Dissertations Wanted!

Welcome to The Academic Life! In this episode you’ll hear about:

• Why Robert Ramaswamy wants to see your revised dissertation submitted for publication.
• What makes a revised dissertation ready to submit to a press.
• How to choose mentor texts to put in your proposal.
• Signs that you might not want to turn your dissertation into a book, and what to do instead.
• The editorial complexities of saying “no” to a book proposal.
• And a discussion about the new University of Wyoming Press imprint

Our guest is: Robert Ramaswamy (he/they), who has a BA in American studies from Yale University and an MA in American studies from George Washington University, and left a PhD program in American Culture at the University of Michigan ABD. He joined UPC/University of Wyoming Press as acquisitions editor in 2022, after working as an assistant editor for the Ohio State University Press and as an editorial assistant for University of Michigan Press/Michigan Publishing. At UPC/UWyoP, Robert acquires in history, environmental humanities, public humanities, and democracy and the United States. He lives in Ann Arbor, MI with his partner, Anna, two dogs, and eight chickens.

Our host is: Dr. Christina Gessler, the co-creator of the Academic Life.

Listeners to this episode might also be interested in:

• Association of University Presses 
• University of Wyoming Press 
• On Revision, by William Germano
• From Dissertation to Book, by William Germano
• What Editors Do: The Art, Craft and Business of Book Editing, by Peter Ginna
• A discussion of From Dissertation to Book, hosted by Dr. Dana Malone 
• A conversation with Mona Hamlin about marketing scholarly books 
• A conversation with acquisitions editor Rachael Levay 

You are smart and capable, but you aren’t an island and neither are we. We reach across our mentor network to bring you experts about everything from how to finish that project, to how to take care of your beautiful mind. Here on the Academic Life channel, we embrace a broad definition of what it means to be an academic and to lead an academic life. We view education as a transformative human endeavor and are inspired by today’s knowledge-producers working inside and outside the academy. Wish we’d bring on an expert about something? DMs us on Twitter: @AcademicLifeNBN.