Hi everyone! So. I'm at kind of a loss and would appreciate any advice. Last March (wow, I can't believe it's been so long!) I signed an agreement with a well-known academic publisher to publish my thesis. I delivered on time (1st June) and have literally heard nothing since. I wasn't too worried about it, but then in November I had an academic interview and dropped the publisher a quick line to say did she have an update for me on where we were at, just in case the question came up at interview, and didn't get a reply. I left it until after Christmas, just in case it was crazy busy or something, and emailed again yesterday, pointing out that the terms of the contract said that they had 60 days after submission to decide to decline and I was worried that I'd heard nothing either way. I asked did that mean they intended to decline to publish (I was very polite). Still nothing. Not a word. I've checked, and, as far as I can tell, the woman I've been working with is still there (I'm certainly not getting any auto-replies) so I just don't know where this leaves me. Legally, I've signed a contract with them so I guess I can't start approaching other publishers, but they're just completely ignoring me now. If I'm reading the contract correctly, I think I have the option to give them a month's notice that I'm abandoning ship if they don't fulfill their obligations within the specified timeframe but I'm really reluctant to invoke it. Not just because I've signed a contract and I'd really rather not be setting myself up to go out and start publisher-hunting again, but also because I'm really sure that the publishing industry is small enough that I don't want to be THAT author... Help? All advice greatly appreciated!

Give them a phone call.

Yeah... I guess I have to, don't I? Thanks :-)