I’m fully into the process of the book proposal. I submitted it to a publisher on September 11th–an ominous date for a New Yorker who has lived in Chile. Amazingly, I received an enthusiastic response from the editors the day after submission. I was glowing with happiness because I expected to hear back in about 2 months. The editors then asked for 2 sample chapters, which I submitted after some minor edits. Again, I wasn’t sure what to expect but I heard back about 2 weeks after I submitted the sample chapters that the editors had decided to proceed to the third stage of peer review.  This means that the editors are in the process of sending the 2 sample chapters and the proposal to 3 academic reviewers. As far as I know, the reviewers then say, yes, no, or yes with comments.  This peer review process, although time consuming, is the standard way to maintain academic integrity. I don’t know how long it will take but it doesn’t concern me too much since I submitted the proposal to this press due to the peer review process.

This process is tremendously exciting and I am enjoying myself. I think that I’ve been ambivalent about publishing the phd for quite a long time so it feels freeing to have made the decision to do so.