Although the peer review process varies slightly from publisher to publisher, it follows the steps outlined here. It begins with the acquisitions editor determining if your proposal aligns with the press’s subject areas and if it’s ready for peer review. If it is, they send it to two or three individuals qualified to evaluate your research.

Reviewers remain anonymous – you will not learn their identity – but they are given your name and CV. This one-sided anonymity is called single-blind review. The editor gives the reviewers a deadline, usually 6 to 12 weeks.

The editor will notify you when they send out your proposal, so you should wait until the reviewers’ deadline has passed before contacting the editor again. Then, if you haven’t heard from the editor, you may ask for an update. If you don’t receive a response, follow up one week later. If you don’t hear from the editor after two or three email messages, consider withdrawing your proposal and submitting it elsewhere. If you do, send the editor a polite email explaining that you felt compelled to move on.

When the peer reviewers submit their evaluations, the editor forwards them to you and decides whether or not to offer you a publishing contract. They may reject your proposal. They may say that they cannot offer a contract based on the proposal but invite you to submit the completed manuscript for review. Or, in the best case scenario, they may offer you an advance contract, which means that the publisher will send the finished manuscript to reviewers. Please be aware that if your manuscript doesn’t meet the publisher’s or the reviewers’ expectations, it can be rejected at that point.

See the subpage How to Understand Your Book Contract in this library guide.