Do Publishers Just Work MON-FRI 9.00 - 5.00

I've never really thought about this before and it may sound pretty stupid but do publishers just work from Monday to Friday nine till five. Do they accept submissions on a saturday or sunday for example or talk to agents regarding work at say seven oclock at night.
I wouldn't imagine that a publisher like Bloomsbury would have no one in the offices at the weekend

Well, they work overtime just like anyone else in a backlogged, overworked corporate environment.

But what does it matter what time an agent or publisher is in the office? Submissions are generally made by postal mail or by e-mail. A person doesn't have to be physically present for those to be delivered.

Yeah I suppose so

but would they be likely to offer a contract to an author on a weekend or at night

I'm still working on my first novel, so have not hit the submitting phase yet, but I have exchanged multiple e-mails with editors and publishers of magazines and anthologies as late as midnight my time.

If the pile on that was screaming the loudest on the desk was contract offers, I would not think too much about and editor or agent contacting a writer in the evening or on the weekends. Many writers also work day jobs, so it might even be easier to get in touch with a writer after normal business hours. It wouldn't raise any suspicions in my mind, especially if I'd done my homework before submitting.

Another factor you may wish to consider are the differences in time zones. In your example, you indicated the time was 7PM. 7PM in New York is just 4PM in Los Angeles.

As far as I know, most people in publishing generally have 'normal' working hours. Yes, they work outside of these hours when necessary - staying in the office late to call someone, or arranging a meeting out of work hours, but I don't think it's a matter of course to keep people in the office over the weekend. They're more likely to take a pile of work home than be in the office on a Saturday.

This is just my experience from being a lowly editorial assistant some time ago at a publisher in the UK. I sometimes went to work early to call Australian authors, or stayed a bit late to talk to US authors, and occasionally I went to events arranged in the evenings. It was common for my colleagues to stay late in the office if deadlines were imminent. However, in two years I only heard of one person go in on the weekend - just once, and they were more dedicated to the job than anyone else I knew. I regularly took manuscripts home, but would never have gone into the office at the weekend. Then again, I was just an editorial assistant. If you're a more senior editor with big authors, I can see why it might be necessary on occasion.

Generally though, don't wait by your phone on a Saturday night, expecting it to ring. Unless it's super-urgent, the editor will most likely wait till Monday to offer a contract.

I'd say if you were to offer you a contract, it would be handled during "business hours."

waiting by your phone is a waste of time anyway. It can take a year for a publisher to decide on a ms.

And if a contract were offered your agent would call you, not the publisher. And your agent may very well wait for Monday during normal office hours to do so, or they may call you on the weekend.

But hanging by the phone waiting is a study in driving yourself nuts.

My agent works weekends, and last Christmas day we e-mailed back and forth several times.

If an offer is made you will hear about it--the offer won't vanish because you missed a phone call.

Shawn

I always received stuff by mail... rejection, acceptance, whatever. Later in the process you might get into phone calls, etc. But at first everything was mail and later so was most everything else.

Publishers' offices answer the phones nine to five. Editors take manuscripts home with them and read them nights and weekends and holidays if they have to.

Don't worry about it -- just work on your next book and let the notification of a sale comes when it comes.

As James says, publishers work nine to five. Editors seem to work 24/7. As an editor, I can't remember ever going home without a bunch of manuscripts.