How Long do you Wait?

[Ryvah]

OK. Here's the situation. I have a WIP at a small publishing company. They've had it since June, (not a long time in the wonderful world of publishing, I know) but they told me they'd get back to me within eight weeks. I waited until December to write to them to check on my status. I was told my work was currently in review and that they'd get back to me withing three weeks. Well, that hasn't happened. I'm not certain what to do right now. They did the same thing with my last manuscript and wound up rejecting it, though they did tell me that they'd welcome a chance to look at any other unpublished material I had. (A POV problem with the last manuscript which has relegated it to parrot cage lining.) Thus the current situation. So, should I email again to ask about the progress? I don't want to seem like I'm dancing around in impatience. (Even though it is pretty true.) I feel like I'm so close with this company and I don't want to screw it up. Any advice?

Ryvah

[PeeDee]

I'm not sure if that means you're "so close," it just means that the editorial department is perhaps "so far behind".

Eight weeks and three weeks is eleven weeks. If you've been waiting June, that's around thirty-two weeks. I think that's long enough. Unless we're talking a majorly impressive publisher here, I think it's time to kick 'em in the backside and find out exactly what's going on, or keep on going.

Out of curiosity, what publisher is this?

[jennifer75]

I'm not sure if that means you're "so close," it just means that the editorial department is perhaps "so far behind".

Eight weeks and three weeks is eleven weeks. If you've been waiting June, that's around thirty-two weeks. I think that's long enough. Unless we're talking a majorly impressive publisher here, I think it's time to kick 'em in the backside and find out exactly what's going on, or keep on going.

Out of curiosity, what publisher is this?


I will not be able to survive the waiting game. As it is now, if I submit a resume, go for an interview and don't hear back within a week I panic. Two weeks, I'm angry and bitter. If i get any sign of promise, I get even more impatient. I'm a mess.

[PeeDee]

I will not be able to survive the waiting game. As it is now, if I submit a resume, go for an interview and don't hear back within a week I panic. Two weeks, I'm angry and bitter. If i get any sign of promise, I get even more impatient. I'm a mess.

You're going to be a heavily drinking writer, then. Baen Books, for example, has a year on responses I think.

But it's important to know when to wait patiently, and when you're potentially being jerked around.

I LIKE the long response times mostly, because I don't have the head or the time for trying to keep track of my manuscripts and stories and query letters too quickly. I can send it out and forget about it for eight weeks or so and get on with writing, which is what I'm here to do anyway.

[Jamesaritchie]

I tend to wait however long it takes. I'm alwasy working on something new, so I'm in no hurry to hear back on something old.

Having said this, when twice the expected time has passed, I send a gentle inquiry.

[Melanie Nilles]

I must admit I'm curious what publisher it is too.

At the time I submitted to Mundania, their "official" response time was 120 days. I contacted them on day 121 and they said they'd get back to me, because it was still in review. I checked back after a month with mostly the same response and continued to check back for a couple months, after which it became that they were considering the whole series, which really can't be broken up anyway. I sent them the next two manuscripts, which I had only minimally edited, and waited, and emailed to check back, and waited. Finally, I wrote back in August and they said that they had sent an acceptance email. For some reason I never got it. Well, from submission to acceptaince ended up being nine months. This was a different situation with a series, though.

I'd say to just keep in touch periodically. These small publishers, especially the more highly rated ones, get inundated and usually only have a few people reading manuscripts. I would write that I was just checking on the status of their decision in case something was lost in cyberspace. In the end, that's exactly what happened to me.

good luck!

Melanie

Melanie

[MidnightMuse]

I waited 13 months for Baen's response. I've got a few out there now that are passing the 3 month mark, some replied within 3 weeks. There's waiting, then there's waiting around not doing anything else. While you wait on one, you submit to several others (and you're also writing your next one).

[PeeDee]

I waited 13 months for Bean's response. I've got a few out there now that are passing the 3 month mark, some replied within 3 weeks. There's waiting, then there's waiting around not doing anything else. While you wait on one, you submit to several others (and you're also writing your next one).

Really? Bean? And what did he say?

http://home.zcu.cz/%7Epetrx/bean/1.jpg

[MidnightMuse]

Bean? Silly, I said Baen.


:D :e2hammer:

[johnzakour]

I'd send a friendly email or letter. That's way too much time to wait.

[Ryvah]

It's Five Star. I've met John Helfers (pitched my last book to him at a conference, in fact) and he refers to it as "the publisher of last resort," so take that as you will.

