Good evening listeners,

Today we have Terri Schaefer of Liquid Silver Books joining us to answer a couple of questions about the magical world of romance publishing! Please give her a warm welcome.

Liquid Silver have been easily one of the best presses I’ve worked with and that has been in no small part thanks to yourself, Terri. You clearly enjoy your job, but what’s your favourite part of it? 

First of all, thank you so much!  As an author myself I know how scary it can be to send your baby to a bunch of strangers  My favorite part is reading a book that makes me either tear up OR say “gotcha”!  Since we sell romances, it’s usually the weepy part—LOL.

When do you know a manuscript is something you want to pick up?

After about the third chapter (obviously shorter for novellas).  After the third chapter you can see whether the pacing and flow are consistent, and whether the characters are still people you can root for.  That’s usually where I can also start to see if there’s going to be a romantic arc (more on that in a bit)

What are some of your personal favourite tropes and scenarios? Things you’d like to see done more? 

I love friends to lovers (any genre) and small town contemporaries in any “pairing” (I say that in air quotes because I do love me some menages ).  Weres/shifters tend to do very well with us, especially MM.  We’re also seeing consistent sales on FF stories, and I’d love to see more of them come my way.

Do you have any words of advice or wisdom to impart for new authors? 

First, find a critique partner(s) who will rip the band-aid off.  Someone who tells you how wonderful your work is will not be doing you a favor.  Find someone who loves your voice, but has the capacity to be critical.  Second, as a word of caution, I’ve been seeing a LOT of first-person contemporaries in the last six-ish months, and while they may be really good reads, most of the time they’re not romance, they’re women’s fiction.  Authors need to understand that most genre publishes are going to stick to some tried and true rules, be it romance, sci fi or mystery.  In romance, we need to have a hero/heroine (or whatever your relationship dynamic is) who struggle over internal and external obstacles to be together.  That’s the ultimate goal, not solving the mystery or freeing the freedom fighters or getting the bad guy or finding the treasure Those things are the external obstacles, the vehicles, for the romance to ultimately succeed. It’s a tough nut to crack, especially in first person, since we’re never inside any other protagonist’s head, if that makes sense.

Finally, and this is the one that might get you in trouble: are you a coffee person, or a tea person? 

LOL.  I’m a switch hitter. Two cups of java  in the morning (nothing fancy, just black with some whole cream) and then Yogi Detox tea at my desk, and maybe some Egyptian Licorice if I’m in the mood.

Thanks SO much for having me!!

Terri

Thank you for visiting the blog and sharing your insights! And to everyone reading, be sure to drop by Liquid Silver and check them out! (You can even look me up there!)