Hmm. Well, Imogen is indeed the contact person at Samhain, so if she asked for the first five chapters, then apparently that's what they want. I sent them my full manuscript on July 18th, 2012 and waited a long time before hearing anything. I nudged in November, at the 16th week mark, and received a comment from Imogen that I should hear from the editor soon. I waited (yes, I'm very patient, and no news is good news) and didn't nudge again until the second week in January. By then, my novel had been with them approximately 24 weeks. That nudge resulted in another message from Imogen, and then--just a few hours later--an e-mail from Don, saying he loved my book! The contract and everything else (ideas for the cover, etc.) came very, very quickly--literally, everything was signed and submitted within a few days. Then I began another agonizing waiting process, which I'm still in right now. Don mentioned May 2014 for the release of my book, but nothing is set in stone. I couldn't help myself and went back to my manuscript and started tweaking things here and there, and before I knew it, I'd done another revision. This is something I definitely wanted to avoid because I have a tendency to be a perfectionist, and that's not always a good thing!
Anyway, Don sent me a proof of my cover, which I absolutely loved (it's a grabber!), and my tweaked manuscript will be sent his way this Friday. I also wrote an author autobiography and a back cover blurb.
I've been in the freelance writing game for years and being patient is indeed a virtue. It's not unusual to write and submit and article and then not see it hit print until a year later. You just go on to the next assignment or project. Since I'm still freelancing, articles have taken my mind (somewhat) off my book. But I also have another book in draft form that I must get back to once this tweaking is completed.
Good luck!