• Interview with Liz Scheier of Bantam Dell by Karlene Conroy & Ann Stibbs
• The History of Hearts by Karlene Conroy
• Writing e-Books, Part 3 by Sandi Haddad
• STAR Conference Report by STAR President Laurie Cooper
• Surfing Safari by Karlene Conroy
• Bulletin Board
• Editor's Notes
• STAR News & Sightings

Interview with Liz Scheier of Bantam Dell Publishing

by Karlene Conroy & Ann Stibbs

What do you look for in a query letter and what do you want included? How long do you want it to be?

Liz: First of all, I'm going to push agents. Big time. That's the first thing a person should do, if at all possible. Get an agent because an agent is absolutely invaluable.

Even before you have a completed book?

Liz:  Yes, if possible. They're very good at getting a manuscript onto the desks of the right people, and then knowing who to send it to, and negotiating everything after that. If you don't have an agent, a query letter should be the first contact you make with an editor. And, then ask for permission to send the manuscript. I think it's a courtesy thing, really.

The query letter should be about a page. The first paragraph should explain what the book is about, four sentences, hero, heroine, setting. What makes the book interesting. What makes it different. The second paragraph, if you won any awards, if you've met the editor in question, if you went to journalism school, something along those lines.

Should you send clips of any kind? Things you may have published, like articles, or would that come later?

Liz: Articles would probably come later because the query letter is just ascertaining that there's interest. For example, if you write medieval historicals, and the editor already has four medieval historical authors under contract, even if it's brilliant, she's not going to be able to buy it. So, you don't want to waste your time.

What do you look for in a synopsis?

Liz:  My best advice is not to stress about the synopsis. It seems to be the cause of high blood pressure. A one-page synopsis is best. Each editor handles it a different way. I personally read the chapters before I read the synopsis because I would prefer to see how the person writes first. But, if you want to send a six page one, that's fine too. Just keep in mind that editor's time is at a very high premium and if you want us to get the essential information, give it to us right there with directions up front.

In the query letter, you generally ask if the editor wants you to send just a synopsis and three chapters, or the full manuscript because every editor works differently and some hate to deal with half the book and having to wait for the rest of it to come.

I guess the most important thing to say is that there is no formula for success. Every publisher will think a different way, and it's not like if you make one mistake - there's no big list up there on the net that editors look at when submissions come in and your name goes up there, and no one will deal with you. We don't pass the name around. We don't sit around and laugh at authors ever. We don't have the time. I don't even eat lunch.

You're limited on how many you can buy?

Liz:  Well, there are only so many hours in a day. And, you want to make your own list as diverse as possible. Also, you want to avoid conflict of interest. And, if you're already editing three of these types of book, you just can't put your all into it.

Do you edit different types of books, or writers, or do you specialize?

Liz:  No. Some editors do. Generally when editors have been around a while they tend to pick a genre or an area they particularly like. The younger editors tend to pick and choose a bit of everything because it keeps them diverse and gives them more freedom for what they want to work with.

If you had one big name in a certain genre, would you accept others in the same genre?

Liz:  As long as the story's different enough, yes. We have a couple like that now. But, the stories and the characters are so vastly different that it's really fine.

Is it easier to market similar authors?

Liz:  No, because the editor does not do the marketing. Romance-wise I only have the knowledge of a big house like Bantam Dell. Their sales and marketing force is huge and somebody is going to know how to market all kinds of books. An editor really doesn't have anything to do with that.

I mean your house. Is it easier for them?

Liz: No, definitely not. There's a great push towards not duplicating yourself in what you publish. And, it's now really very much of a bandwagon thing. You don't want to have one big seller and then put your mid-list authors with the big seller, because no one would buy the mid-list authors. You need to have a lot of different things going on.

Say you have a romantic suspense comedy. You may not want another one, or new one if you have one that really sells ...though that's a huge, broad topic.

We have two romantic suspense authors, for instance, who are writing books in different time periods. Do you see what I mean? They're totally different. But, on the other hand, I once had two book proposals that had to do with couples thrown together by chance through a contest. The woman was rich, the man wasn't. It was too close. So it really had a lot to do with the category.

