For your novelists out there...

[Hamstersbane]

I've gotten an acceptance on a novel. I'm inclined to agree to their terms, but I was wondering something: what are average (or reasonable) wait times before your book goes to press?

I do trust this small publisher and I like their work. I'm just trying to avoid unrealistic expectations on my part

[Jaqhama]

Major book publishers seem to be anywhere between 6 months and a year.

Small Press publishers I don't know about.

I assume they want time to proof read/edit/make changes/re-edit/re-proof read etc?
Get the artwork in place?
Get the advertising in place?
Choose the best time to release the novel. No point releasing a new (example) Zombie novel if two other Zombie books are coming out at the same time. Better to wait a month before releasing the same kind of book on the market.
This assumes that the publisher is paying attention to what other publishers are doing at the moment and what's hot and what's not.

[John M. Whalen]

My experience with Pill Hill Press was this. The book was accepted nine days after submission and published a month later. That includes editing, proof reading, hiring an artist to do the cover (he did a great job), and sending it to the printer. This is phenomenally fast. The book is a quality product, that I am extremelhy proud of. It's gotten great reviews. That was last year when they were just getting started. It seems to be taking longer now because they are getting a lot more submissions, but they still beat most other publishers. The results are good. Of course,it's a small press. The drawback is that most book stores won't carry books that publishers will not accept return books on. The only exception I found was the Joseph-Beth book store chain. Sales are through Amazon and B&N and the Pill Hill PRess website. They make it available on Kindle and Nook. It's a good deal for frist time novelists. And the royalty rates are good, better than some other small presses. You can look the details up on their homepage. www.phillhillpress.com. How does this compare with your deal?

[JoshBrown]

three to nine months

[Jordan Lapp]

Yup. Many reviewers won't review books unless they get the request 3-6 months before the book comes out. For one of my novels, I have to turn in the book in March, we announce in May, and the book comes out in November.