We get lots of submissions at Higher Ground Books & Media and we take the time to read over and review each to see if it is appropriate for our catalog. I'm always surprised when someone doesn't understand how much time it takes to do a careful and honest review of a manuscript. Larger publishers take up to six months or more to approve or reject a manuscript. We try to do our reviews in 4-6 weeks, even though we are a very small group and have many projects on the table.
A thorough review of a book takes time and we are very careful with our reviews so as to ensure that the materials we provide match up with our mission. If you are an author and you submit a book to a publisher, you should be prepared to wait for a period of time. If not, then you should be a bit suspicious as to the quality of publisher you are dealing with. As we are not a vanity press, we are not inclined to accept every story sent to us. And that should be counted as a plus, not a deterrent.
Our goal is to review as quickly as possible, but we won't rush through simply to appease an impatient author. We respond to initial submission e-mails quickly to let authors know that we have received them, but from there it can take a bit. So, sit tight and let us give your novel a fair review. If we are delayed, we will get in touch and let you know that. And we will give you an answer whichever way we decide to go.
Happy Writing!