After over 2 years of development, NCTE has informed me that they will not be publishing my next edited collection, which was about comics and contact zone theory. Code-named the Meet, Clash, and Grapple project, it just never garnered enough love from folks other than its general editor, namely me.
We did have several nice reviews and pieces of feedback, but in the end, a nasty negative review that will surely doom its writer to a special place in hell (wink!) and the less -positive other comments were the ones the NCTE contact sided with. Rather than spend more time looking for another publisher and waiting more months for more peer reviews,etc., I decided to disband the project. Too much time was wasted in waiting this go-'round, and I felt it more advantageous to cut losses and focus on potential wins.
So, despite the fact that my first book sold several thousand copies and is still selling, despite the fact that I am now an award-winning graphic novels educator, despite the fact that I am regarded well enough as an expert on the subject, despite the fact that NCTE awarded us a preliminary contract for MCG, despite the fact that Harvard Educational Press just released a book in which some of the ideas of our collection are alluded to (perfectly set up for us, actually), despite my previous publications also setting up ideas for the collection, and despite some very nice comments, the project is dead.
Or at least it is dead in its current form. For any of you readers who are involved in academia or might eventually want to consider publishing, let me share some advice via the actions I took after learning this news.
The advice stems from a seminar on academic publishing I attended while I was getting my Masters at the University of Tennessee. A very influential professor told the audience to publish fearlessly and to never let rejection hold one back. She mentioned having the envelope for the next publication possibility ready by the time the rejection letter came. I've taken the advice to heart.
So, immediately after receiving the news, I drove to my office and reworked my two chapters to the book, both of which were reviewed favorably overall, and submitted them to journals. Within five hours of a rejection, I had already sent out two other possibilities for future success.
The rest of the day was spent contacting contributors and suggesting outlets they might consider for their chapters as well. I might not be able to help their tenure files via a book, but at least I did offer peer review, peer editing, and suggestions for individual success. It wasn't fun work, but I made it a situation where I could still do what I loved so much about being a general editor in the first place: offer help and opportunities to other academics.
I urge those interested in academic publishing to adapt a similar attitude. I know there are those who want publishing to be an anxiety-ridden process, who will tell you that if you send out a sub-par article, the editor will remember you forever and it will ruin your reputation. While not impossible, and while one should always attempt to send out work as polished as one could get it, if an editor at a journal is so petty as to actually try to remember a work that wasn't deemed publication worthy, that editor 1. is not adequately serving the authors of articles that were accepted and 2. probably doesn't have enough work to do; otherwise, they'd know to forget what isn't directly relevant to the success of their journals in progress.
Now, I was able to use reviewer comments to tweak my drafts. I was also able to share reviewer praise for the articles when informing journal editors of its previous attempted life. Based on the positive comments in peer review, I have no reason not to think that both of these articles will eventually find publication. I may be wrong, of course, but I'll keep at it until I'm satisfied, until my attention is on other projects, or until I self-publish the work on my blog, which is always an option, though not necessarily the best one for my tenure file.
Frankly, success in academic publishing means following the "where there's a will, there's a way" mantra. If one can at least pretend (acting, my friend! It's all in the performance!) to conquer their fears and anxieties, if one can realize that there's always the next opportunity, and if one tries to capitalize on feedback in a quick, responsive manner -- even letting the immediate emotional anger or frustration be what provides the drive to take reasoned, responsible action --, one can have success. If you have something important to say and work to say it well, eventually, two out of three reviewers or however many it takes will help you find a place to say it.
Am I disappointed? Yes. Do I feel like I failed my contributors? To some extent. But am I defeated? Pshhht!!
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