. The paper that Inger Mewburn and I have recently published on ‘Why academics blog’ hasn’t quite gone viral, but it has generated a lot more … Continue reading

Posted in academic blogging, academic book | Tagged , , | 19 Comments

three reasons why editing a book is a good idea

Is it worth editing a book? I’ve been asked this question a couple of times recently. It’s actually not an easy question, as you might guess. That’s because the answer depends on all kinds of things, including where you are … Continue reading

Posted in academic book, collaboration, contribution, editing, profile | Tagged , , , , | 7 Comments

turning your thesis into a book

Lots of people want to turn their thesis into a book. This is not always possible – not all theses make good books. But it may also not be desirable. Some disciplines revere the scholarly monograph so writing one may … Continue reading

Posted in academic book, book proposal, publishing, thesis | Tagged , , | 27 Comments

writing like those I admire

That half conscious state between sleeping and waking seems to be the time that I begin to compose a blog post. I often wake up relatively early with a half formed idea. I then work on it idly, gradually waking … Continue reading

Posted in academic book, academic life, academic writing, argument, authority in writing, de Certeau, reading | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

a literature review as collective and inner library

I recently mentioned in passing in this blog, in relation to writing book reviews in fact, the book by Pierre Bayard provocatively entitled How to talk about books you haven’t read (2007). I want to suggest now that this is … Continue reading

Posted in academic book, Bayard, books, literature review | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments

writing from the PhD thesis – the publishing plan

I’m assuming that if you’re reading this post you have a publishing agenda – that is a list of potential articles from the PhD arranged in priority order. I’m also assuming that this might include a book – but I’m … Continue reading

Posted in abstracts, academic book, academic writing, books, early career researchers, journal, publication plan, publishing | Tagged , , , , | 9 Comments

is writing a book chapter a waste of time?

A couple of weeks ago a colleague suggested that I might want to offer some advice on whether it was better to write a book, a journal article or a book chapter. Coincidentally, just this week @deevybee published a blog … Continue reading

Posted in academic book, chapter, citation, publishing, teaching | Tagged , , | 8 Comments

academic writing – learning from practice

I’ve been thinking recently that one of the problems with writing is that, by and large, we can all do it – and we all DO do it. Being in a literate society means that writing is a bit like … Continue reading

Posted in academic book, academic writing, crafting writing, doctoral education, literature review, Pat Thomson, practice | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

how to read an academic book closely – part three – sucking the stone

There are some books that are important to your study and some that are critical to your ongoing research agenda, and some that you just love. There are also some writers whose work you want to know in great detail. … Continue reading

Posted in academic book, argument, authority in writing, Pat Thomson, reading, reference, terms, theory | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments

how to read and note an academic book – part two – slicing and dicing

So you’ve now picked out the book that you want to read in some detail. As I’ve suggested, you don’t want to read every book in the same way. There are some that can immediately be skimmed, others engaged with … Continue reading

Posted in academic book, argument, backward mapping, note-taking, reading, structure | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments