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In a previous book I wrote, I submitted the entire manuscript along with a couple page proposal to a few different publishers. Both editors never responded to me.

In my current book, I sent the entire manuscript with a short description to an editor at Springer, and it has been two weeks, and I have heard nothing, not even an acknowledgement of receipt.

Am I doing something against proper procedure?

Update: I emailed the editor again asking her if she received the manuscript, and she said she did. She was just on vacation. (I guess Europeans take longer ones than those in the U.S. are used to…)

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Did you follow the book proposal guidelines for Springer? It does not include sending the entire manuscript but does include items like:

  • Author
  • Author CV
  • Any other contributors (include CVs)?
  • Who's the audience including undergraduate or graduate
  • What book do you see as the main competitor?
  • 3-4 paragraphs describing the contents of the book
  • Unique Selling Points (why should someone buy this book)
  • etc.

Note: I'm not sure that I've linked to the book proposal guidelines for your area, but they surely exist.

Second Note: Geremia provided a link to the book series webpage. Poking around on the page and tracing links, I did find a general manuscript preparation page, but nothing on what the proposal should look like. I maintain that unless they tell you explicitly to send the entire manuscript, you should send a brief proposal or even a query ("are there guidelines I should follow?") to the editor first.

Based on blogs and articles that I've read by fiction editors and agents, not following published guidelines for a submission is one of the top pet peeves and a quick way for your submission to get deleted or tossed in the recycle bin.

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    I'm submitting to Springer-Velag, and the series I'm submitting to doesn't have much explanation, just one editor's contact info with no more explanation than "Please send your proposal to…".
    – Geremia
    Commented May 27, 2014 at 0:35
  • In my experience (and I have coauthored two editions of a textbook published by Academic Press), the part of the book proposal that you'll be asked questions about (which is presumably what they care about) is the marketing stuff- who is the intended audience, and how will this book be better for that audience than competing books. If you haven't gotten over that bar, no editor is likely to send the manuscript out for review.
    – Brian Borchers
    Commented Jun 25, 2014 at 2:23
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I am pretty sure the author meant different Springer:) if there is no reply, try calling the editor you find via contacts listed for each discipline at springer.com

In any case, do always mention that the proposal was also sent to xxx, so as to avoid more editors arranging reviews for the same proposal

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