Turtle Publishing
No, it’s not a hip new publishing company – it’s a comment on the industry. Now sometimes publishers are slow because they simply can’t make up their minds (one of my books has been with a major Australian publisher for two and a half years, and that’s way beyond normal). But most of the time there is a complicated process from slushpile to (hopefully) acquisitions meeting to (hopefully) bookshops.
American agent Rachelle Gardner talks about it a little here.
Personally, I’d consider six months a normal wait for a yes/no response (for either the opening chapters or the full book), and one year a standard acceptance-to-publication schedule.
While you wait to hear back, here’s a picture of a cat:
Felicity Banks 
Sarah Paige Berling said,
August 6, 2011 at 1:30 pm
Thanks for the link!
Louise Curtis said,
August 6, 2011 at 9:12 pm
No problem, Sarah. It’s information that’s well worth knowing.