To mock an American literature journal, I had to dive back into the in-box for some copy-paste. In the span of writing the final two sentences in the previous post, a new message arrived, this one about The Fictional Lives of American Presidents project I’m co-editing with Jeff Menne:

Dear Dr. Menne,
Hope you’re well. I’ve now received reviews of your project, and I’ve attached them here. My apologies that this process took this long. I’m pleased to say that I am interested in bringing the project forward to the editorial board. I’d appreciate if you would look through them and write 1-2 page response detailing how you would address the reviewers’ critiques, so that I may present a complete picture to the board. Specifically, reviewer 2 has a point regarding coverage beyond cinema about which I’d like to hear your thoughts. Please also include a revised proposed word count and completion date, taking any revisions into consideration.

Many thanks,
[acquiring editor]

Much better. At the risk of seeming like I’m polishing the press’s apple, there’s evidence of an actual human bring writing somewhat carefully considered sentences there – going so far as to highlight the most significant concern to address.