By the end of the course, participants will:

• have analysed book proposals in their disciplines;

• have have submitted draft proposals for peer and teacher feedback;

• have received detailed feedback on their proposals (following the format of a CALL text revision).

This course comprises 3 “blocks” of 4 workshops that will help you work towards the publication of a monograph based on your dissertation. The blocks are standalone, so you might want to join one in your first year, then another in your second year. Attendance is expected to be in-presence. Fellows should be aware that they need to set time aside to work on these tasks to participate fully in the block they are attending. 

The first block focuses on the book proposal—from identifying a potential publisher to how to reframe your dissertation’s contribution as a more substantial intervention in the field that will look “marketable” to a publisher. In the second block you will revise a body chapter to make its form and style more appealing to a wider scholarly audience. The third is also an opportunity to revise a book chapter, but is run more as a writers’ group (with peer and teacher input). 

Class meetings are as follows:

Nov 5, 12, 19, 26 

Jan 21, 28 

Feb 4, 11 

April 15, 22, 29 

May 13 

The learning and teaching strategies used are:

• independent reading of guides to book proposal preparation;

• teacher-led discussion of the genre and elements and criteria of the book proposal;

• external speaker presentations on how book proposals (and books) are received and evaluated (in 2024-25, presentations by EUI library subject specialists, an academic publisher, and early-career researchers with recent book contracts);

• teacher-led discussion of strategies and techniques for revising a chapter from the dissertation for inclusion as a sample chapter to be included in the book proposal;

• structured peer feedback on draft proposals and revised chapter sections;

• close revision of end-of-“block” submissions (book proposals and chapters) by teachers, following procedure of a CALL text revision.