William Germano

Dean and Professor

William Germano received his B.A. from Columbia and his Ph.D. in English from Indiana University. He studies and writes on intellectual production, the material culture of the book, and literature and the allied arts. He is particularly interested in the writing life of scholars, a subject he has written on in Getting It Published: A Guide for Scholars and Anyone Else Serious about Serious Books (University of Chicago Press, 2001) and From Dissertation to Book (University of Chicago Press, 2005). He has published in PMLA, minnesota review, Scholarly Publishing, SPAN, Publishing Research Quarterly, PNR and other publications, and writes frequently for the Chronicle of Higher Education.

For over twenty years he directed programs in scholarly publishing, first as editor-in-chief at Columbia University Press and then as vice-president and publishing director at Routledge; during his publishing career he developed wide experience with disciplines in both the humanities and social sciences, working with many extraordinary scholars, among them Peter Galison, Jacques Derrida, Cornel West, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Gilles Deleuze, bell hooks, Herbert Gans, Stephen Orgel, Michael Taussig, Dario Fo, Sander Gilman, Stephen Greenblatt, Arthur Danto, Raymond Williams, Paul Willis, Stanley Aronowitz, David Bordwell, Julia Kristeva, Wayne Koestenbaum, James Elkins, Marjorie Garber, Peter Stallybrass, Fredric Jameson, Diana Fuss, and Martin Jay.

He has taught in the graduate program in publishing at NYU, is a frequent speaker at academic conferences, and has given workshops and seminars on professional scholarly writing across North America and in Europe and New Zealand.

His current research interests include the processes by which scholars generate scholarship, the history of book indexes and the organization of knowledge in the Early Modern period, and the aesthetic and cultural work of opera. He is beginning work on a book entitled What Opera Knows that will explore the kinds of knowledge embodied in operatic expression as well as preparing new editions of his books on writing.

Projects & Links

Getting it Published: A Guide for Scholars and Anyone Else Serious about Serious Books

Since 2001 William Germano’s Getting It Published has helped thousands of scholars develop a compelling book proposal, find the right academic publisher, evaluate a contract, handle the review process, and, finally, emerge as published authors.

But a lot has changed in the past seven years. With the publishing world both more competitive and more confusing—especially given the increased availability of electronic resources—this second edition of Germano’s best-selling guide has arrived at just the right moment. As he writes in a new chapter, the “via electronica” now touches every aspect of writing and publishing. And although scholars now research, write, and gain tenure in a digital world, they must continue to ensure that their work meets the requirements of their institutions and the needs of their readers.

Germano, a veteran editor with experience in both the university press and commercial worlds, knows this audience. This second edition will teach readers how to think about, describe, and pitch their manuscripts before they submit them. They’ll discover the finer points of publishing etiquette, including how to approach a busy editor and how to work with other publishing professionals on matters of design, marketing, and publicity. In a new afterword, they’ll also find helpful advice on what they can—and must—do to promote their work.

A true insider’s guide to academic publishing, the second edition of Getting It Published will help authors understand what to expect from the publishing process, from manuscript to finished book and beyond.

From Dissertation to Book

All new PhD's hope that their dissertations can become books. But a dissertation is written for a committee and a book for the larger world. William Germano's From Dissertation to Book is the essential guide for academic writers who want to revise a doctoral thesis for publication. The author of Getting It Published, Germano draws upon his extensive experience in academic publishing to provide writers with a state-of-the-art view of how to turn a dissertation into a manuscript that publishers will notice.

Acknowledging first that not all theses can become books, Germano shows how some dissertations might have a better life as one or more journal articles or as chapters in a newly conceived book. But even dissertations strong enough to be published as books first need to become book manuscripts, and at the heart of From Dissertation to Book is the idea that revising the dissertation is a fundamental process of adapting from one genre of writing to another.

Germano offers clear guidance on how to do just this. Writers will find advice on such topics as rethinking the table of contents, taming runaway footnotes, shaping chapter length, and confronting the limitations of jargon, alongside helpful timetables for light or heavy revision. With crisp directives, engaging examples, and a sympathetic eye for the foibles of academic writing, From Dissertation to Book reveals to recent PhD's the process of careful and thoughtful revision—a truly invaluable skill as they grow into their new roles as professional writers.

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