Manuscript Stuck in Production Hell

I called my publisher to get an update on my manuscript. It's been three years total after all, and I haven't heard back from them since I submitted their requested changes in April.

I was told that all the manuscripts are backed up because they've slowed down production due to the bad economy. I'm not sure if I can believe that or not. I was told that they are now starting to release some books and are working their way through the backlog. If my book is three years old, how many others are before me?

It's quite infuriating to say the least. I was told that my manuscript was given to two illustrators, but they both turned it down. I'm not sure if that means they read it and didn't like it or they did sketches and the publisher didn't like it. I was told that if I could hunt around for my own illustrator it might help to speed the process along. WTF? I might as well go the independent route if I want to do that.

My contract ends in December so I'll need to decide what I want to do at that point. I'm able to either renew the contract and hope they get to it sometime in my lifetime or submit the manuscript to another publisher that may or may not want to print it. At this point, I'm leaning toward the second option. I mean, I used to work for these people and they don't really give a rat's ass about helping me in any way. I have to hunt them down to get an update. No one even answers my emails. I might as well see what strangers have to say about it.