Invited Manuscripts

If we respond favorably to your query and invite your manuscript for consideration, we ask that you send one clean copy of the manuscript, double-spaced, with photocopies of any illustrations you deem pertinent for review at this stage. We may also request that you send a computer disk containing the manuscript files for back-up purposes.

Initial Evaluation

The complete manuscript will be evaluated in-house, and if it passes initial scrutiny it will then be sent to outside readers for a full reading and written report. We strive for outside readers who are recognized experts in their field, demonstrated by research and publications in the discipline relating to the author’s manuscript and by academic rank and stature.

For complete manuscripts we must have two positive reports before recommending the project to our Editorial Board and issuing a contract. In the case of proposals for a book or a partial manuscript, in which the complete manuscript will be written later after a contract is awarded, we still secure two outside positive readings before recommending a provisional contract before our Editorial Board. For reprints of books previously published elsewhere, we seek a minimum of one positive outside reading and supplement the Board proposal with copies of published reviews, preferably those in scholarly journals.

Each reader has the option of withholding his or her name from the author so as to make the report “blind.” Conversely, if an author requests that his or her name be withheld from readers, then we will do so, but typically we do not mask an author’s name unless there are special circumstances.

Timeline

This process of obtaining two reports usually takes three or four months, although we ask that you not contact us regarding status until at least two months have passed.

Revisions

Sometimes the outside reader report will call for revisions before recommending publication. In this case, we may return the manuscript to you for revision and invite you to resubmit the manuscript later, at which time we may ask the original reader to verify that revisions are done satisfactorily, or else we will obtain a new reading.

Editorial Board Presentation

If the evaluations are positive, we then present your project to our faculty Editorial Board, who has the final authority on whether we issue a contract. Both the readers and the Editorial Board may have suggestions on revising and improving the manuscript. Sometimes Board approval may be contingent on whether or not these changes are made.

Contracts

If the vote is in favor of publication, we will issue a contract to publish your book. The contract will include a due date for the final manuscript, illustrations (and their permissions), maps, figures, etc. complete and ready for editing. Once you deliver a final manuscript to us, you can expect your book to be published within a year.

If the Editorial Board votes for a provisional contract on a proposed book or partial manuscript, then publication is contingent upon full evaluation of the completed manuscript by outside experts and final approval by the Editorial Board in a follow-up publication proposal (i.e., still need two positive readers’; reports on the completed manuscript).