I'm not really a novice at the whole submission thing. Baen's turned me down as well, on a couple of different projects, but that's an entirely different set of issues. (My favorite was when Del Rey closed to unagented submissions and returned my chapters without even opening them--scribbles on the outside of the envelope after a year and a half.) I know I'm preaching to the choir here, I just didn't want to seem too pushy.

You make a valid point, though. Smaller presses are getting hammered in recent years. Most likely due to the fact that the big houses are getting harder and harder to break into. So, maybe a reminder email wouldn't seem pushy.

Perhaps something like I'm just writing to check on the status of my manuscript? I don't know what it is about this that's turning me into such a wishy washy nervous wreck. I've been able to handle this before!

Thanks for all the suggestions. Thanks for talking me down off the ledge.

Ryvah

[Penguin Queen]

(I got dstracted while writiing this & I see now the crisis has passed. Sod it, Ive finally got it all written out, so I ay as well post it :D)

I had a similar situation with a small Welsh press. :( I sent them a preliminary version of eight out of an evential 12 stories of a themed collection after chatting with the editor about it. They'd published a couple of short pieces of mine in anthologies already at that point, and she had asked me if I had anything "longer". So off I sent the stories. Didnt hear anything for eight months. (I'm a patient soul, me.)
I sent them an email, enquiring whether they'd had a chance ot look at the MS yet. After a further few weeks, I got a letter saying they were very sorry, they'd had a new editor, the old one having left everything in a bit of a mess (my deduction, they didnt phrase it nearly as direct as that http://boards.gingerbeer.co.uk/Smileys/classic/tongue.gif) and now they appeared unable to locate my MS, terribly sorry, could I send it again, please, if I didnt mind?
I had by that time written all 12 stories, and sent them off, again.
And.... you wil guess this part ... proceeded not to hear anything from them. I waited another four months, began prodding them again, got a letter eventually from yet another new editor who apologised very prettily and said they were going to look at it forthwith and get back to me ASAP.
Which, in short, they did not. I communicated by every method known to humankind (barring carrier pigeons and a message in a bottle) and they continued not to answer, or to answer to the effect that they were going to answer shortly. Which they didnt.

In the end, I sent the MS off to another press who wrote back within two months, apologising for the delay and explained at which stage in the review process my MS was, and within another three weeks, they wrote agian offering to accept it. Hah! :hooray:

Sorry... I do go on a bit about it, I'm still fuming. :rant:

In short (ahem)... small presses can be a mixed blessing.
I'd nidge them, write them a friendly letter/email/message in a bottle, asking if they have any news for you yet.
In a small, probably overworked & understaffed organisation I think it helps to remind them that you exist. They will be exceedingly unlikely to turn down publication of your MS out of pique because they feel you bother them too much with emails. :)

Good luck.

[johnzakour]

It's Five Star. I've met John Helfers (pitched my last book to him at a conference, in fact) and he refers to it as "the publisher of last resort," so take that as you will.

I'm not really a novice at the whole submission thing. Baen's turned me down as well, on a couple of different projects, but that's an entirely different set of issues. (My favorite was when Del Rey closed to unagented submissions and returned my chapters without even opening them--scribbles on the outside of the envelope after a year and a half.) I know I'm preaching to the choir here, I just didn't want to seem too pushy.

You make a valid point, though. Smaller presses are getting hammered in recent years. Most likely due to the fact that the big houses are getting harder and harder to break into. So, maybe a reminder email wouldn't seem pushy.

Perhaps something like I'm just writing to check on the status of my manuscript? I don't know what it is about this that's turning me into such a wishy washy nervous wreck. I've been able to handle this before!

Thanks for all the suggestions. Thanks for talking me down off the ledge.

Ryvah

Hi:

Five star takes a LONG time. I don't think they are even going to be reading into the end of the month. Drop John an email he's a really friendly guy.

[Gillhoughly]

It's Five Star. I've met John Helfers (pitched my last book to him at a conference, in fact) and he refers to it as "the publisher of last resort,"

I know John and have sold several stories to him over the years. If he says it, take it to heart. He might not have wanted to take public credit for that quote, though, as the packager he works with sometimes does business with Five Star.

One of my buds sold a mystery to them. The cover was less than inspiring and the cover copy an utter disaster, giving away the entire plot of the book--in detail--including the ID of the killer!

The inside had plenty of typos which were never corrected even after my friend marked them in big red letters with Post Its on each page.

They are a legit credit, but you can do better.

If they buy your stuff--offer to write your own cover copy. Some of the houses are flexible about that.

