Submitting to Dissed!
Dissed!
The Real Deal on Writing Dissertations and Theses,
From Actual Survivors
A book about the delights, and more commonly, the trials, tribulations, and vicious vicissitudes of writing theses and dissertations.
We're seeking witty, insightful essays and anecdotes on the process of writing such papers -- whether written at the bachelor's, master's or doctoral level. We want intelligent, erudite if the occasion calls for it, but always engaging writings that will appeal to anyone close to this unique writing project.
What We'd Like
Essays: The cornerstone essay for the piece is comparing the process of writing a dissertation to Elizabeth Kubler Ross' theory of the acceptance of death: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance, tongue firmly planted in cheek. We're looking for essays that both amuse and enlighten; while there are number of books on the market about the process of writing a dissertation, there are none that examine the unique process of self annihilation that happens when you're writing one. We're going to fix that.
Anecdotes: From one contributor: "After a couple of years of trying to write my dissertation, I finally came to the realization that I just wasn't able to do it. No way. Wasn't going to happen. So, I decided I needed to find someone who could. Enter "Babs," my alter-ego. She wore lots of eye shadow and had long red fingernails and went to places I never went and managed to get the damn thing done. My husband muttered a lot about multiple personality disorder, but he got over it once I got my hood and tossed the fingernail polish."
What You Get
Fame. No fortune. Sorry! But if we publish your entry, we'll include your name and university and we'll give you your very own copy of the book to wave about in front of your friends. And we'll give you a great deal on additional copies if you want to send multiple copies to all of your friends and gloat more globally.
And the Winner Is...and we're offering a prize for the best essay entry. Our esteemed and nepotistic panel of judges will decide upon the winner of the the best essay; if you win, you will be entitled to a detailed editorial analysis of your book-length manuscript (on any topic -- for example, if you weren't completely repulsed by your dissertation topic and are transforming it into a book that someone other than your mother will read). If your work fits within the editorial goals of Meandering Press, we'll consider it for publication.
How To Play
Download this call for papers PDF. (All entries due by June 30,2007.) And please, do this only if you've written a thesis or a dissertation and send us stuff only on this topic. Anything else and the karma gods will curse you!
