The peer review system, which many publishers, including my prospective publisher Ashgate, use to ensure and increase the quality of their publications, is in many ways an excellent process. When it comes to your own manuscript, you do await the anonymous peer reviewer's comments with quite a bit of anxiety. This is likely to be the most critical reader you book will get, they are usually a respected expert in your field, and their verdict can create a lot of extra work or even cause a publisher to withdraw from a project.
So it was with great relief when I read the first sentence of the peer review for "Musicality in Theatre" which I had submitted in January:
"I
very much enjoyed reading the manuscript, and think it will be an excellent
publication"
Phew.
He or she then goes on to make a range of quite detailed suggestions for improving the manuscript, all of which I can understand and find helpful and constructive.
So now I am looking forward to rewriting certain chapters with this fresh and critical perspective in mind and hope to resubmit soon.
