Publishing ordeals: you are not alone

Rolf-Peter Horstmann (Humbolt University) shared this interesting story of a four-year publishing ordeal. A brief excerpt from the introduction:

This is the story of the obstacles that a scholarly manuscript has to overcome before it eventually gets printed. It can confirm the impression, shared by many, that much in the publication process of such a text depends on pure chance, good (or bad) luck, and contingent circumstances. Perhaps it can be of comfort to younger scholars who are undergoing this process...

I'm not sure the story will be of much comfort to younger scholars--but I guess it does make me feel a bit less alone when I get frustrated with things, so I figured I'd share it (shared from Leiter Reports).

Comments

[Stop the press]

I do not think there is much to learn from this particular story. First, I do not think the time it took to go from manuscript to book was particularly long, especially given that the author had not completed the manuscript until some time into the story (and process). Second, I think he makes clear that the project was odd. It was too long for a typical journal article, and far too short for a typical book. So he should not expect things to run so smoothly. Third, I do not think that some of the comments of the referees were unreasonable. They can legitimately say the analysis of Kant's account of imagination needs to be set in context. The author can then, as he did, make a case for why this is not so. But the request is by no means outrageous.

[Marcus Arvan]

I didn’t mean to imply that there is much to learn from it per se, above and beyond it being a potentially helpful reminder that other people (including established scholars) face similar difficulties in publishing as the rest of us!

While this is probably not news to “stop the press” for, I still think it may be helpful in a commiserating sense. For instance, I’ve been struggling with patience and resilience in the peer review process lately—something I plan to post on later this afternoon. While stories like these may not have lessons per se, it can be helpful (I think) to see that other people grapple with similar things.