In a word, maybe. This is one that really depends on your editor, at least in part. Some editors are notoriously slow, and that doesn't change much after the sale. Some are really time-oriented and on the ball and make communication a priority. But even with both types, there are shades of gray.

First, your editor may be busy with other authors who have more pressing issues or books to put into production NOW. That's just reality. Betsy Bestseller may have turned in a book late. That editor may have to rush to edit, get it copy edited, ensure the back cover copy is still valid with the finished manuscript, etc. Putting a book in production is no small feat. When my first editor had 7 or 8 books to put into production a month, she was a raving, tear-out-your-hair nut. That's a lot of reading, getting things copy edited, typeset, making sure valid blurbs make it into sales catalogs, etc. Maybe your editor also has meetings to deal with issues like cover art (these meetings start about year before the book hits the shelves!), titles, marketing, editorial strategy, etc. These things all take time. Some publishers insist that editors read a certain number of submissions from the slush pile every month just to keep things semi-sane. Then they are also the main contact when offers are made and accepted. And an author's answer-woman when there are questions.

So picture this day: Emily Editor has just received Betsy Bestseller's book. Well, Betsy wants to be paid for her hard work, right? She can't get paid until the editor reads the book and either approves it or sends back editorial comments/revision suggestions. But she has a 9am title meeting to attend that will last 2 hours. Then they have an editorial pow-wow after lunch to decide which books to buy among the recommended. After that, she's got an offer out to an agent on a new author's book, and the agent has made specific requests that will have to go through legal and the contract department, so she'll have to get those questions answered before she can answer the agent, which (hopefully) will enable to author to accept the offer. The Editorial Director has asked her to read 10 submissions from the slush pile by end of day Friday, and it's already Thursday afternoon. In the meantime, you're one of Emily's authors and you've sent her an email indicating that you want to chat about your ideas for a cover for your next book, which is due out in 15 months. Or would like to ask when your copy edits will be ready. Or...fill in the blank.

She has a lot of other projects ahead of yours in priority. Betsy is a bestseller and must be kept happy (and well paid) in order to keep her around. Reading that book and either accepting or sending revision suggestions is probably priority 1. That title meeting can't be avoided, or who knows what her other authors' books will be called. She can't miss the meeting after lunch, because she's got a few books she's recommended they buy. And they'll be great, but she's afraid other publishers may snatch them up if she doesn't get them approved today, so she needs to pitch to the Editorial Director and get approval to get the offer started. More paperwork - ugh! And she needs to get the answers for the agent with the author whose book they've already made the offer on. There's a hole in the Fall schedule, and this book is great as is. But they're going to have to get started on Monday with title, cover, etc. in order to have everything ready for the sales catalog, which is printed 6 months before the book's release. She quickly leaves voicemails with the appropriate people in-house to get her answers and dashes off to meetings. The slush pile submissions...she'll have to take those home, along with Betsy's book. No time during office hours for that today. And the answers for you, well, they'll wait another day since they aren't urgent and she'll have to ask Suzy Scheduler for the answer.

Do you see how that works? There's a couple of things here.

1) Editors do much more than simply read books, accept and reject them and provide editorial input.

2) If you're new or aren't far up the totem pole...you may not be priority 1. It just depends on what else is happening in her office and her life.

3) Internal politics and other people in the office can play a role in what you're editor is doing and how she handles you.

This is just an example, but you get the idea. We whine and wail about why it takes so long for them to respond to our submissions... Maybe now you can see why. Editors (at least for the big NYC print publishers) live in a very expensive city, don't make a lot of money, work very long hours and most do it because they love books. Look at editors who have stayed in the romance genre for years and you'll see editors who admit they put up with some of the less glamorous elements of the job because they love romances and enjoy getting the books in the hands of other readers who love romances.