Of course, you need to get good at writing cover copy... http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/images/icons/icon10.gif

[johnzakour]

Yeah, Five Star is legit, I've sold a bunch of short stories to them. I hope to be doing an anthology for them (well through one of the groups they package for). But they are small. So the decision making process is slow. But John always responds to emails with 24 hours. Sometimes that response is "we're still thinking." He also gives good feedback.

I've seen no problem with any of their anthologies they package for Daw though.

I haven't seen any of their actual books though. They asked me if I had any experimential (or different) projects for them so I sent them one. We'll see what happens. I give them a lot of leeway as the project I sent them is so different from my work for other publishers there is no way the others would be interested, so I have nothing to lose.

[aruna]

Really? Bean? And what did he say?



Hey peedee, I wanted to rep you for this post but your little rep scale is missing,. Where'd it go?????

[amber_grosjean]

If I were you, I would block it out of my mind and send a new copy to someone else. Keep it flowing to different publishers. Write the names down and the date of submission so you know the exact date and don't forget to add how it was delivered (regular mail, email, etc.) Emails don't take as long as regular mail, I think. But I think everyone here is right. Count it as a rejection and move on to the next one on your list. If you do hear something from them, great. If not, at least you didn't waste any more of your time while someone else could have been the one you were waiting for (the one who does publish your book!) Good luck and I hope things turn out in your favor!!

[johnzakour]

If I were you, I would block it out of my mind and send a new copy to someone else. Keep it flowing to different publishers. Write the names down and the date of submission so you know the exact date and don't forget to add how it was delivered (regular mail, email, etc.) Emails don't take as long as regular mail, I think. But I think everyone here is right. Count it as a rejection and move on to the next one on your list. If you do hear something from them, great. If not, at least you didn't waste any more of your time while someone else could have been the one you were waiting for (the one who does publish your book!) Good luck and I hope things turn out in your favor!!

Don't count on it as a rejection yet, because I'm sure they haven't decided yet. If they reject you they will tell you.

Still, don't just wait around. Send it to others. Five Star only pays a small advance (they are a small publisher) so you should see if anybody else is interested.

[rugcat]

Hey peedee, I wanted to rep you for this post but your little rep scale is missing,. Where'd it go?????Maybe he maxed out and the mods wanted someone else to have a chance. Or perhaps it faded away from disuse.

[Bonnie Shimko]

Don't wait. And I wouldn't rattle their cage again. Query other publishers. When I was first starting out, I got a rejection letter from an editor two years after the book was published by another house.

[Nickie]

Just to make one thing clear: although I'm the founder of NF Publishing, I'm not in it anymore (due to illness). My former partner is now the official head of the company.
But I'd like to say that not all small publishers take ages in responding to queries. I had a policy to answer each incoming mail within two-three days, and make an assessment of the manuscript within 6-8 weeks. I always kept to that, as I'm sure my partner and her associates are doing now.
I'd advise to send your manuscript to other publishers. Perhaps they'll give you a 'yes' sooner than the one you're now waiting for?


Nickie

[johnzakour]

Trust me, you can rattle their cage, I deal with John a lot. He won't mind.

Still you should send it out to other publishers also, especially if it's something you're looking for a nice advance on.

And yes, NF does respond quickly.

[Jamesaritchie]

I'd advise not sending it out to other publishers, but I would suggest sending it out to agents. If it's good enough for a publisher, it's good enough for an agent, and an agent might well sell it to a publisher who would reject it if submitted by you.

[MyFirstMystery]

I will not be able to survive the waiting game. As it is now, if I submit a resume, go for an interview and don't hear back within a week I panic. Two weeks, I'm angry and bitter. If i get any sign of promise, I get even more impatient. I'm a mess.

As a former HR Manager I can tell you with certainty that if you go in for an in person interview and haven't heard a word for two weeks that is pretty rude (unless they told you up front it would be this long, and why).

In general if you have an interview and they say you'll hear back in a week and it's been two, one of the following things has happened:

1) They are not interested in you but they're too lazy/rude to follow up (60% likelihood)
2) They probably are not interested but they want to string you along while they interview other people and hope they're better (30% likelihood).
3) Someone is ill, or there is some genuine emergency to explain the lack of follow up. (10% likelihood)

MFM (Former HR Manager to the Stars)

(And Yes, Publishing is not remotely the same thing so a little less anxiety seems called for) :)

[johnzakour]

I'd advise not sending it out to other publishers, but I would suggest sending it out to agents. If it's good enough for a publisher, it's good enough for an agent, and an agent might well sell it to a publisher who would reject it if submitted by you.

Yeah that's a good point.