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[abacus]

I would like to ask you what I should do about this book manuscript that is under review forever. I submitted the manuscript in March 2006. I kept waiting for the review since then. I contacted the editor of the press, and she says she may get the one review sometime in February. But she says she will send it to the different reviewer since she has never heard back from another reviewer. I cannot pull the work out from the press since I am under the advance contract. I really want this book out ASAP but it does not seem to be so. What can I do except waiting? Does anybody have a similar experience? Is this common that reviewers never get back to the editor?  Thanks.

[bibliothecula]

Unfortunately, this does happen. Reviewers get sick, busy, etc. Some things that might help:

1. Suggest the names of several potential reviewers to your editor. Perhaps part of the delay is a lack on her part to be able to pinpoint appropriate reviewers.

2. Solicit reviews of your own, and ask the reviewers to copy your editor. Make sure, though, that if you do this, the reviewers you select will be brutally honest and not just give you a "blurb."

3. Call your editor and have a very frank discussion of the timeline involved. If you need the book out for tenure, you need to let your editor know that ASAP. Don't do this over email or in a hurried situation; make sure that the editor has your full attention.

4. Review your contract carefully. If you get the feeling that this delay is caused by a lack of interest by your current press, see if you can get out of the contract and take your ms to a more interested publisher. If you received an advance on the work, is it worth it to return the advance to get the book out sooner with another press?

[seniorscholar]

I agree with bibliothecula that it is time to have an in-person telephone conversation with the editor you've been dealing with and to make sure that editor is actually handling the manuscript at this point. If the editor "is not available" figure out who the next person UP the line is, and don't settle for the editor's assistant.

I was once asked to do a manuscript review very quickly because (after several months) the editor-in-chief had someone check the e-mail and voice mail of an editor who was out on sick leave, found a stack of queries like yours, and also found that the manuscript I was asked to review (by a well-published author whose book the press already knew it wanted) had not even been sent out: it lay ignored in the problems at the beginning of the sick leave. In addition, there's a reasonable amount of turnover in university presses and a surprising amount of editorial assistance provided by work-study students who hold impressive titles for six or eight months. Be very polite -- but keep going until you get a real answer and an assurance that progress is actually underway. (And yes, readers do simply ignore or forget things, though perhaps more often they, too, encounter illness or other problems that put the unread manuscript out of their minds.)

[abacus]

Thank you, bibliothecula and seniorscholar. I have no clue what is going on. I talked with the editor in November last year and she just mentioned she was waiting for the reviews, too, and it is common that I wait this long.

I wonder how common it is to pull out of the contract (advance). Is UP O.K. with this?  If the author wants to pull hu's work out, how much power does the press have?

Thanks.

[bibliothecula]

Well, if you have received advances on your royalties, you can expect a much harder fight for the UP to keep you. Among other things, you will have to pay those back.

If your contract has a clause in it about the UP publishing in a "reasonable amount of time," you may be able to cite that as a reason to break the contract. I've actually never had an author withdraw in this manner (submit unpublishable garbage and have it rejected, though, yes).

If you do decide to break the contract, be aware that scholarly publishing is a very small world, and that other publishers will be very wary about working with you, regardless of whether you were justified in your actions.

Good luck.

[abacus]

bibliothecula,

What do you mean I received "advance"? I have not received from the publisher any money or any advantage in a material sense. Does it help to pull my work out? Thanks.

[bibliothecula]

Yes, I meant cash advanced on your royalties. Receiving an advance is  not very common, but does happen in academic publishing. Not having done so simply means that you don't have to return any money to your publisher if you break the contract.

Really, though, I think you need to have a long talk with your editor and explain your concerns. If you have another press that is interested in your book, tell her that, and ask her to expedite the review process.