How long would you wait to hear about a book mansucript?

[out for review]

I've got a book manuscript that has been sent out for review by a university press. At first this was, of course, very exciting, and initially they told me they expected the reviews back at a certain date. A couple weeks after that date had passed I sent an email just checking in. A couple weeks after that I sent another email, again just checking in. So its been over a month and I haven't even gotten an email back saying 'oh hey, the reviewers are taking longer than we thought,' or even 'turns out we don't like this after all.' Just radio silence, from an editorial staff that was really pleasant and easy to contact before this. I'm at a loss, is this sort of thing normal? Waiting like this with no word is getting torturous.

So my question is--how long does this go on before I tell them I'm going to send the proposal and manuscript to other places? I mean, I'd really rather not do that but the whole process takes so long and I need to be thinking about next year's job market--I can't wait forever if they won't even email me back, right?

[hmmmm]

I'm just a lowly graduate student (no book yet) but it has always been my understanding that unlike submitting to journals you can submit a book manuscript to multiple presses simultaneously without any repercussions.

If this is in fact the case I would send out multiple copies now as waiting on each press to get back to you could take quite a while. Perhaps others with more experience can chime in.

[drbearjew]

Hi 'out for review'...

It's hard to say since you don't give any specifics as to how long your book as been under review. I just got my reviews back, and I submitted my manuscript in early November. From what my mentors and colleagues have told me, that seems par for the course. I definitely would not send your manuscript out for review elsewhere right now unless you are willing to pull it from consideration at the press it is at. While some presses allow you to have your proposal under consideration at multiple presses, I cannot think of a press - university or trade - that would allow you to have your entire manuscript under review simultaneously elsewhere while it's under review with them.

[out for review]

thanks for the replies, hmmm and dbj.
To clarify, what I was considering was eventually sending an email (in a month?) saying 'hey if I don't hear SOMETHING from you I'm going to move on to other presses.' Not doing so secretly but just kind of threatening to end the process at that press. Again, I really don't want to do that but it strikes me as crazy unprofessional of them to not just respond to a simple email, even if the reviews are late and there's nothing to report.

Then again, I don't want to risk pissing off people at that press, don't want to burn bridges and all that. And the wait hasn't been much longer than yours, dbj. I just think its a bad sign for them to be ignoring me completely at this stage.

[Archivist]

If your manuscript is already under editorial review, you have already made a first cut. Don't take that for granted. The publisher has chosen to expend both time and money giving the manuscript further review. That is a great sign, especially because their margins are so low for academic treatises. They will likely be very upset if you threaten to submit it elsewhere, especially if they have any language in their submission guidelines discouraging simultaneous submissions. (And they will take any such suggestion as an offense, no matter how you word it.)

The book publishing world measures the passage of time in terms of months and years, not days and weeks. Editors generally don't respond to email queries until they have something to say. Their world is a much different one from ours, and "the power of the least interested party" plays a big part. You need something from them; they feel no obligation to sooth your anxiety, salve your ego, or provide you with timely support for your next round on the job market.

I'll assume that you submitted your proposal to your top prospect, in terms of both academic prestige and likelihood of acceptance. Since you have passed the first hurdle, I suggest that you (1) give yourself a big pat on the back, (2) be patient well beyond what seems reasonable, and (3) work like hell on other projects while you're waiting to hear more from them. Even if they decide to accept your manuscript, it is unlikely that it will come to press before 2015, which means that you'll be putting a "forthcoming" on next fall's c.v. whether you hear from them next week or sometime in July.

Just some thoughts from one who has been waiting much longer than you. I keep telling myself that it is very easy for them to simply reject the proposal, so the fact that they haven't (even though I've heard little else) is still a good sign.

Best wishes.

[Archivist]

One more note: academic book presses operate very differently from academic journals. This is in large part, I believe, because journal editors are usually fellow academics who have a better understanding about the impact publications have on our careers. While we all complain about long wait times for reviews and multiple R&R loops, the journal editors I know really do attempt to keep the process moving along as quickly as possible given all of the constraints and inter-dependencies built into the peer-review system. I have a lot of empathy and respect for their efforts, and I have found (most of) them to be very diligent about responding to inquiries.

As I said before, book editors/publishers live in a very different professional (and economic) market, and they operate with their own unique sets of norms. I'm sure that their behaviors and their rules about social interactions make perfect sense to them, even though some are very frustrating to those of us on the outside.

[anotherquestion]

Sorry to hi-jack the thread but I was curious what the standard timeline was for hearing back about the prospectus and sample chapter?

[out for review]

Thanks archivist, that's good advice. I will try to be patient, and not be insecure/ egotistical. That's always good advice really, in any situation, but its funny how the trials and tribulations of academia can cause us (me at least) to lose sight of that.

[EricTheActor]

Archivist is absolutely right. If they have sent it out for review they will be in touch, but it could take up to six months in my experience. I met with the editor of the press at a regional conference (who had read my book prospectus). At the meeting, the editor asked me to send the manuscript along with my CV to her. I thought they forgot about me. Six months later I got a note from editor with very favorable reviews. It was worth the wait. I think it' s totally fine to send out your manuscript somewhere else unless the press you are working with has asked you not to do so while they have it. They expect to compete for the best manuscripts. You may want to let the presses know that as much as you would love to publish with them, the manuscript is under consideration elsewhere. Never be pissy or confrontational.