Do you look for more plot-oriented, or character-driven books?

Liz:  I look for a balance. I don't want something that's extremely plot-driven and I don't want anything that's extremely character driven. I want something that works the two well together.

What do you see becoming a hot issue, so to speak? Some of the groups were talking about (a trend toward) violence.

Liz:  You mean something people write about? I wouldn't touch it.... there is a move towards thrillers now which tend to be more violent. But I don't know about violence so much. The problem with writing to fads is that it takes a year and some to publish a book. By the time you finish it and publish it, the fad is out. So, I would think violence would have a small group of people interested.

What about domestic abuse?

Liz:  I'd have to see how that would work. It would be very hard to sell. I guess you could have a domestic abuse victim who then met a nice man, and that would be the thrust of the story. I wouldn't suggest it for a first book.

Does the publishing industry ever consider what the movie industry is using as far as subject matter?

Liz: Sometimes. Of course you heard Heather Graham (who also spoke at the STAR conference) talk about Patrick Swayze and Ghost. You don't have to be alive to be okay. I wouldn't say it was the be-all and end-all. And, it certainly wouldn't be like The English Patient, hence we're going to buy a lot of wartime romances. That's a one time thing. Then everyone would think of it as The English Patient's book, and it wouldn't work well.

But, if a lot of movies are heading towards things like that...the only place the movies have factored into it, in my experience, is that we've gotten requests for reprints where the people say "you know this has just been bought by Miramax." Yes, we're going to look at that a little more.

What about romance?

Liz: Very rarely does your romance become a movie. That's more of a thriller novel thing. We really don't have the contacts with the movie industry. Not really. Unless they come to us.

What do you like to read personally?

Liz: I like to read all kinds of romance. I'm afraid if I say I have any particular interest in a particular thing then no one will ever send me anything else. An editor I worked for once said she liked coming-of-age stories. For months no one sent her anything else. I like a lot of other genres as well, which I feel helps to get a perspective on particular books.

Do you have a more busy time of the year? Is there a bad time to send a manuscript or query letter?

Liz:  No, there's not a bad time. Because you wouldn't know. Publishing works on spans. There's a fall span, spring span, summer span. There are times when things are going crazy because all the copy editing has to be in, or because all of the tip sheets have to be in. But that varies from house to house every year and you never know. If that happens it's just going to sit on the shelf until somebody picks it up. It's not like at a certain time of the year we throw everything out.

It's been said that at the end of the year some editors clear their desks.

Liz: No.... editors always want the next great book, and it might be the second one down in the stack.

How much of the manuscript do you read?

Liz:  I (try to) read the whole manuscript. If, by about page 50 I know it's not for me, then my finishing it isn't doing any body any good.

Do you send a critique or just a note?

Liz:  I almost never send critiques.... we'd never publish anything. We'd spend all our time sending out critiques. That's the agent's job.

So you just reject it across the board?

Liz: I'll give a basic reason. I'll say something to the effect, "I feel that your conflict was not strong enough although I enjoyed your writing style." Which is very, very basic, but it's the best I can do.

Is there a list of no-no's? It's been said that artists are out.

Liz: That surprises me because I have an artist in my latest book. I wouldn't write about the great romance with me and a well-known person. I would stay away from something incredibly touchy like beastiality and anything to do with currently living public figures. Those are the absolute no-no's. And, V.C. Andrews got away with incest, so who am I to talk. It depends on the author.

I would say with the first book just stay away from the really controversial subjects.

Liz Scheier is an editorial assistant at Bantam Dell, a division of Random House. She works with both historical and contemporary romance authors, such as Mary Balogh, Claire Delacroix, Joan Johnston, and Donna Kauffman, and is actively looking to acquire works of fiction from new and talented writers. This interview was conducted at the SpacecoasT Authors of Romance Chapter's first ever conference 2001: A ROMANCE ODYSSEY held on January 19 & 20 in Cocoa Beach, Florida where Liz was a guest speaker.

STAR and Novel Ideas would like to thank Liz for being so generous with her time and expertise in the publishing field. This article may not be reprinted without permission from the authors and STAR.