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[oldchestnut]

Hello all,

Returning to the topic of the first question I ever posted on this forum last July, which was about how to respond to your second choice press when two asked to see your full book manuscript at the time.  I followed the forum's advice and said something along the lines of "great, I'll send the manuscript to you when it's ready" to Press #2, but now, 6 months later, I find myself if the delightful position of having the book accepted by Dream Press #1. So my new question is, does common courtesy require that I send an email to Press #2 letting them know that the book will be published elsewhere (which would in effect tell them that I had been stringing them along before) or is it better not to say anything to Press #2 at all and just assume they'll forget about me?  Since Press #2 publishes a strong series in my subfield, I'd certainly prefer not to burn any bridges if at all possible.

Thanks for the input, and for all the input along the way that has helped me get to this wonderful morning where a book contract offer was waiting for me in my email inbox when I woke up!  With all the job market let-downs lately, I really needed this...

[watermarkup]

In a similar situation, I just never wrote back to Press #2. This may have been an unwise or terribly rude thing to do, so I'd be interested in comments from others. I finally decided that the editor probably had enough other things to worry about that he had long since forgotten his positive response to my prospectus, and the "Sorry, I was only using you as a backup" e-mail would have been really awkward, so I decided not to write it.

[tortugaphd]

Congratulations on your contract!

When I was in that position, I wrote back to press 2 after I finalized the contract with press 1.  It was a short but sincere email thanking them for expressing interest in the manuscript.  I agree with watermarkup that press editors are busy enough so that they are not sitting around wondering about the prospective authors who've never gotten back to them; many authors probably never do.  But I wanted to send them a message, anyway, since I work in a small subfield and didn't want to burn any bridges.

[octave]

As an editor myself, I wouldn't be offended either by silence or by a polite note.  We understand that books go other places for all sorts of reasons.  It happens all the time, and we think about it for about five seconds before moving on to something else.