Reader’s Report Received

A Johns Hopkins University Press acquisitions assistant emailed yesterday with the Reader’s Report, an independent review of the Confederate soldier manuscript organized in six questions. The two-page report is generally positive. Immediate action is required on question five, which addresses suggested improvements. The reader made four recommendations. I have until next Wednesday to respond with a plan to address these.

Anne read it last night, and she thinks the four recommendations will not require major revisions to the manuscript. I tend to agree.

I’ve anticipated the receipt of this report for three months, and am relieved to have it in hand. Circulating the manuscript to individuals familiar with the subject matter is critical to success of the book, and it is with this in mind that I welcome the reader’s feedback. He or she is the last in a group of more than twenty authors, historians, researchers, and other interested parties who have examined the manuscript at various stages of its development since last fall. I have carefully reviewed the comments of each, and revised the manuscript accordingly.

Now, on to my next deadline!