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historian
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« on: August 11, 2007, 11:31:32 PM » |
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I have a question that the editor has answered but I'd like some opinions from those experienced from my side of the equation if possible.
I have an advance contract for my manuscript (aka: revised diss), top U press in general and in my sub-field, did the revision and got good reader reports (both said: fix minor things like the occaisional awkard prose passage and strongly recommended publication).
Its not one of those wildly time critical "hot topics" so doesn't have any potential complications like that
The editor said the next step is "final approval" by the editorial board of the press and then the faculty board. I asked how likely it is to somehow get stopped at this point in the process. He gave me the happy "don't worry, that hardly ever happens " sort of thing and I didn't push it. They all meet mid-September so its not a long wait, just a sort of mysterious process.
The question tormenting me (well, today, I'm untenured so its always something right?)---is how often do U presses this late in the game just say "nah, never mind..." ?
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alshealy: "Nothing says 'retreating from society' like learning to play the banjo."
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dr_stones
We broke a six-pack in the store to get just one
Distinguished Senior Member
Posts: 5,445
пошлите законоведами пушки и деньг
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« Reply #1 on: August 12, 2007, 05:46:44 AM » |
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I am on our press board. Editors don't let stuff go forward that we will not approve.
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"History does not repeat itself, but it does rhyme." Samuel "Steroid Free" Clemens
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tenured_feminist
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« Reply #2 on: August 12, 2007, 06:01:18 AM » |
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What the good doctor says. Barring someone forgetting to take hu's anti-psychotics the morning of the meeting, it should be in the bag.
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You people are not fooling me. I know exactly what occurred in that thread, and I know exactly what you all are doing. |
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seniorscholar
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« Reply #3 on: August 12, 2007, 08:40:34 AM » |
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In my six years on the faculty board, I think we did it twice -- in one case, one of the board members (a law school faculty member) had found some very questionable (i.e., sounded like someone else's prose) passages, checked the references, and found that the book cited did not exist. (Since English is my field, I was properly embarrassed that I hadn't seen the same, but this was a manuscript so far out of my field that I could barely understand what it was saying, let alone notice changes in tone.) We put the ms. on hold, the editor called to explain to the author that additional checking of references was to be done, and the author withdrew the manuscript.
The second time was a book that would have been very expensive to produce, and an analysis by the marketing department and the money folks about the price it would have to sell for vs. the number of possible purchasers even at a lower price convinced the editor-in-chief to ask the board not to approve it.
In other words, it would take something very serious to cause the board at a good press to reject a book that an experienced editor brought to them (as everyone else has said).
Here's a message of congratulations which you can put in a safe place until you feel comfortable looking at it: CONGRATULATIONS!
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historian
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« Reply #4 on: August 12, 2007, 09:48:28 AM » |
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Thank you all very much! Given what you have all said about your knowledge of the process, I feel much better about things. My editor is experienced, the readers were obviously first rate and even the potentially complicated (but definitely do-able) restructuring Reader A wanted for one section was, the editor said, "cancelled out by the comments Reader B made about the same chapter" Apparently Reader B is "the authority of the two" on said sub-topic so I'm to explain why I made the choice I made in that part, lean on Reader B's discussion of the same in my response, and the editor will "clarify expertise in the meeting if necessary."
Ultimately, parsing out the "very good" reports the final revisions are even less than I thought in my initial giddy relief: its editing awkward prose passages, checking for typos, and refining the end of the final chapter (yeah, its flat sounding even I knew that).
It sounded good, but its a big press and for all I knew these places might just pull books at this stage all the time because someone on one of the two boards that has to pass on it, found the topic boring or something. I'll take those congrats now, seniorscholar, and enjoy them!
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alshealy: "Nothing says 'retreating from society' like learning to play the banjo."
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larryc
Hu hatin'
Distinguished Senior Member
Posts: 18,285
Eschew the hu.
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« Reply #5 on: August 12, 2007, 10:30:06 AM » |
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OP: It's in the bag. Go buy yourself something nice. In my six years on the faculty board, I think we did it twice -- in one case, one of the board members (a law school faculty member) had found some very questionable (i.e., sounded like someone else's prose) passages, checked the references, and found that the book cited did not exist. (Since English is my field, I was properly embarrassed that I hadn't seen the same, but this was a manuscript so far out of my field that I could barely understand what it was saying, let alone notice changes in tone.) We put the ms. on hold, the editor called to explain to the author that additional checking of references was to be done, and the author withdrew the manuscript.
Holy crap! Did the MS later appear with another press? |
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seniorscholar
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« Reply #6 on: August 12, 2007, 10:52:35 AM » |
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Holy crap! Did the MS later appear with another press?
Nope -- I kept my eye out, and even checked the Library of Congress catalogue under the author's name about 6 years later in case the press had been so minor I never saw the ad or picked it up on the web. |
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