Publishing my PhD Thesis
Getting a Ph.D. can be a very protracted and frustrating experience. It takes years to do your work, years to write up your Ph.D. theses, and oftentimes years of banging your adviser's and Ph.D. committee's heads against some blunt inanimate object until they finally understand what you are trying to say. (I am mostly joking about that last one. Mostly.) When you are finally done, and are feeling all proud of your accomplishment, and your family starts to feel a bit relieved that you are not in school any longer (none of those "stay in school" ads ever tell you that they don't really want you there forever) the realization sinks in that no one really cares about your research topic, and the number of people who are actually going to read your Ph.D. thesis is approximately one (and that includes yourself). This is particularly the case if you work on a very obscure topic in an already largely abstract field – non-local gauge field theory for instance.
For the most part old Ph.D. theses languish in some dusty old university library, or more likely in an off-site storage facility. That, pretty much, is the case with my own UIUC Ph.D. thesis, and it's the fate that for the longest time I had thought to be inevitable. However, we do live in the 21st century; desktop, internet, and electronic publishing have been making great strides over the past few decades, and there is no reason to let your magnum opus just roll over and die the death of permanent obscurity. So at the end of the last year I took the plunge and published my Ph.D. thesis. The whole process was surprisingly simple and straightforward, and requires just the minimum amount of publishing formatting experience. I've used the online service provided by the CreateSpace, and have by and large been very satisfied with them. For the basic service there is virtually no cost (aside from having a proof shipped to you for the approval), and your published work will be sold through Amazon and a few other online outlets. You can set your own price, but you don't have any control over how much you take back in royalties – that stuff is fixed.
To my surprise, I've already been able to sell a few copies. I don't think my thesis will ever become a bestseller, nor do I expect it to be the basis for a Hollywood blockbuster, but it does give me some satisfaction to see my own work find a small niche in the publishing world.
So if you are looking for a perfect Christmas or Valentine's gift, or are wondering what to give a discerning intellectual friend for his birthday or Bar Mitzvah, head over to Amazon and purchase Non-local Gauge Field Theory. It's only $9.99. While supplies last.