publishing book-length manuscripts

[Virginia Valian]

To all:

I'd like to see more discussion about publishers and
about advice to give PhD students about publishing their
dissertations.

1)  Some publishers, Kluwer among them, charge prices
that I find unconscionable.  In fact, last week I threw
a Kluwer catalogue in the wastebasket after gasping at
a few prices.  And a 2% royalty to authors!  That adds
insult to injury.  Perhaps there
are publishing economics that dictate these high prices
on the part of some publishers,
such as publishing books that few people are likely to
buy or read.  That gets to my next point.

2)  Are we doing students a good turn by advising them
to publish their dissertations as book-length manuscripts?
Although an occasional dissertation-turned-into-book
gets read, most do not.  Most students would be better
off publishing articles.  There is the possible benefit
for tenure of having a book, but many of these books
do not look like "real" books and, I believe, are
discounted.

Sincerely,

Virginia Valian
Professor of Psychology, Hunter College, 695 Park Ave, NYC 10021, USA
vvvhc at cunyvm.cuny.edu
http://web.gc.cuny.edu/dept/lingu/valian.htm